Patti LuPone Stance on distractions from audience members How did Patti feel about distractions from the audience? LuPone grabbed an audience member's cellphone Did she get in trouble for doing so? It was returned after the show. LuPone stated: Did she do any other things to audience members? loudly demanded that the interloper be removed from the theatre. Was the person removed? he was removed,
Was there another incident?
Was there another incident aside from Patti LuPone demanding an audience member be removed?
LuPone opposes recording, photographs, and other electronic distractions in live theatre. "Where's the elegance?" she asked in a blog post on her official site. "I mean, I'm glad they show up because God knows it's a dying art form and I guess I'm glad they're all comfortable, sleeping, eating and drinking, things they should be doing at home and in a restaurant. But it's just not done in the theater or shouldn't be." LuPone has been the subject of some controversy due to the bluntness of her statements regarding this matter.  A related incident occurred at the second to last performance of Gypsy on January 10, 2009. LuPone, irritated by flash photography, stopped in the middle of "Rose's Turn" and loudly demanded that the interloper be removed from the theatre. After he was removed, LuPone restarted her number. The audience applauded her stance. The event was recorded by another audience member, who released it on YouTube. She later stated that such distractions drive "people in the audience nuts. They can't concentrate on the stage if, in their peripheral vision, they're seeing texting, they're seeing cameras, they're listening to phone calls. How can we do our job if the audience is distracted?", and also mentioned that "the interesting thing is I'm not the first one that's done it".  On July 8, 2015, during the second act of Shows for Days at the Lincoln Center Theater, LuPone grabbed an audience member's cellphone while leaving the stage as the audience member had been using their phone during the play. It was returned after the show. LuPone stated:  We work hard on stage to create a world that is being totally destroyed by a few, rude, self-absorbed and inconsiderate audience members who are controlled by their phones. They cannot put them down. When a phone goes off or when a LED screen can be seen in the dark it ruins the experience for everyone else - the majority of the audience at that performance and the actors on stage. I am so defeated by this issue that I seriously question whether I want to work on stage anymore. Now I'm putting battle gear on over my costume to marshal the audience as well as perform. CANNOTANSWER
CANNOTANSWER
Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in stage musicals. She has won two Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fame.

LuPone began her professional career with The Acting Company in 1972 and made her Broadway debut in Three Sisters in 1973. She received the first of seven Tony Award nominations for the 1975 musical The Robber Bridegroom. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Eva Perón in the 1979 original Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita. She played Fantine in the original London cast of Les Misérables and Moll in The Cradle Will Rock, winning the 1985 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in both. She won a second Tony Award for her role as Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy and a second Olivier Award in 2019, winning Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role as Joanne in the West End revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company. She has two Grammy Awards for the recording of the 2007 Los Angeles Opera production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.

Other stage musical performances include her Tony-nominated role as Reno Sweeney in the 1987 Broadway revival of Anything Goes, her Olivier-nominated role as Norma Desmond in the 1993 original production of Sunset Boulevard in London, her Tony-nominated role as Mrs. Lovett in the new 2005 Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, her Tony-nominated role as Lucia in the 2010 original Broadway production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and her Tony-nominated role as Helena Rubenstein in the 2017 original Broadway production of War Paint. She is currently starring in the Broadway transfer of the successful West End revival of Company alongside Katrina Lenk.

On television, she starred in the drama series Life Goes On (1989–1993) and received Emmy Award nominations for the TV movie The Song Spinner (1995) and her guest role in the sitcom Frasier (1998). She also had appeared in three Ryan Murphy series, American Horror Story: Coven (2013–2014), and Pose (2019) both  on FX, and Hollywood (2020) on Netflix. She guest starred in Penny Dreadful (2014–2016) before returning in a lead role. She voices the character Yellow Diamond in the animated series Steven Universe (2013–2019) and Steven Universe Future (2019–2020). She also appeared on The CW comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as Rabbi Shari (2017). Her film appearances include Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979), Spike Lee's Summer of Sam (1999), Peter Weir's Witness (1985), as well as Driving Miss Daisy (1989), State and Main (2000), and The Comedian (2016).

Early life and training
LuPone was born on April 21, 1949, in Northport, New York, on Long Island, the daughter of Angela Louise (née Patti), a library administrator at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and Orlando Joseph LuPone, a school administrator and English teacher at Walt Whitman High School in Huntington, Long Island. Her great-great aunt was 19th-century opera singer Adelina Patti. Her older brother Robert LuPone is a Tony-nominated actor, dancer, and director who originated the role of Zach, the director, in A Chorus Line. LuPone is Italian-American and Roman Catholic.

