Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow, both set to return to Broadway in The Roommate, recently appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers

Directed by Jack O’Brien, the new one-act comedy The Roommate will begin performances August 29 at the Booth Theatre with an official opening night scheduled for September 12.

In The Roommate, Sharon’s never had a roommate before—in fact, there’s a lot Sharon’s never done before, but Robyn’s about to change all that. The play follows the blossoming intimacy between two women from different backgrounds, as they navigate the complexities of identity, morality, and the promise of reinvention.

I loved Mia Farrow in Woody Allen's movie, 'Broadway Danny Rose.' So damn funny.

Is a three week rehearsal all that short for a non-musical?

Patti's looks have really hardened.

Kee-ripes, look the size of that honker!

She looks like Walter Matthau!

[quote]Three-time Tony winner Patti LuPone

Just three?

I would pay big money just to see Patti Lupone do a one woman show where she smokes and drinks and just bitches the audience out and just rants her opinions. I’d title it “Fuck Off! with Patti Lupone.”

Never be photographed in direct profile, Patti.

She's an old Italian woman what do you want?

[quote]She's an old Italian woman what do you want?

Sicilian, I believe. Don’t refer to Sicilians as “Italian.” It won’t end well for you.

Oh, great.

Another retread of "The Olden Girls."

Did Patti bash Andrew Lloyd Webber?

I wanna see this show!

Did her nose get longer as she aged?

She looks psycho.

I've seen that profile before....

Patti was so funny on Seth! Mia is a psycho but is still see this show.

“I don’t know what’s so important on your phone, but this is the show of the year! Maybe you’d like to show the audience what you just received?”

Patti has anger issues and MIA IS BITCH!

Mia is rather annoyed she's not getting more rehearsal time. Only three weeks. Not even four!!

Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow is 79 years old.

Mia...do something with your hair.

Mia's godparents were director George Cukor and columnist Louella Parsons.

Mia is Hollywood royalty.

Patti is not a Hollywood legend. A Broadway legend yes.

Patti is half Abruzzese so she is half Italian. Maybe it's the two warring halves that give her those particular idiosyncrasies. I bet she'll be a terrific grandmother.

Is Patti playing Felix or Oscar?

She’s playing the apartment, Rose.

Mia: Clean up this mess!

Patti: After I sing this song.

So what happened with Patti’s dramatic resignation from Equity?

[quote] Patti is half Abruzzese so she is half Italian. Maybe it's the two warring halves that give her those particular idiosyncrasies. I bet she'll be a terrific grandmother.

R26 Father from Abruzzi, mother from Sicily. That's not half Italian.

Abruzzi is in Italy. She's half Italian.

I think the point is that she’s 100% Italian.

Thank you.

I wonder if they'll "stage door" - it seems to be de rigueur these days.

This is all fun and fabulous-talent over flowing from these ladies BUT why is there no public backlash about Seths hideous HAIR! I can't be the only one aware this? He can never poke fun at Dump about his hair because Seth Meyers actually looks worse. How can his "people' send him out every night looking like that-it's like the Biden folks telling Joe he's still got it.

Ages 75 and 79. What ages will they be playing onstage?

[quote]the start of their friendship many years ago thanks to Stephen Sondheim

Sondheim was sick to death of both of them, so it was, "Patti, have you met Mia?" Then he fled.

Mia Farrow in "The Purple Rose of Cairo".....I LOVE that movie!!

Such an unlikely "friendship"

I cannot wait for the stories that will come out of BPD maniac Mia Farrow throwing massive tantrums, after abrasive NPD cunt Patti has mocked her, insulted her talent and attempted to boss her around. Mia will blame it all on how Woody Allen damaged her reputation by leaving her for Soon-Yi, and Patti will spend the next decade constantly whining about how SHE would have been a great success, were it not for the incompetent, stupid and talentless production, with Mia being the main target of her vitriol.

Seriously, I hope that the behind-the-scenes shenanigans are recorded for posterity, as I am sure that the dysfunction, unprofessionalism and egomania of these two ancient witches will be a million times more entertaining than the play itself.

[quote]So what happened with Patti’s dramatic resignation from Equity?

Despite what she said, r303, she probably took a break from AEA. People do that all the time. I've done it myself. If you don't expect to be working on Broadway for awhile, you can simply put your membership on suspension, then pick up where you left off.

Did Patti say anything publicly against Debra Winger about that disastrous Mamet production they were in?

[quote] Is a three week rehearsal all that short for a non-musical?

Not for this show. It is one act and only an hour and a half long. Yet, the tickets are full Broadway prices.

.....

Mia says in the interview they wanted 5 weeks. But I wonder if they will have a lot of previews to make up for it.

I was thinking more Legend R17.

The thumbnail was just the worst angle possible for her. Throw in the slightly maniacal looking eyes and ...

It is almost like it was on purpose.

Mia is great in a few of her Woody films and her appearance in Love Letters was wonderful. No matter if she is a psycho she is a very fine talent. Better actor than her mother who I like a lot.

Mia's voice sounds deeper in that interview. Maybe she is hoarse from screaming at Patti all day. For her character, of course.

So, exactly how will she now be a marquee star of a major play on the Great White Way? One source said the production will make a “right to work” argument on behalf of LuPone.

It won’t be easy. You’ll think it strange!

Because, unlike in other states such as Kentucky, New York does not have any “right to work” laws. There are no legal protections here from an employer’s union requirement for a job. Usually you join up — or do concerts at the Ice Palace on Fire Island and at Carnegie Hall.

However, another source said the actress will get away with it.

“You don’t need to be an Equity member to be in a play,” they said. “They can’t force her. They can picket, but that’s about it.”

