War Paint, the new Broadway musical about cosmetic doyennes Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, earned four Tony nominations, including for its stars, Christine Ebersole and Patti LuPone.
Today, CBS SUNDAY MORNING’s Richard Schlesinger sat down with the actresses, along with author Lindy Woodhead, in a behind-the-scenes story.
War Paint tells the remarkable story of cosmetics titans Helena Rubinstein (Patti LuPone) and Elizabeth Arden (Christine Ebersole), who defined beauty standards for the first half of the 20th Century.
Brilliant innovators with humble roots, both women were masters of self-invention who sacrificed everything to become the country’s first major female entrepreneurs. They were also fierce competitors, whose 50-year tug-of-war would give birth to an industry that would forever change the face of America.
Two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone isn’t shy about sharing her thoughts on Madonna’s acting skills calling her a “movie killer” after Andy Cohen asks her what she thought of the Madonna’s performance in the film adaptation of Evita.
“I was on the treadmill when MTV used to have videos, and I saw ’Buenos Aires,’ and I thought it was a piece of sh*t. Madonna is a movie killer. She’s dead behind the eyes. She cannot act her way out of a paper bag. She should not be in film or onstage. She’s a wonderful performer for what she does, but she is not an actress.”
As Broadway fans know, LuPone was the original Broadway star of Evita, winning the first of her two Tony Awards for her star turn as “Eva Perón.”
She won a second Tony Award for her role as “Mama Rose” in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy.
Earlier this week, Broadway icon Patti LuPone made headlines when she snatched a cell phone out of the hands of an audience member who was texting during the performance of her current show Shows For Days at Lincoln Center.
“This woman — a very pretty young woman — was sitting with her boyfriend or husband. We could see her text. She was so uninterested. She showed her husband what she was texting. We talked about it at intermission. When we went out for the second act I was very close to her, and she was still texting. I watched her and thought, “What am I going to do?” At the very end of that scene, we all exit. What I normally do is shake the hand of the people in the front row. I just walked over to her, shook her hand and took her phone. I walked offstage and handed it to the stage manager, who gave it to the house manager.
“I don’t know why they buy the ticket or come to the theater if they can’t let go of the phone. It’s controlling them. They can’t turn it off and can’t stop looking at it. They are truly inconsiderate, self-absorbed people who have no public manners whatsoever. I don’t know what to do anymore. I was hired as an actor, not a policeman of the audience.
It’s getting worse. I’m hired to tell a story, and it takes a lot of effort and work to do that convincingly. It’s a handful of people who destroy that experience for everyone. It’s heartbreaking. Theater is not a social event.”
She issued this public statement about her actions and why she feels so strongly about the issue:
“We work hard on stage to create a world that is being totally destroyed by a few, rude, self-absorbed and inconsiderate audience members who are controlled by their phones. They cannot put them down. When a phone goes off or when a LED screen can be seen in the dark it ruins the experience for everyone else – the majority of the audience at that performance and the actors on stage. I am so defeated by this issue that I seriously question whether I want to work on stage anymore. Now I’m putting battle gear on over my costume to marshall the audience as well as perform.”
Todd Graff, director of the indie hit film CAMP, has launched a new website that shares the big news – there will be a sequel titled, CAMP 2: FREAKS OF NATURE!
“In 2003, I was able to bring to life the story of a group of hilarious, talented, needy, at times psychopathic, and occasionally cross-dressing kids attending Camp Ovation. CAMP triumphantly premiered in Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, played all over the world, and thanks to many of you reading this, became a cult classic. I had so much fun making CAMP – filming on location at Stagedoor Manor in New York, casting Stephen Sondheim for his only movie appearance in history, and of course, introducing Anna Kendrick in her very first film, as a murderous understudy who poisons the star and belts out ‘The Ladies Who Lunch’.
“We need a sequel! And I’ve already written it. Don’t worry, the original stars are not playing counselors or some other lame device. Instead, we’re going meta! Plus we’re going to introduce some fabulous new additions, like Donna Murphy, Patti LuPone and a bevy of other reigning Broadway divas performing a demented version of ‘Steppin’ To The Bad Side’ from ‘Dreamgirls,’ to be staged by the one and only Jerry Mitchell.”
“I can’t wait to share what I have planned, but I need your help to make this dream a reality. So we’re going straight to YOU to fund this film.”
The original film followed a group of misfits who find themselves while attending a musical theater summer camp.
• Jonathan Groff, star of HBO’s LOOKING, admits there was a time he was so closeted he couldn’t be in public with his boyfriend. Not even when he was nominated for a Tony Award.
