She is the author of "Patti LuPone: A Memoir."
Early life
LuPone is of Italian (Sicilian [1]) descent. [2] She is a graduate of Northport High School. LuPone was part of the first graduating class of Juilliard’s Drama Division.
Theatre
In 1972 John Houseman took his beloved class and formed The Acting Company, making them America’s foremost nationally touring repertory theater company. Her stint with the Acting Company lasted from 1972 to 1976, and she was featured in such works as The School for Scandal, Women Beware Women, The Beggar’s Opera, The Time of Your Life, The Lower Depths, The Hostage, Next Time I’ll Sing to You, Measure for Measure, Scapin, Edward II, The Orchestra, Love’s Labours Lost, Arms and the Man, The Way of the World, and The Robber Bridegroom, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. In 1986, alumni members of The Acting Company joined forces for a West End revival of The Cradle Will Rock in which LuPone played Moll, and for which she received an Olivier Award. Ms. LuPone is an important player in contemporary American musical theater. She made her Broadway debut in the play Three Sisters Her first leading role in a musical was The Baker’s Wife, which did not make it to NYC. She has performed on Broadway in works by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim and others. She won a Tony Award for Evita in 1980.
In 1987, LuPone landed the role of Reno Sweeney in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, for which she won the Drama Desk Award for Best Actress in a Musical. LuPone’s return to Broadway was supposed to be with the musical Sunset Boulevard, however Andrew Lloyd Webber breached LuPone’s contract by recasting her role for the New York production. LuPone subsequently sued Webber, but the two settled the dispute out of court with a hefty settlement in favor of LuPone. After this LuPone was so disappointed, it took her a year to return to the stage. In 1996, LuPone returned to Broadway in a triumphant fashion in a concert style celebration of her career called Patti LuPone on Broadway for which she received an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. Also in 1996 LuPone was asked to replace Zoe Caldwell in the Terrance McNally play, Master Class for which she received rave reviews and later performed in the West End. In 2001 she starred along side Peter Gallagher in the Broadway revival of Noises Off. Other Broadway credits include Working (1978), Oliver! (1984), and Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1982).
LuPone has worked with David Mamet since 1977, acting in his plays, including The Woods (1977), All Men Are Whores (1977), The Blue Hour (1978) The Water Engine (1978), Edmund (1982), and The Old Neighborhood (1997)
Ms. LuPone has been a part of many semi-staged concerts of musicals in New York such as the Encores! production of Pal Joey (1994) opposite Peter Gallagher and Bebe Neuwirth; Sweeney Todd (2000) opposite George Hearn and Audra McDonald; Can-Can (2004) opposite Michael Nouri; Candide opposite Kristin Chenoweth; and Passion (2005) opposite Michael Cerveris and Audra McDonald.
LuPone’s triumphs in the opera world extend to Kennedy Center’s production of Regina, The world premier of Jake Heggie's To Hell and Back, and the Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny opposite long time friend Audra McDonald and directed by John Doyle with the Los Angeles Opera.
She has three one-woman shows that she performs across the country: Matters of the Heart, Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda, and The Lady With the Torch, which sold out Carnegie Hall.
She originated the role of Fantine in the Royal Shakespeare production of the musical Les Misérables, becoming the first American actress to win the Olivier Award. LuPone returned to the London to portray Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard in the West End.
LuPone recently starred on Broadway as Mrs. Lovett in John Doyle’s new staging of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Ms. LuPone was nominated for a Tony Award for this role.
A regular star at the Ravinia Festival’s annual Sondheim concerts in Highland Park, IL, Ms. LuPone has had starring turns in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (2001), A Little Night Music (2002), Passion (2003), Sunday in the Park with George (2004), Anyone Can Whistle (2005), and Gypsy (2006).
With her unanimously rave reviews from the Ravinia production of Gypsy, LuPone was offered the opportunity to star in a new production of Gypsy, directed by Arthur Laurents, who had directed Tyne Daly and Angela Lansbury in previous Broadway revivals. This production launched a new Broadway performance series, Encores! Summer Stars, a spin-off of the popular Encores! series. The Encores! Summer Stars production of Gypsy is scheduled to open July 9, 2007.
Film
Among LuPone’s film credits are Witness, Just Looking, The Victim, Summer of Sam, Driving Miss Daisy, King of Gypsies, 1941, 'Wise Guys, 24 Hour Woman, Family Prayers, Bad Faith, and City By The Sea. She has also worked with legendary playwright David Mamet on several movies including , (The Water Engine, the critically acclaimed State and Main, and Heist).
Television
LuPone played Libby Thatcher on the television drama Life Goes On, which ran on ABC from 1989 to 1993. She has twice been nominated for an Emmy Award for the TV movie The Song Spinner, and her guest appearance on Frasier. LuPone’s further TV career includes a recurring spot on the last season of HBO’s hit series Oz. She had a cameo as herself in the episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Kelsey Grammer in 1998. She also played herself in an episode of Will and Grace entitled "BullyWoolley" 2005. She also appeared on the series "Ugly Betty" in 2007 as Mrs. Jean Wiener, the mother of Wilhelmina's secretary, Mark.