But now, God knows, Anything Goes!

[quote] I hope that the behind-the-scenes shenanigans are recorded for posterity

Maybe Marsha Mason is wearing a wire?

I'm going to go see this on Broadway, the ex-wife& her wife, plus me!!

It should be FUN!!

I hope The Roommate is not like Legends where Carol Channing started bullying Mary Martin onstage.

I can see Mia forgetting a line and Patti going all “Channing” on her and just saying both sets of lines.

Cancelled in rehearsals due to creative differences.

If Mia pulls out, Diane Weist will do it.

If Patti pulls out, Betty Buckley will do it.

Why so bitter R41? Seek help.

My uncle is married to an Italian-American woman who reminds me so much of Patti. She smokes, she drinks, she curses, she tells you exactly what she thinks and there's no bullshit with her at all. I fucking love her.

I wonder if Sondheim was stuck in a canoe with Patti ore was paddling for his life towards the full moon to escape her.

Patti never *originated* a Sondheim role, and she stole Stritch’s signature song, forcing Stritch to screech through I’m Still Here at Sondheim events.

Previews: Aug 29, 2024 • Opening: Sep 12, 2024 • Closing: Dec 15, 2024.

West Coast Tour announced starring Ronan Farrow and Jason Gould.

R60 if it’s like Patti’s last play, The Anarchist, then closing will be September 19th.

Three weeks rehearsal is not enough given their ages. That's putting alot of pressure on them to memorize lines, etc. I guess it helps that Patti and Mia aren't strangers but still.

Maybe a lot of the show is mime or improvised.

Sicily is part of Italy. Sicily is not its own country.

r57 But is she as thin-skinned as Patti? The type who'll tell you exactly what they think, but should anyone return the favour, then oh my god how dare you attack me...

[quote] Three weeks rehearsal is not enough given their ages. That's putting alot of pressure on them to memorize lines, etc. I guess it helps that Patti and Mia aren't strangers but still.

Oh babe! These gals are stars, not community theater veterans.. You can bet they knew all their lines before rehearsals even began. It's all fine tuning for three weeks. Their egos will make sure they are perfect before previews even begin. Especially, at those prices.

I was going to say that also the playwright might do some changes but this is the 4th production, so I guess she is happy with it by now.

[QUOTE] etc. I guess it helps that Patti and Mia aren't strangers but still.

If you watch the interview, they both actually mention that not being strangers HAS been a problem. Mia said that because she knows Patti, there are moments where she has retained empathy for the actress even though her character doesn’t have it for Patti’s character. They said that they had just had an epiphany about it earlier that day in rehearsals before the interview with Seth (distilled by their director).

Why didn't they do a Deuce revival?

R65 Ask a northern Italian.

WTF with the endless Italian shit from our eldergays? Were they rejected by some hot horse hung Italian sometime during the last century?

Jesus, it's almost pathological. You never get this shit about the French, Spanish or Germans.

R67. Good point

Patti has clearly hit the Ozempic bar.

r67 Funny you say that, as there's a poster in the Theatre Gossip thread claiming to know someone working on the show, saying that both will be wearing earpieces because they've had such trouble memorising their lines

Q: Where is Mary Martin?

Carol Channing: She's at home learning her lines.

[quote]Sicily is part of Italy. Sicily is not its own country.

Then how come on Golden Girls Sophia always said, “Picture it. Sicily. 1923.” Why didn’t she say, “Picture it. Italy.”

Once, twas Italy that was Sicily.

R65, when the Kingdom of Italy was created in 1861, the Italian peninsula hadn't been a single polity in 1500 years. Since the fall of the Western Roman empire in the 5th Century, it was comprised of a series of kingdoms, principalities and republics that were fiercely patriotic and all had their own languages, cultural legacy and traditions. In fact, Italian is an artificial language mostly created from Tuscan, which was chosen as the model for Italian because of its very ancient and prestigious literary tradition (Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Antonio Cornazzano, Andrea Orcagna, Leone Battista Alberti, Lorenzo de' Medici, Luigi Pulci and Matteo Boiardo, among many).

Most of the people who migrated to the US from the Italian peninsula from the late XIX Century to the 1950s, wouldn't have spoken it at all or had learned it as a second language at school. In fact, it was in the 1960s that the Italian government implemented a very aggressive campaign to promote the speaking of Italian, and for this purpose stigmatized and downgraded all the other languages spoken in the country, misrepresenting them as mere "dialects" that are, to this day, devoid of prestige.

So yes, even though it's uncommon to find people who do not consider themselves exclusively Italian in modern Italy, there are independence and pro-autonomic movements, especially in the north of the country.

Sorry for the lengthy explanation, but this is an important issue that affects many European countries, including Spain, Germany, Belgium and France.

Patti is a revolting, self-involved union buster.

She's gleefully damaging the union which has supported her with health insurance and a pension among other things for over forty years like the self-enchanted cunt she's always been.

Fuck Patti LuPone!

They didn’t protect her though. Isn’t that what she paid for?

[quote]They didn’t protect her though.

How did they not protect her?

Patti does t need protection. The rest of us need protection from her!

r82 When Lillias White was criticised for telling off an audience member for having their phone out (it turned out to be a captioning device), some people brought up Patti's famous incident. She seems to have gotten pissy that Equity didn't issue some kind of statement telling people not to mention her. And then got even more pissy that the rules apply to her and she'd need to be re-approved if she wanted to rejoin in the future.

I’d rather see Faye Dunaway and Brendad Ickson together than these two no talent cows.

