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Showtune Sunday: All about the show-stopping “The Ladies Who Lunch” from “Company”
Patti LuPone returns to Broadway soon in a new production of Company in the character of Joanne who gets to belt out the show-stopping number The Ladies Who Lunch. She had also played the role in 2011 in a New York Philharmonic Concert version that was filmed and released in theaters and later on DVD and more recently, on London’s West End in a performance that resulted in her winning the Olivier Award..
LuPone first performed the song, oh-so memorably, at the 80th birthday celebration of Stephen Sondheim in the presence of the original Joanne — the late, great Elaine Stritch.
Below are Stritch’s version, LuPone’s version and some other interesting takes on the song by Alan Cumming, Anna Kendrick and Carol Burnett.
Enjoy – and please share your thoughts!
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
Bill says:
Generally, the song gets lost in the performance of the singer. Of course, Elaine Stritch owns it. I can live with Anna Kendrick’s performance. With her, the song seems to flow. I would like to see a softer version of the song, however, in order to appreciate it for itself. The singers seem to want to belt it out like torch singers.