Known for her range and versatility, she once played Lady Bird Johnson opposite Randy Quaid’s Lyndon B. Johnson in the television movie, LBJ.
Recordings
LuPone recorded a duet with Seth MacFarlane (in character as Glenn Quagmire) on the 2005 album Family Guy: Live In Vegas.
LuPone released a new CD in 2006, of one of her shows The Lady with the Torch, on Sh-k-Boom Records. In December she released bonus tracks for that CD only on iTunes.
Selected recordings include:
The Baker’s Wife (Original cast recording)
Evita (Original Broadway cast recording)
The Cradle Will Rock (The Acting Company recording)
Les Miserables (Royal Shakespeare Company recording)
Anything Goes (Lincoln Center Theater recording)
Heat Wave (John Mauceri conducting the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra)
Patti LuPone Live (Solo Album)
Sunset Boulevard (World premiere/original London cast recording)
Matters of the Heart (Solo Album)
Sweeney Todd (New York Philharmonic recording)
Sweeney Todd (2005 Broadway Cast recording)
The Lady with the Torch (Solo Album)
The Lady With the Torch...Still Burning (Solo Album)
To Hell and Back (Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra World Premier recording)
Personal life
Her first name, Patti, is not short for “Patricia”; it is her mother’s maiden name. LuPone’s great-grand-aunt was the celebrated 19th-century opera singer Adelina Patti. Her brother is actor, dancer, and director Robert LuPone, and her other brother William is a teacher. When they were young they performed on Long Island as the LuPone Trio.
She had a long-term relationship with fellow Juilliard classmate Kevin Kline.
She married Matthew Johnston in 1988 on the Vivian Beaumont Stage at Lincoln Center after filming the TV movie LBJ, they had one child on 21 November 1990, Joshua Luke Johnston.
She currently resides with her family in upstate Connecticut.
Source: Wikipedia
Meadowlark Introduction
Patti LuPone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Of the meadowlark who lived where the rivers wind
Her voice could match the angels' in its glory
But she was blind, the lark was blind
An old king came and took her to his palace
Where the walls were burnished bronze and golden braid
And he fed her fruit and nuts from an ivory chalice
And he prayed:
"Sing for me, my meadowlark,
Sing for me of the silver morning,
Set me free, my meadowlark,
And I'll buy you a priceless jewel
And cloth of brocade and crewel
And I'll love you for life,
If you will sing for me."
Then one day as the lark sang by the water
The god of the sun heard her in his flight
And her singing moved him so
He came and brought her the gift of sight
He gave her sight
And she opened her eyes to the shimmer and the splendor
Of this beautiful, young god, so proud and strong
And he called to the lark in a voice both rough and tender
"Come along.
Fly with me, my meadowlark,
Fly with me on the silver morning,
Past the sea where the dolphins bark
We will dance on the coral beaches,
Make a feast of the plums and peaches
Just as far as your vision reaches
Fly with me."
But the meadowlark said no
For the old king loved her so
She couldn't bear to wound his pride
So the sun god flew away
And when the king came down that day
He found his meadowlark had died
Every time I heard that part I cried
And now I stand here starry-eyed and stormy
Oh, just when I thought my heart was finally numb
A beautiful, young man appears before me,
Singing â??come, oh, won't you come?â??
And what can I do if finally for the first time
The one I'm burning for returns the glow?
If love has come at last it's picked the worst time
Still I know
I've got to go
Fly away, meadowlark
Fly away in the silver morning,
If I stay, I'll grow to curse the dark
So it's off where the days won't bind me
I know I leave wounds behind me
But I won't let tomorrow find me
Back this way
Before my past once again can blind me
Fly away
And we won't wait
To say good-bye
My beautiful young man
And I.
The song "Meadowlark" tells the story of a young girl who loved the story of a blind meadowlark with a voice that matched the angels' in its glory. An old king took the lark to his palace, where he fed her fruit and nuts from an ivory chalice and asked her to sing for him. One day, as the lark sang by the water, the god of the sun heard her and gave her the gift of sight. He asked her to fly with him, but she refused out of loyalty to the old king. Eventually, the girl in the song meets a beautiful, young man who asks her to come with him, and she knows she must leave to avoid being bound by her past.
The song is a metaphor for the singer's journey from innocence to experience. The blind meadowlark represents the singer's naive and pure sense of hope and wonder. The old king represents authority figures who may try to control and exploit the singer's talents for their own purposes. The god of the sun represents a kind of enlightenment and awakening, while the beautiful young man represents the love and connection the singer finds as she moves forward in her life.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was a girl l I had a favorite story
When I was young, I used to enjoy listening to my favorite tale.