Where did Patti first encounter Aubrey Plaza that she felt obligated to take Aubrey into her home and mentor her during Aubrey's NY stage debut? In case you haven't seen it, Patti talks about this in her Seth interview.

r86 She says in the interview they worked together on the Agatha All Along TV show

Never heard of Agatha All Along. What the hell was that?

^ It was a snuff film, Rose.

Some Marvel series with that ugly guy from Heartfrauers

Motorola couldn’t put a Razr into either of their gift bags for the premiere….

They fear the edges are too sharp for a fight!

Three weeks in a rehearsal room plus the 2, 3 weeks of tech (they failed to mention that) is plenty of time. any decent director would have it blocked in week one, and the next weeks running, fixing, exploring, fine tuning. And then into tech. It's basically 150 hours to rehearse 90 minutes.

A Broadway play (not a musical) will usually only get one week of tech, not 2 or 3, r92, especially with just 2 actors and one set and, I'd imagine, not a lot of light and sound effects.

And while it's true rehearsals can continue during the daytime during previews, the actors still have to perform in front of an audience every night.

When I worked in shows we only got one tech performance before the dress rehearsal. Was never in a show that had previews.

R94. - Long standing member of The Gallery Players.

Between her nose and her chin she has a PERFECT Crescent Moon Face.

Never realized what a hideous profile LuPone has…

Roommates sounds a lot like “wicked”

LEFT profile only, Patti!

Amanda Farrow was her mother?

Rosemary's Baby grew up, transitioned, and became Patti.

Well Patti’s looking good these days, said no one ever.

“Put away the phone, you ingrate! THIS IS MY SHOW!”

[quote]R63 Three weeks rehearsal is not enough given their ages. That's putting alot of pressure on them to memorize lines, etc. I guess it helps that Patti and Mia aren't strangers but still.

Maybe they’d meet up before official rehearsals began to run lines together.

I wonder why the producers cut the rehearsal period short. What’s the major expense consideration… the rehearsal hall rental??

The teaser

What is the plot of The Roommate?

R89 I never heard of it, either.

I’m gonna go to the show and bring out my phone.

Don't know this for a fact but I'd bet the producers paid for intern types to sit with Mia and Patti in their homes going over lines with them for a couple of weeks before rehearsals formally began.

The stars can't pay for their own assistants to help with that?

The question would be more, would the producers pay Patti and Mia to learn their lines for two weeks before rehearsals began?

[quote]The stars can't pay for their own assistants to help with that?

First rule of being wealthy is never use your own money. It’s why Mia lived in a rent stabilized apartment for decades.

They could also drive themselves to the theater every day like normal working Americans, but they will have production funded drivers.

Lupone has quite the honker on her, doesn’t she?

R112 No one actually said they had these interns, though. Just speculation,

Mia posted a pic on instagram of her and Patti back in June. They were in someone's kitchen and Patti was holding a script. They probably ran lines on their own prior to rehearsals and I doubt they were paid or expected to be paid.

R106 see R68.

I am trying to think of a more abrasive pairing.

Bette Midler and Madonna?

Cyndi Lauper and Faye Dunaway?

Henry Rollins and Robert Downey Jr.?

Karen Black and Lauren Bacall?

Karen Black and anybody?

R117. Patti LuPone and Debra Winger. Oh. Wait.

That nose could poke an eye out.

Other than her contempt for Woody Allen's actions regarding Soon Yee and her allegations about her other children, I don't think Mia has ever had a reputation for being abrasive or difficult. Certainly not in her professional work. Quite the opposite, she's beloved within the industry.

Jack O'Brien interview from a couple of weeks ago. He talks about "The Roommate" near the start.

The play examines the disappearing act that society can force on less-powerful people, including older women. And portrays those all-but-sidelined individuals cannily subverting that erasure.

“That kind of invisibility — there’s a way that we internalize it, right?” says Jen Silverman. “And it does something to us to think of ourselves as invisible as well. But then there’s also a power inside it. What can you do when no one is looking?”

Jack O'Brien reported that Farrow and LuPone responded “almost chemically to the rhythms and the nuances so immediately recognizable and comfortable to them.”

[quote]The play examines the disappearing act that society can force on less-powerful people, including older women.

This is exactly what I think when I think Patti LuPone.

How old are the women in the play supposed to be? Is Mia playing a freshly divorced 80 year old?

You're only as old as you feel, r124.

According to this description of THE ROOMMATE, both characters are 50-something...

So, basically the ages of Mia's oldest children.

Miss Farrow and Miss LuPone are ageless. Spoken like a true press agent.

That would be like when I was a teenager, Ruth Gordon and Helen Hayes trying to play 50-somethings.

How Lupone continues to get work given her legendary mistreatment of fellow actors, crew, and fans is beyond me.

Does Patti or Mia play the lesbian?

We'll be sitting front row center opening night!

I’d pay to have Glenn Close sit in the audience and when Patti enters say, “Oh, Jesus.”

Video: Watch Patti LuPone Dazzle With Les Misérables and Gypsy Classics at Carnegie Hall

The three-time Tony winner recently returned to the famed concert venue with A Life in Notes.

[quote]The three-time Tony winner

Just three?

R134, that’s a DREADFUL performance. No nuance, no understanding of the song. Dreadful. And her PHRASING!

The play examines the disappearing act that society can force on less-powerful people, including older women.

This is exactly what I wish when I think Patti Lupone.

I don’t know about Sondheim & Patti’s relationship but despite some previous comments…he and Mia were quite close. I believe he was godfather to her younger kids.

[quote]That would be like when I was a teenager, Ruth Gordon and Helen Hayes trying to play 50-somethings.

Helen is 73 here and Millie is 68.

R139 To me that looks better than Mia with her altered face.

R139 Patricia Routledge was 61-66 on Keeping Up Appearances.

