It's not much of a story. Just that I saw LuPone late in her Broadway run of Evita give a performance that suggested there was a train she wanted to catch at 10:10 and she might be able to if she went fast enough. Getting it over with seemed her main concern that night. This performance was after she had agreed to extend three months beyond the end of her original contract, without Patinkin or Gunton still in the show.
It was most disappointing to me as I'd heard great things about her performance and had been very disappointed when I'd first seen it during previews at a matinee only to find when I got to the performance that she was not playing matinees. There had been no sign up announcing that when I bought my ticket, and I had been a fan of hers based on her work with The Acting Company. I still remember her performance in Next Time I'll Sing to You with great fondness.
In LuPone's defense, I will say that except for David Cryer as Peron, the show was a shambles. The chorus did not seem to feel like expending much energy, and I did not like the replacement Che at all. (I had seen a terrific understudy, Tom Carder, the first time.) And the sound system was so awful that all around people were complaining about not being able to understand the lyrics. But if the show was a shambles, perhaps it partly stemmed for the leading lady seeming not to care.
At the end, the show received the least enthusiastic response I've ever seen a hit musical that was selling out receive from an audience.
I'm linking an interview with LuPone in which she talks about her frequent unhappiness while doing the show. I guess this was one of her unhappy nights.
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