LuPone was part of the first graduating class of Juilliard's Drama Division (1968–1972: Group 1), which also included actors Kevin Kline and David Ogden Stiers. She graduated from Juilliard in 1972 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. LuPone has a mezzo-soprano vocal range, and she is famous for her strong/high "Broadway" belt singing voice. In a 2008 interview, she maintained that she was "an actor who sings", and thankful she "had a voice".

Career

Theatre

1970s: Early career 
In 1972, LuPone became one of the original members of The Acting Company, formed by John Houseman. The Acting Company is a nationally touring repertory theater company. LuPone's stint with the company lasted from 1972 to 1976, and she appeared in many of their productions, such as The Cradle Will Rock, 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, and The Way of the World. She made her Broadway debut in the play The Three Sisters as Irina in 1973.  For her work in The Robber Bridegroom (1975) she received her first Tony Award nomination, for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. The Acting Company honored LuPone on March 12, 2012 in an event called "Patti's Turn" at the Kaye Playhouse.

In 1976, producer David Merrick hired LuPone as a replacement to play Genevieve, the title role of the troubled pre-Broadway production of The Baker's Wife. The production toured at length but Merrick deemed it unworthy of Broadway and it closed out of town.

Since 1977, LuPone has been a frequent collaborator with David Mamet, appearing in his plays The Woods, All Men Are Whores, The Blue Hour, The Water Engine (1978), Edmond and The Old Neighborhood (1997). The New York Times reviewer wrote of LuPone in The Old Neighborhood, "Those who know Ms. LuPone only as a musical comedy star will be stunned by the naturalistic fire she delivers here. As Jolly, a part inspired by Mr. Mamet's real-life sister and his realized female character, Ms. LuPone finds conflicting layers of past and present selves in practically every line. She emerges as both loving matriarch and wounded adolescent, sentimental and devastatingly clear-eyed."  In 1978, she appeared in the Broadway musical adaptation of Studs Terkel's Working, which ran for only 24 performances.

In 1979 LuPone starred in the original Broadway production of Evita, the musical based on the life of Eva Perón, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and directed by Harold Prince. Although LuPone was hailed by critics, she has since said that her time in Evita was not an enjoyable one. In a 2007 interview, she stated " 'Evita' was the worst experience of my life," she said. "I was screaming my way through a part that could only have been written by a man who hates women. And I had no support from the producers, who wanted a star performance onstage but treated me as an unknown backstage. It was like Beirut, and I fought like a banshee."  Despite the trouble, LuPone won her first Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. It was not until she had reprised the role in a production in Sydney when she had finally enjoyed the part and felt comfortable singing the score. LuPone and her co-star, Mandy Patinkin, remained close friends both on and off the stage.

1980s 
In May 1983, founding alumni of The Acting Company reunited for an off-Broadway revival of Marc Blitzstein's landmark labor musical The Cradle Will Rock at the American Place Theater. It was narrated by John Houseman with LuPone in the roles of Moll and Sister Mister. and Kent, Connecticut.

In February 2022, Lupone tested positive for COVID-19.

Acting credits

Theatre 
Sources: Playbill Vault; Internet Broadway Database; Internet Off-Broadway Database

Film
Sources: TCM; AllMovie

Television
Sources: TCM; AllMovie

Discography 
Selected recordings include:
 The Baker’s Wife (Original cast recording)
 Evita (Original Broadway cast recording)
 The Cradle Will Rock (The Acting Company recording)
 Les Misérables (Original London Cast recording)
 Anything Goes (New Broadway Cast 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)
 Gypsy (2008 Broadway Revival Cast Recording)
 Patti LuPone At Les Mouches (Live Solo Recording of 1980 club act)
 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
 Far Away Places (Solo Album)
 Company (New York Philharmonic recording)
 War Paint (Original Broadway cast recording)
 Don't Monkey with Broadway (Solo Album)
 Company (Revival London cast recording)

Her live performance of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" at the Grammy Awards was released on the 1994 album Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume IV.

In 2009 LuPone's 1985 recording of "I Dreamed a Dream" reached #45 on the UK Singles Chart It also reached the Billboard magazine Hot Digital Songs and Hot Singles Recurrents charts in the US.

LuPone recorded a duet with Seth MacFarlane (who was in character as Glenn Quagmire) on the 2005 album Family Guy: Live In Vegas.