I did not know Mia Farrow had a voice for the stage.

Mia was in the play, Romantic Comedy, around '79-'80 on Broadway with Tony Perkins, which ran about 400 perf's. (She also did Love Letters, with Brian Dennehy.)

She also did the Virginia Woolf reading with Uta.

She was so moving in Love Letters. I wasn't expecting what a fine actor she is. But she's excellent in some of her Allen films. I think she's better than her mother.

[quote]I think she's better than her mother.

Seeing as her mother spent so much time swinging from vines in Tarzan movies, Mia had better material to work with.

My favorite scene in Hannah is with Mia, Maureen and the great Lloyd Nolan where Hannah referees a fight between her parents. It's a beautifully written scene and they all act the hell out of it.

Maureen O'Sullivan was in the long-running comedy (over 1000 performances) in the 1960s, Never Too Late (and repeated the role in the movie) - about a middle-aged wife and mother with a grown daughter who gets pregnant. She was in another hit show, in the early '80s, the revival of Morning's At Seven (which was also taped for TV). She was in a few other shows, too.

Maureen also worked on the stage.

R149 That's what I was saying.

I saw that revival of Mornings at Seven. With all the plastic surgery actresses get today It would be hard to cast it with people who looked 'normal.' As in weathered faces that had aged. That revival was a hit. I don't know if anyone would even go to see the play today.

R151. It was revived off Broadway a few years ago and closed quickly.

[quote]It was revived off Broadway a few years ago and closed quickly.

Judith Ivey left the production before it opened. I think she was injured. They had a temporary actress play the role until Alley Mills took over. So it may have been under rehearsed.

Patti's new recording is totally subpar. I can't believe she let it be released.

I hadn't seen this Patti interview before.

Stephen Sondheim hurt me!

[quote]Patti's new recording is totally subpar. I can't believe she let it be released.

She’s on Social Security. She has to bring in the money somehow. It’s either that or OnlyFans for Grannies. And we all know the Actor’s Home doesn’t accept troublemakers.

IBDB says there was also a 2002 Broadway revival of Morning's At Seven that ran 112 performances. The original (1939) ran 44 performances. The revival in 1980 had 564 (it also was successful on the road).

J

No surprise that Mia's bio does not mention Woody.

Mia I put in the category of impossible people who are talented, as I think she was and still is an extraordinary actress.

I have now experience with Lupone - is she deserving of her legend status, or is it all hot air and that Evita commercial from the 1970s? (I assume that was her).

Evita

R160, I'm not sure that answers my question....

Funny they mention the "classic" The Great Gatsby. She got mostly unfavorable reviews.

First preview is sold out!

How was it Marsha?

First Look At Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow In THE ROOMMATE On Broadway

R165. Photo credit: Marsha Mason

LuPone looks like Vincent Gardenia in a wig.

The definition of hatchet-faced.

At least the wig looks like hair and not broomstick straw!

R165, Patti really looks like a bad drag queen.

R170 it’s like a revival of Wicked, but set in an old-folks home and Glinda stuck her finger in a socket!

R171, that's a shockingly apt putdown. I could see them playing those roles.

R171. Patti is playing a lez so maybe she sticks her finger in Mia's socket.

The set has a staircase?!

R174. Staircase???!!! Fuck that

Odd that only a single photo has been released.

R176 that was probably the best photo they could release.

R176. Somebody probably snapped a pic with their iPhone during a dress rehearsal. They usually don't have a photo call until close to opening.

new interview

While Farrow is content out of the spotlight, she describes her decision to do the production: "It was perhaps a feeling of maybe, 'Is this it? Or might there be one last adventure?' Meaning never do anything else for the reminder of my days? I'm very good at doing nothing."

LuPone counters her feeling, "I don't have Mia's mindset; I wish I did. I'm not good not working. I don't know what to do in spare time. I get extremely depressed because I feel useless."

When asked how she measures success, LuPone states: "I think it's longevity, I really do. I think if you're still working, If you're still vital, if they still want you to work at this time, that's success."

CBS news

I would rather talk to Mia than eat lunch!

And LuPone is playing a dyke in this? Considering her legendary caneface, that works.

MIa should take a cue from her young self on Peyton Place and cut her hair. The 80-year-old hippie with a face lift look is not good.

Well Patti is definitely wearing a wig for the play. I wondered if maybe she had grown her hair since the Seth Meyers interview.

The Roommate is a comedy about "an unexpected, life-changing friendship," a release says, "between two different middle-aged women as they navigate the complexities of identity, morality and the dream of reinvention."

The story is about two middle aged women? How many 150 year old women do you know??

I think Mia thought cutting her hair while on PP would cause the producers to fire her. Instead it set a (stupid) trend of young girls all over the USA chopping their hair off. I think Mia pre-dated Twiggy's cut. She was stunning with her long blonde hair and looked the virginial innocent she was playing on PP. The short cropped Allison Mackenzie was rather sullen for the rest of her run.

Broadway turned out to see favorites Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow for the first weekend of The Roommate, the new Jen Silverman play at the Booth. In its first weekend of previews, The Roommate played to over 100% of the Booth’s capacity, grossing $315,873 for four previews.

New York Times

LuPone said that Annette Bening was their first choice for her part, but producer Chris Harper and director Jack O’Brien said that isn’t true.

Yikes that New York Times photo didn’t do any of them any favors!

LuPone said, “Whatever anybody thinks about me is untrue. Period."

Mia looks like the love child of Sissy Spacek and Amy Carter.

Patti resigned from the labor union Actors’ Equity but is able to work on Broadway because of the Supreme Court’s “financial core” ruling, which makes it possible for a dues-paying nonunion member to work a union job.

