Patti LuPone has reignited her feud with Andrew Lloyd Webber – 30 years after he fired her from his musical of Sunset Boulevard.
Although Patti starred in the original London run of the stage show and was signed to reprise the role in New York, she was replaced for Broadway by Glenn Close.
Incensed, Patti took Andrew to court and won $1 million, which she used to install what she called the Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool at her country house.
Six years ago, she declared a ‘détente’ with the composer and agreed to take part in a tribute to him at the Grammy Awards.
Now, however, she has taken aim at him in the Hollywood Reporter, dismissing him as a ‘narcissistic, insecure man’ and Sunset Boulevard as a ‘s****y,’ ‘lumbering’ show.
Patti LuPone has reignited her feud with Andrew Lloyd Webber – 30 years after he fired her from his musical of Sunset Boulevard; she is pictured in a 1993 photo-call for the show
Andrew and Patti are pictured in 1978 rehearsing his 1979 musical Evita, in which she delivered a Tony-winning performance as Argentina’s Eva Peron
The subject arose when Patti was asked whether she ever received an ‘explanation’ for why she was fired from the stage musical in 1994.
‘Andrew Lloyd Webber is a narcissistic, insecure man,’ she replied. ‘So, there’ll be no explanation for that except that he didn’t get what he wanted in London and thought he would get it in New York. It’s still a s****y musical.’
Sunset Boulevard has just been revived in London with Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger, in a production that is now headed for Broadway.
‘I know it has a brand new life with Nicole Scherzinger,’ said Patti. ‘We’ll see what happens. But it’s not a good musical. It’s a lumbering musical.’
Patti became a Broadway star and won her first Tony Award for her role as Eva Peron in Andrew and Tim Rice’s 1979 show Evita.
Her reign in the musical theater A-list continued through the 1980s, during which she played Fantine in the original London production of Les Misérables.
She found herself, however, at the center of an explosive Broadway scandal in the early 1990s when she became involved with Sunset Boulevard.
The musical was based on Billy Wilder’s classic 1950 movie, starring Gloria Swanson as the faded and increasingly unhinged silent film star Norma Desmond.
Patti has taken aim at Andrew in the Hollywood Reporter, dismissing him as a ‘narcissistic, insecure man’ and Sunset Boulevard as a ‘s****y,’ ‘lumbering’ show; both pictured last year
Patti is pictured onstage in the original Broadway production of Evita, which catapulted her into the musical theater A-list, where she remains to this day
In the 1990s, Andrew adapted it into a stage musical, acting as composer and producer and enlisting Don Black and Christopher Hampton for the book and lyrics.
The show first opened in London with Patti as Norma Desmond – but by the time it transferred to Broadway, she had been replaced by Glenn Close.
Before Patti was fired, Glenn played Norma in Los Angeles to critical acclaim while Patti was still performing in Sunset Boulevard in London.
In her memoir, Patti was acidic about Glenn’s Los Angeles run, writing: ‘Glenn Close received rave reviews, but then, she didn’t have to sing the same high notes that I did. Andrew lowered the keys for Glenn.’
After months of rumors that her job was at risk, Patti learned she was sacked in Liz Smith’s gossip column – and responded by trashing her London dressing room.
‘I took batting practice in my dressing room with a floor lamp,’ she wrote in her memoir. ‘I swung at everything in sight – mirrors, wig stands, makeup, wardrobe, furniture, everything. Then I heaved the lamp out the second-floor window.’
Patti had to continue playing the show in London after learning of her replacement. ‘Paradoxically, I think I was a better Norma after I got fired,’ she remarked later.
‘The Philadelphia Inquirer had said I wasn’t crazy enough. They should have seen me during that last month,’ she quipped.
Sunset boulevard first opened in London with Patti as Norma Desmond (pictured) – but by the time it transferred to Broadway, she had been replaced by Glenn Close
Glenn, pictured with Alan Campbell in the Broadway run of Sunset Boulevard, was praised for her Broadway performance and won a Tony
Sunset Boulevard has just been revived in London with Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger, in a production that is now headed for Broadway
Glenn was praised for her Broadway performance and won a Tony, but the show was so costly to put on that it lost money even after running for over two years.
Patti fought Andrew in court and spent her $1 million payout to install what she called the Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool at her country house.
However, in 2018, she agreed to sing Don’t Cry For Me Argentina from Evita as part of a tribute to Andrew and Leonard Bernstein at the Grammy Awards.
‘This is détente, ladies and gentleman,’ she said at a rehearsal for the gig, and then hugged Andrew, according to Michael Riedel’s New York Post gossip column.
A year prior, Glenn had returned to Broadway as Norma in a limited run of Sunset Boulevard from February to June 2017.