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Broadway icons Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin are back together in The Artist, a new murder mystery series that debuted last month. During a visit to The View, the Tony winners spoke about their decades-long friendship, which began during the original North American production of Evita in 1979.
The duo shared a story about Patinkin’s support of LuPone amid struggles during that original run. “Mandy basically assured me that we were in this together and pretty much, we were alone,” said LuPone. “We had nobody there but us trying to figure out this musical, which was kinda nuts. It was exposition, and very weird music, and the first time Broadway had heard something like that.”
Since that time, the pair have appeared on stage together multiple times in shared concerts, but The Artist marks the first time they have worked together onscreen. “We just all had a great time,” Patinkin shared. “We were allowed to improvise. We were busting our butts. It should have been a five-month shoot, [but] we did it in 31 days.” Watch the full interview, where they also pay tribute to their friend, the late director Rob Reiner.
The Artist is a limited series that takes place during the twilight of the Gilded Age, when an ensemble of the era’s celebrities, including Thomas Edison, Edgar Degas, and Evelyn Nesbit, meet for a gathering at the house of an eccentric and failing tycoon, which turns deadly.
The historical fiction series stars several Broadway stars, including Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Zachary Quinto, Clark Gregg, Janet McTeer, and more. Katharine McPhee, Hank Azaria, Danny Huston, Jill Hennessy, Ever Anderson, and Ana Mulvoy Ten round out the cast. Part 1 debuted on The Network on November 27, with the second part coming on December 25. It was created, executive produced, written, and directed by filmmaker and founder of The Network, Aram Rappaport.
Check out BroadwayWorld’s exclusive interviews about the show with stars Mandy Patinkin, Janet McTeer, and Katharine McPhee now.