There's no risk, there's no call

For any action at all

When you have unions on your side

A new Broadway drama

the chains of Equity untied

A new Broadway drama

The talent of this diva cannot be denied

The thing I don't get about the production is--if it's about two middle-aged women, why not just cast two middle-aged women? There are middle-aged stars. Did these two women put up the money?

[quote]r194 Patti is able to work on Broadway because of the Supreme Court’s “financial core” ruling, which makes it possible for a dues-paying nonunion member to work a union job.

[italic]Give ‘em hell, Patti![/italic]

Just keep an eye on that Farrow bitch. She’s probably the Equity Deputy, and keeping notes on you to slip back to headquarters.

I hear Ronan Farrow's voice is heard in a phone call to Mia's character as her son. If Mia's supposed to playing 50, is Ronan supposed to be 25?

What about how Patti wanted to play Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Liz McCann the producer wanted her then all of a sudden Edward Albee decided she was too completely on the nose for it.

“How can an actor be too on the nose for a role? I thought, ‘What the [expletive].’ Whatever.”

Patti and Edward disagreed on her interpretation. She wanted Matha to have a musical number and sing The Long and Winding Road but Edward said no.

Edward almost approved the casting, but then Gary Morton talked him out of it!

Boy that’s a nasty profile of Patti.

Too "on the nose" indeed!

Patti’s got quite the schnoz! Yikes.

[quote] What about how Patti wanted to play Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Martha would not be a stretch for Patti. She could just play herself.

I feel like just picturing Patti as Martha in Virginia Woolf, you’ve already seen the whole production in your head.

R206 - Terri Klausner

Please remember that DL icon Sharon Scruggs was Terri Klausner‘s understudy for GOBLIN MARKET.

That is all.

Terri & Mary Flynn

There is only Lupone who can lead Mia Farrow and team

Forget Annette Bening, on stage she is dull as Lyn Greene

She's amusing, when she's boozing, but then sometimes she is bruising

If not - how can our Patti be?

I like Mia Farrow’s performances and am somehow able to forget everything I know about her personal life and drama, and simply enjoy her acting.

But I came to this thread primarily to see if anyone had mentioned Patti’s amazing schnozz. Thank you, DL, you do not disappoint.

I saw Ms LuPone in almost everything, from “EVITA” To “War Paint”. A fan of epic proportions! I saw her in concerts and would fly to New York just to see her in whatever she was in. That was of course until I attended a performance at the Berman Center in West Bloomfield, MI, where she appeared with Seth Rudetsky. You had to have been a real fan to attend this event, but alas someone in the audience made a fateful error and took out her phone. She stopped the show, and the vulgarities flew out of Miss LuPones mouth and she berated the entire audience on their lack of ‘public manners’ for over 10 minutes.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate her message, but the delivery is wrong.

I vowed then and there never to fork over another cent to see her. I went into mourning, and it was years before I could even listen to her recordings.

Sorry, but her talent doesn’t make up for her own rude behavior.

You witnessed a legend become unglued … and regret it??

Patti’s nose a show stopper.

I saw the show on Sunday and it is absolutely delightful. These two pros even seemed to drop a couple of lines which made them all the more wonderful. Don’t miss it.

Patti is her own worst enemy.

Maybe Patti should play Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

Surely Albee would not think she is too on the nose for that.

R218

I just saw the play. It is definitely a trifle but with acting this grand, not sure it matters. And much of it is laugh out loud funny.

Patti’s nose is more spacious than my EV’s frunk!

If they're both such great actresses, maybe halfway thru the run they could switch roles and see how it plays out.

Mia doesn’t want to have to say the word “Fag.” Ronan forbids it.

Patti, on the other hand...

R223. It's because Woody called him that when he was 12 years old! It's what Mia used to completely manipulate Ronan to her side.

Question to Jack O'Brien.

What drew you to The Roommate, and how did you convince Patti and Mia to co-star?

We’re friends. After all these years in the business, I can call people and say, “Do you want to do this with me?” The play had been done several places, but not seriously, and when it came to me, I thought it was fantastic. Who’s writing parts for women that age? No one. Here’s a woman author writing about middle-aged women. I thought, “I’ve gotta have a hand in this.”

I feel like Patti is starting to look like the Punch logo.

R226 “I’ve got to have a hand in this!”

- we wish you wouldn’t.

If The Roommate is a big fat hit after the reviews come out could they possibly extend the run with other actresses? Meryl and Glennie have always wanted to do a play together.

[quote]These two pros even seemed to drop a couple of lines which made them all the more wonderful.

Why did that make them more wonderful?

Star actresses are not allowed to get old anymore. Contrary to popular opinion they could in the past. That's why you could have Gish and Hepburn as old people. Men too. Though I know people were unnerved by seeing how old Astaire had gotten when they saw Finian's Rainbow and Ray Milland in Love Story.

Patti wins by a nose!

R231 Milland also didn't wear his toupee in Love Story.

I love how actors and actresses used to grow old. Ethel Barrymore is one of my favorites. Can you imagine her with a lot of botox and junk, trying to act 50, with long hair? I have no problem with actors being their ages.

I thought it was a weak script (IMHO), but Mia and Patti make up for it by giving great performances. It was funny, sweet, a little sad. Ronan playing Mia's son came as a complete surprise ;)

These two pros even seemed to drop a couple of lines which made them all the more wonderful.

I bet Jen Silverman didn't find it so wonderful.

What about when they start to campaign for awards opposite each other??!

Jack O'Brien says

The play had been done several places, but not seriously,

FU - S. Epatha Merkerson

[quote]I vowed then and there never to fork over another cent to see her. I went into mourning, and it was years before I could even listen to her recordings.