A live concert special film, An Evening with Patti LuPone, was filmed in July 2012 and released in November 2012 on SethTv.com with 104 minutes of Patti LuPone songs and stories with host Seth Rudetsky.

A new CD of one of her shows, The Lady with the Torch, was released in 2006 on Sh-K-Boom Records. In December she released bonus tracks for that CD only available on iTunes and the Sh-K-Boom website.

Bibliography
LuPone wrote a memoir recounting her life and career from childhood to the present, which was released in September 2010. It was simply titled Patti LuPone: A Memoir, which was, according to LuPone, the winner of the competition she held to name the book.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

 
 
 Patti LuPone on IOBDB
 
 
 Patti LuPone Interview
 InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Patti LuPone (TV Interview)
 Patti LuPone – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
 University of the Arts Show Music Magazine Database
 Patti LuPone concert special on SethTV.com. Filmed July, 2012.
 Patti LuPone Papers at the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York, NY

1949 births
Living people
American women singers
American film actresses
American musical theatre actresses
American television actresses
American mezzo-sopranos
American Roman Catholics
Drama Desk Award winners
Grammy Award winners
American people of Italian descent
Juilliard School alumni
People from Northport, New York
Laurence Olivier Award winners
Tony Award winners
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
Actresses from New York (state)
People from Edisto Island, South Carolina
Talal al-Sharif is a Jordanian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives for the First District of Amman Governorate and was chosen in the Jordanian general election of January 2013, receiving 2,814 votes in the District. He was expelled from the House of Representatives on 10 September 2013 after shooting an AK-47 on the premises of the House of Representatives, following an argument with another Representative.

Armed incident
During a House meeting on 10 September 2013 al-Sharif had a dispute with fellow Representative Qusai Dmeisi (alternatively spelled Qusay al-Damissi). While the men were shaking hands to resolve the dispute Dmeisi slapped al-Sharif. Al-Sharif then went to his car and collected an AK-47 assault rifle with which he proceeded to try and enter the chamber of Representatives to shoot Dmeisi, but he was stopped by guards. He then proceeded to fire at least two shots in the hallway, leaving Dmeisi unhurt. He was eventually disarmed by the guards and detained. Speaker of the House, Saad Hayel Srour, then suspended the session and called an emergency meeting for later that evening. The incident was said to relate to another incident, between Dmeisi and Representative Yahia al-Saud over parliamentary procedure.

Consequences
Al-Sharif was arrested with possible charges of attempted murder, unlicensed possession of a firearm, and resisting security forces. For the duration of the investigation into the charges al-Sharif was sent to al-Jouaida prison for fourteen days. Mohammad Barayseh, a fellow Representative from the First District of Amman Governorate, visited al-Sharif in jail and found him to be in bad condition and regretting his actions. After the incident the House of Representatives convened in an emergency meeting in which al-Sharif was expelled from the House, while Dmeisi's membership was frozen for one year because of incitement. The votes were 134 out of 136 in favour. With the incident in mind, the House of Representatives adopted a stronger set of rules of procedure one week after the incident. Under the new rules "acts of serious harm to the Chamber" by a Representative could be punished more severely, including dismissal and suspending the membership. A by-election to fill al-Sharif's seat was announced.

On 28 October, with Al-Sharif still in jail, Representative Yahia al-Saud, was charged with inciting Al-Sharif before the incident. The next day he was released due to lack of evidence. A by-election, won by Haitham Abu Khadija, was held to fill Al-Sharif's seat in the House of Representatives on 9 November. On 12 November, it was reported that Al-Sharif went on a hunger strike to protest against delays in his trial. He was granted bail on 21 November.

Similar incidents
The incident followed earlier incidents of parliamentarians reaching for guns. In one of those incidents in 2012, a Representative pulled a gun on a political activist during a television interview, while in another incident in early 2013, a Representative threatened another Representative with a gun during a debate about fuel prices. Al-Sharif's incident was however the first in which a gun was fired at the premises. A fellow Representative said that the shooting harmed Jordan's reputation.

References

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Members of the House of Representatives (Jordan) Gegham Khandilyan (, 14 October 1974 – 22 June 2009) was a popular Armenian television actor. He died as a result of a car accident on the Ejmiatsin-Armavir highway in Armenia. He was 34. He was not married. Also dead on the same incident was another Armenian actor Aram Miskaryan.

Gegham Khandilyan was best known for his role as  "Gokor" on the television series "Vorogayt" (Trap), a series based on gangster life.

References

1974 births
2009 deaths
Armenian male television actors
Road incident deaths in Armenia
20th-century Armenian male actors