Last night my friend Jill and I went to see Mandy Patinkin in concert at Miami's Arsht Center. I wasn't all that familiar with his work, but I never turn down a free concert ticket. (Jill won them from a radio contest.)
Patinkin, Mandy, and Paul Gemignani. Dress Casual. New York: CBS Records, Inc, 1990. The guy has an AMAZING voice. He's right up there with Caruso, Caputo, and Pavarotti. It's hard to believe that he is in his mid-50's--his voice is liquid. He hits notes that are too high for some prepubescent choir boys. To hear for yourself, visit mandypatinkin.org.
Like most one-man shows, Mandy's performance was pretty intense. He talked about growing up in Chicago, friends he lost to AIDS, and the melancholia he experienced while studying at New York City's Julliard School. (My grandma went there, too!)
Rodgers, Richard, and Oscar Hammerstein. Carousel Song Album. London: Williamson Music, 1956. He performed an amazing rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Soliloquy, and he talked about how Carousel was the first play he ever performed in when he was a young teenager. (Me, too, but I was just a chorus girl.)
Carousel, 1982.ps. Here's John Raitt's rendition of Soliloquey. Mandy Patinkin's is better, but you gotta love Bonnie Raitt's dad.