MARY!

R229 Or maybe even some age-appropriate ones.

[quote] What about when they start to campaign for awards opposite each other??!

This show will be long forgotten by April.

Are they going to open SNL50?

Mia doesn't seem like the type to care about awards. Patti, on the other hand........

Nobody cares about this outside NYC

[quote]Nobody cares about this outside NYC

I'm outside NYC

I care

I'm somebody

No, you aren't.

Jen Silverman has added a new moment.

Patti: What's that smell?

Mia: It's tannis root. It fends off lesbian sexual advances.

Patti: I don't appreciate such cheap tactics.

Mia: Cheap? Do you know how expensive tannis root is?!

Playwright Jen Silverman Talks all thing The Roommate on Broadway

Patti and Mia are so gracious and generous!

I wonder if they carpool in together from Connecticut.

They fly parallel brooms.

Somehow Patti is doing this show and her one woman show in Chicago simultaneously on October 4.

She has too much talent for just one stage.

New photos!

Looks like there is the genre de rigueur weed smoking scene.

A friend saw it and loved it.

Don’t miss my cameo!

NYTimes review

Variety

Ronan at the premiere. Pic on the DailyMail though so can't link.

Why do all the old ladies who have work done on their faces have those enormous lips?

It’s getting good reviews. Mia seems to fare the best out of the two. Possible Tony nod?

Has Patti always looked like that?

R263. Yes but Mia hasn't always looked like that.

They need to see your lips from the back of the house.

It’s required.

I thought there would be a bigger celebrity turnout for the opening.

Mia to her plastic surgeon: My lips. What have you done to my lips?

Surgeon: I've given you your mother's lips.

Mia: You maniac!

Vulture

I've reached my monthly article limit for Vulture.

Farrow and LuPone are fun to watch — especially Farrow, whose church-mouse character gradually blossoms with the demurely unhinged glee of a midwestern Mephistopheles — and Silverman has written a good number of funny things for them to say. Their chemistry is spicy and real, and there’s nothing wrong with having a straight-up good time. The trouble is that there’s something weird and sour going on in Silverman’s play that precludes uncomplicated enjoyment of its comedy but never quite touches anything really profound. Beneath its veneer, The Roommate is in an on-again, off-again relationship with its own conscience. It doesn’t know quite what it wants to do or say, or, crucially, exactly how bad it wants to break.

... It may be given a glossy sheen and a smattering of good punch lines in The Roommate, but it sends us out into the night with the dull sensation of wondering what exactly we were clapping for.

Deadline

The Roommate will continue to sell out with Patti and Mia. Given the meh reviews for the play itself I doubt it will continue without them.

Patti looks so uncomfortable on the stairs like that.

Mia has COVID

Review roundup

Do they mean Mia's replacement is Carol Halstead?

What will Patti do if everyone demands refunds because Mia isn't there? I certainly would.

Soon-Yi is ready to step in. Again.

Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow Take Opening Night Bows

Say, is Patti eating a banana on OP's photo?

Ronan’s pics…I hope he lays off the plastic surgery. He’s only 36, and he was gorgeous before he started tinkering. Leave it alone!

I'm wondering if Jack O'Brien will convince his ass't director Marsha Mason to go on for Mia this week so as not to lose all that box office momentum.

Oh Joshua Johnston in the opening pics is Patti's son.

Naturally a diva has a son that is actually attractive and of course he’s straight!

Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow Backstage

So Marsha will be on for Mia today SCRIPT IN HAND. Fuck that. I would still get a refund.

R287, link?

Marsha Mason subbing for Patti (not Mia) might actually get me to the theater.

Marsha should have had both parts DOWN before rehearsals even began.

How dare she make Patti take a step back in the process like this.

Marsha Mason Steps Into Broadway's ‘The Roommate' For Covid-Struck Mia Farrow

"I was called to step in by the producers while enjoying a lovely Sunday morning in Connecticut, and of course, came right to the City,” said Mason, who has played numerous roles on stage (The Prisoner of Second Avenue), film (The Goodbye Girl) and TV (The Middle). “These moments in the theater are equally exciting and terrifying, and the audience helped make it a fun ride. I was exhilarated to play opposite Patti and especially heartened to be able to pinch hit for my Connecticut dear friend and neighbor, Mia, who is quite marvelous in the role."

Mason will perform at least partially with script in hand.

I thought at first this Marsha Mason assistant director just happened to have the same name but now realize it is THE Marsha Mason, actress.

pic of Marsha and Patti.

The show has an understudy, Carol Halstead, but apparently opted to go with Mason, who is far better known, and whose own name recognition might help stanch cancellations by ticketholders hoping to see Farrow.

Terri Klausner was available, but…

Marsha Mason has four Oscar nominations against Mia and Patti’s combined zero. I’m sure she’ll do fine.

So you can get a job as an understudy, show up, do the work, be ready….and they’ll stick in the assistant director with script in hand? And there’s no union protection against that? Dang, showbiz is the cruelest mistress.

The understudy was paid, r297. End of story.

This scenario is more than a little Valley of the Dolls. Patti was not happy that Mia was getting the better reviews. The only hit that comes out of a Patti LuPone show is Patti LuPone. The barracuda with the hard core had to tie a can to that little broad's tale. And she's from Long Island so Patti knows people. All it took was spiking Mia's Bigelow Whispering Wildflowers Tea and voila! Mia is out and Marsha is in.

I'm seeing lots of references to 'middle aged women'. Even the director mentioned 'middle aged' so I assume it's a significant part of the storyline. Do the characters have 20 something children, lovers, hot flashes, jobs? Is there dialogue that sounds totally absurd out of the mouth of an 80 year old?