Of the meadowlark who lived where the rivers wind
This story was about the meadowlark which occupied rivers' curvy regions.
Her voice could match the angels' in its glory
The meadowlark's melodies and singing skills were divine.
But she was blind, the lark was blind
Despite her angelic voice, the meadowlark was sightless.
An old king came and took her to his palace
An old monarch came and brought the meadowlark to his castle.
Where the walls were burnished bronze and golden braid
His palace contained bronze and golden decorations with exquisite wall designs.
And he fed her fruit and nuts from an ivory chalice
The king served her premium fruits and nuts in a chalice crafted from ivory.
And he prayed:
He requested her to sing for him:
"Sing for me, my meadowlark,
Sing for me of the silver morning,
He wanted to hear her sing about the silver morning.
Set me free, my meadowlark,
And I'll buy you a priceless jewel
And cloth of brocade and crewel
And I'll love you for life,
If you will sing for me."
The king offered rewards in exchange for her rendition, including gifts of jewels, cloth, and eternal love.
Then one day as the lark sang by the water
One day, while the meadowlark was singing beside a river,
The god of the sun heard her in his flight
The sun god heard the meadowlark singing as he flew across the skies.
And her singing moved him so
Her singing touched the sun god's heart.
He came and brought her the gift of sight
He came and gave the meadowlark the gift of vision.
He gave her sight
The sun god bestowed the ability to see to the meadowlark.
And she opened her eyes to the shimmer and the splendor
With sight, the meadowlark beheld the beauty and magnificence surrounding her.
Of this beautiful, young god, so proud and strong
She then saw the sun god's splendor, youth, pride, and strength.
And he called to the lark in a voice both rough and tender
The sun god invited the meadowlark to join him with a voice both gentle and gruff.
"Come along.
Fly with me, my meadowlark,
He wanted her to join him by saying, 'come, fly with me.'
Fly with me on the silver morning,
Past the sea where the dolphins bark
We will dance on the coral beaches,
Make a feast of the plums and peaches
Just as far as your vision reaches
Fly with me."
He painted beautiful imagery of the places they would go to and the things they would do together, even as far as her sight can see.
But the meadowlark said no
The meadowlark declined the sun god's offer.
For the old king loved her so
The meadowlark refused the sun god because of the love she had for the old king.
She couldn't bear to wound his pride
She didn't want to hurt the king's feelings and ego.
So the sun god flew away
The sun god left because he was rejected.
And when the king came down that day
When the king arrived that day,
He found his meadowlark had died
The meadowlark had died by the time the king arrived.
Every time I heard that part I cried
This line indicates the emotion the singer gets when reading this part of the story.
And now I stand here starry-eyed and stormy
The artist finds herself in mixed emotions, a state of being amazed and passionate.
Oh, just when I thought my heart was finally numb
She thought she was numb to the idea of love, but suddenly it was rekindled.
A beautiful, young man appears before me,
A good-looking, young man showed up in front of her.
Singing â??come, oh, won't you come?â??
He enticed her to come with him through his singing, singing the words 'come won't you come.'
And what can I do if finally for the first time
This line is expressing her helplessness through a rhetorical question; it cannot be helped as its her first time experiencing such an intense emotion.
The one I'm burning for returns the glow?
The person she has feelings for reciprocates those feelings.
If love has come at last it's picked the worst time
She feels that love has come at the most unfavorable moment for her.
Still I know
Her feeling of helplessness is persevering.
I've got to go
She understands she must do something and make a move despite her helplessness.
Fly away, meadowlark
Like the meadowlark earlier in the song, the singer must fly away.
Fly away in the silver morning,
She must leave early morning just like the early morning where the meadowlark flies away.
If I stay, I'll grow to curse the dark
If she does not leave, she would be unhappy and slowly grow dark emotions.
So it's off where the days won't bind me
She must leave to places where she would not be bound by society or memories and it's obligations.
I know I leave wounds behind me
She knows that she would leave hurt feelings behind and cause pain to other people with her decision of leaving.
But I won't let tomorrow find me
She does not want to be this way the next day, thus the decision to leave and move forward.
Back this way
This line is about returning to a place/events that the singer rather forget; to not be bind by them.
Before my past once again can blind me
The past has come with moments that the artist doesn't like to keep in mind because it has blinded her before.
Fly away
This line is to emphasize the artist's plan to go abroad and start a new life by flying away.
And we won't wait
This line emphasizes the artist and the special guy's departure wouldn't be delayed.
To say good-bye
This line emphasizes that they would not have enough time to say goodbye properly.
My beautiful young man
This line is about the guy the artist loves so deeply, describing him as 'beautiful and young.'
And I.
This last line implies that both narrator and the guy are together and leaving.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: STEPHEN LAWRENCE SCHWARTZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind