Legend LuPone Wows Auditorium Audience

By Wes Hessel with Flo Mano

Saturday night it felt like below 0° in Chicago, but 100° inside The Auditorium, where a full house audience gave a two minute standing ovation as Patti LuPone entered the stage – when she motioned for them to sit, they whistled and shouted out, “We love you!” Thus started her apropos concert of “Matters of the Heart”…

Her first song, “What the World Needs Now is Love”, is so relevant to the moment; there was an abundance of love and humor throughout her repertoire – connecting with the audience, casually sharing stories. Her clear, versatile vocal range echoed through to a breathless audience – one could not miss a single sound of her expressive style.

She wore a white sequin dress with red embroidered bodice for the first act, that sparkled against the stark minimalism of the grand piano, which was decorated with a full vase of red roses. For the second act, her ensemble was a beautiful blue sequin dress reflecting the light, changing to magenta purple hues in the varying illumination.

Chicago was the launch of her new tour of “Matters of the Heart”, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the program conceived and directed by Scott Wittman. Joseph Thalken accompanied at the piano and the Four Play String Quartet, consisting of Will Curry, Molly Goldman, Suzy Perelman, and Jessica Wang, played along with very tight precision. As Ms. LuPone took her final bows, she took a camera from a front row fan and took pictures of the audience to laughter in the house. For more music and other cultural events of significance, please visit their website at www.auditoriumtheatre.org.

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