Patti looks like the child stealer on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Jack O'Brien interview of 5 days ago.

Wonder who will be on tomorrow night. Mia? Marsha? Carol? Jack?

WE WANT S. EPATHA! WE WANT S. EPATHA!

What’s Sara Porkalob up to? If she just has to hold a script she can give 50%.

Marsha will be on tonite.

Marsha orchestrated this whole gdamn thing, for her own benefit and adulation.

I feel bad for the understudy; what’s the point of having one if they’re not going to use her?

Why do you feel bad for her? She is still being paid.

I hope audiences appreciate the chance of hitting the disgusting cunt Mia with rotten food, if she ever returns from her "COVID," and if Patti gets tomato seeds and rotten Romaine chunks on her costumes, at least it will be fun seeing her go nuts over it.

Who the hell does Marsha Mason think she is?

Jack O'Brien's assistant to star

What kind of promotion is that?

Patti LuPone deserves better than Neil Simon's cast-off

If The Roommate can do without Mia than Patti Lupone can do without The Roommate

Marsha is a legend. How many Oscar nominations do you have, R311?

Opening night stars footage just released.

[quote]So you can get a job as an understudy, show up, do the work, be ready….and they’ll stick in the assistant director with script in hand? And there’s no union protection against that? Dang, showbiz is the cruelest mistress.

What r298 and r309 said, r297. The understidy's union protection is that she gets paid as if she went on.

It isn't like this is unprecedented. John Hill and Kevin Spirtas (I know - who?) were respectively Hugh Jackman's understudy and standby in The Boy From Oz. When Jackman was out for a week, the show took a hiatus.

Who's gonna tell r312 that r311 is parodying a verse from Evita?

Choo-choo 😢🚂

Marsha takes a bow

Marsha should have won for Only When I Laugh.

Broadway's fallen for the charms of sweet Marsha

She has stepped over Covid, without causing fuss

She's the white way's Madonna with the golden touch

She filled the Booth Theatre's 800 capacity seater

But if you're prettier than Mia Farrow that's not hard

Marsha is now plotting to get rid of Patti and bring in Kristy McNichol.

Harvey interview posted in last 24 hours and mentions The Roommate.

I even liked working with Bette Midler!

That was a wonderful interview, R320. And Marsha was right - the interviewer was incredibly prepared and very kind.

She is a wise person. I got a lot out of some of her meditations.

I wanted her to talk about The Roommate, of course!

Mia must still have Mob connections from her Sinatra days.

Marsha better not get too comfortable up there. She best [italic]watch her fuckin’ ass.

So, wait! Was Jane Karkowski the only "star" who showed up on opening night??

Goodbye, girl!

What if Marsha is Tony nominated for her performance, and neither Mia or Patti are??

R326 I’ll tear up my Equity card!!!

Oh, wait…

lots of vacant seats for today's matinee.

Marsha Mason stepped into the role on book. Mia has understudy Carol Halstead. Why not use her?

Is it better for box office receipts to have Marsha be on book than to use the understudy who presumably has rehearsed the role off book?

Mia, honey, you did it all wrong. It’s not the lips on your face that need to be seen all the way to the back of the room………let me come back stage and show you what I mean.

Mia should not be left alone at this time.

There should be guards posted outside her door.

Wonder if Marsha can play both parts. If Patti is going to Chicago in October someone else is presumably playing her part.

^^ My. GOD!

Marsha is a MONSTER if she’s planning a 1-woman show like that!

Lots of tickets available for tonight.

Mia was what the people were coming to see.

Definitely not the fishwife or that horrible Mason person!

Patti's IMDB pic shows her so young.

[quote]r335 Mia was what the people were coming to see.

Has she realized this, and is pulling some Olde School contract (re)negotiation? SPOILER: there is no Covid!

Marsha hasn't learned the lines you'd like to hear

She won't go scrambling over the script just to be accepted

She's too busy eating batches of creamy fudge and dating Troy Garity

R336 That’s her “I hate Bill Smitrovich” smile.

The New Yorker

Not good when a whole row of the mezzanine is available.

Two dykes, one really shitty script, and a nose that Jimmy Durante would call applauding.

What the fuck could go wrong…………

I get Marsha Mason and Jill Clayburgh confused. I saw one in Pippin, one in The Rothschilds and one in Barefoot in the Park. Isn't one dead?

Jill is dead.

Mia beware of the biddy

Marsha's hungry and old

Can't be controlled, she's a cad!

Don't be confused by her spiritual soul

It's an act and she's just a bum, mid-western Catholic crumb,

Too fond of navy rum, she's deranged.

Hey you - Marsha Mason

I've spew and I wanna spew it all over you

It will stick like glue

You get outta here, Marsha Mason

Stand down! You oughta know I hate you with a glee

You have none of Mia's star quality!

Jill died, but Erica lives.

Mia is back on stage.

Don't cry for me Patti Lupone

The truth is I never left you

All through my illness

Covid existence

I kept my promise

Return appearance

Mia comes back

Goodbye and thank you dear Marsha

You've completed your task

There's no more to be asked of you now

Please make your way through the aisle and front door

That will be all, if we need you we'll call

But we don't think that's likely somehow

MARSHA: I don't expect my fill-in jobs to last for long / Never fool myself a big check will come through / Remembering limos, I dream of a Rolls Royce / I resent Elaine Joyce, wouldn't you? / So what happens now?

PATTI: Another blowjob in another stall

MARSHA: So what happens now?

PATTI: Put your mouth around another ball

MARSHA: Where am I going to?

PATTI: You'll get wed, you always have before

MARSHA: Where am I going to?

