Patti LuPone talks career highlights

Patti LuPone has spoken about her her dream role and Gypsy!

The singer and actress who’s best known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 musical Evita and as Rose in the 2008 revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les Misérables discussed her career highlights with Front Row.

“So many of them,” she said. “Rosamunde in The Robber Bridegroom, Evita, Fantine in Les Miz, Rose in Gypsy, Reno Sweeney [inAnything Goes].

“The most difficult were Evita and Mrs. Lovett [in Sweeney Todd], and then the opera roles. The challenging ones are not always the most rewarding character, but they are the biggest challenge, and they stand out because of the work involved.”

Patti then discussed her Tony Awards.

” For Evita, it was an achievement. It was about conquering the part, the most challenging part I had played. If I hadn’t won, it would have been a failure. With Rose, I didn’t choose it, I was told that I would play that part. It had been only five years between revivals, so expectations were high.

“Both awards were ‘thank Gods’. Both were big reliefs. The thing is, it’s political, and we forget that. It’s a campaign, not an award on merit. I’ve heard producers say that the way the Tonys work is that first they vote for themselves, then against the competition, and then for who is deserving. I was equally relieved when I won both.”