PATTI: Don’t ask anymore

Now I feel the roaring fire that burned in Neil

When he wrote his greatest plays

Fueled by the love and passion of his Muse

And now she is mine: Marsha

R324 So, wait! Was Jane Karkowski the only "star" who showed up on opening night??

and Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Joy Behar, Wendell Pierce, Marc Shaiman, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kathy Najimy, Cindy Adams, and a bunch of others I have never heard of.

More red carpet pics.

Oh but it's sad when an acting job dies

I'm back to mopping the floors

Darling Patti left note that she'd treasure our time

But Mia wrote up yours

[quote] Mia is a psycho

MIA IS BITCH

[quote]and Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Joy Behar, Wendell Pierce, Marc Shaiman, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kathy Najimy, Cindy Adams, and a bunch of others I have never heard of.

More stars than there are in heaven!

R355, that is a shocking display of unattractive people in show business. When you see someone attractive, you stop on the picture and think "they must have felt so alone at this premier".

It's Broadway, not Hollywood. You don't have to beautiful to be on Broadway.

Those opening night red carpet photos are unflattering to even the prettiest people. Between the garish lighting and the bad angles, no one wins. I'd never pose for them (not that anyone's asked).

interviews. Jen Silverman is like a 12 year old boy.

Is her middle name Annie?

Annie Rexic?

I scrolled past a picture of her and assumed it was someone’s 12 year old son. Yikes. They/Them I assume.

O'Brien's next project is Ibsen's "Ghosts" at Lincoln Center. Will Mrs. Alving be Marsha, Mia, or Patti?

I had never heard of Bridget Everett until now. But fat girls shouldn't wear strapless dresses.

Mia looks the same on stage and off.

I hear Jack O'Brien's GHOSTS at LCT will star Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Hawke's 2 kids (with Uma).

They/Them I assume.

Not sure about Jen Silverman. But Murray Hill definitely.

Two iconic celebrities muddle through a contemporary Broadway play that has very little to say about anything.

I haven’t seen the play but every review suggests that the characters are empty stereotypes. If you asked a person from Timbuktu about Iowa they’d say farms, uncultured yokels and timid blonde women. Ask them about the Bronx they’d say leather jackets and gaudy gold jewlery and domineering personalities. It’s fascinating that a gender neutral youngish American playwright has leaned on these tropes. If I wrote a play that featured a gender neutral they/them character who lives in Brooklyn, wears Birkenstocks, works as a barista in a vegan coffee shop and has a 12 year old boys haircut they’d hit the ceiling at my shallow writing.

Even switching the actors would add some depth but Patti as a New York lesbian in Tony Soprano’s jacket is too on the nose.

In modern days a glimpse of leather

is looked upon as kink forever

in Broadway shows, character clothes

OMG R355 Those pics are tragic! At least Michael Arden has dropped that weight. The threesomes and foursomes with Andy Mentius might be more comfortable now. Thank God I don't do red carpets anymore. The only one that looks good is Laura Bell Bundy probably cause she left NYC.

Jesus Christ those red carpet photos were horrific!

Everyone looks bloated and bad!

With Mia back attendance this week is said to be at 85% of capacity. Wednesday matinee sold well, but lots of seats available for Wednesday evening.

I have tickets the last week of October, I hope it holds on to at least that time!

Curtain call for Mia's return. I hope Patti didn't spot the crumb filming.

The sets look so cheap. The costumes are cheap. Joan Jett and Cindy Brady donated their old wigs. Unless Patti and Mia are being paid a small fortune then this should be making a profit if it sells 70%.

Speaking of salaries I assume it's equal money. Patti dismissively rolled her eyes at the idea of Annette Bening being offered the part so she won't take 'but movie star' as a reason for being paid less.

Lupone is extremely UGLY in op’s pic and I’m getting really tired of seeing it on here all of the time.

r377, is that really the curtain call for Mia's return or is it actually opening night?

Yes I think it is opening night unless Ronan and Joshua came back again for Mia's return. The footage was only released recently.

This guy's review

I love how they do 1pm Wed and Thurs matinees. Hell, since the play is only 90 mins long you can see it on your lunch hour.

The Roommate is the perfect play to see on your lunch hour with your Pret sandwich and bag of chips on your lap.

Bang-Bang Chicken Wrap would be particularly marvelous!

Today's matinee cancelled (9/28). Apparently, Patti is ill.

R385, and the audience was seated when it was announced

R385 Jesus that is frustrating. Surely she would have tested prior to the audience being seated

Is it now Marsha and Mia as the odd couple?

Aha there is no performance on Friday anyway to accommodate Patti's show in Chicago. But next performance of this show is Tuesday night and it has a lot of tickets available.

I wonder if the reason Mia and Patti keep getting sick is they go to a lot of unmasked sex parties (?)

They need to reel in the harlotry and cross their legs until the show closes.

Did they both go on for the 9/28 evening show?

Sorry, but there must have been some really weird shit going on backstage if they didn't know Patti was unable to go on (Or tested + for Covid) until after the entire audience was seated. That's just crazy........

Marsha locked Patti in her dressing room and wouldn't give the key.

Evening performance also cancelled.

Girls, GIRLS!! You’re BOTH walking vectors of disease!

They should change that cheap set to a hospital room for the rest of the run.

The scene where Patti is prone on the staircase did in her back. No doubt, an idea that came from Marsha.

Oh r384 you Americans never let anything, even watching a play, get in the way of you eating.

I’m rooting g for COVID!

Was today's matinee cancelled?

Next performance advertised is Tuesday evening,

9/29 matinee cancelled as well. They only have one understudy for both parts.

But they have Marsha!