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State Theatre presents Patti LuPone: Don't Monkey with Broadway

originally published: 03/16/2023 

Photo by Rahav

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The fully renovated State Theatre New Jersey presents Patti LuPone: Don’t Monkey with Broadway on Saturday, March 25 at 8:00pm. The Broadway legend and three-time Tony® Award-winner will be performing classic Broadway show tunes. Tickets range from $39-$69.

Known for her extraordinary career on Broadway, in Don’t Monkey with Broadway, LuPone will share how her life-long love affair with Broadway began through the likes of Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jule Styne, Stephen Schwartz, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. Don’t Monkey with Broadway is conceived and directed by Scott Wittman with music direction by Joseph Thalken.

Recently, LuPone won the 2022 Tony® Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, for her role as Joanne in Marianne Elliott’s critically acclaimed production of the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical Company. She previously received two Tony® Awards for her performances in the original Broadway production of Evita and the 2008 Broadway production of Gypsy.

Her other stage credits include War Paint, Shows for Days, The Seven Deadly Sins, Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Sweeney Todd, Noises Off, The Old Neighborhood, Master Class, Anything Goes, Oliver!, Accidental Death of An Anarchist, The Water Engine, The Robber Bridegroom, Company , Master Class, Sunset Boulevard, Les Misérables, and The Cradle Will Rock.

LuPone has also been featured in popular films and television programs including Beau is Afraid, The School for Good and Evil, Last Christmas, Cliffs of Freedom, The Comedian, Parker, Union Square, Driving Miss Daisy, Witness, Hollywood, Pose, Mom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Penny Dreadful, Girls, American Horror Story (NYC and Coven), 30 Rock, Glee, Frasier, and three seasons as Libby Thatcher on ABC’s Life Goes On.

 

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Additionally, LuPone has appeared in the opera performances of The Ghosts of Versailles (LA Opera), To Hell and Back (SF Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra), The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (LA Opera-debut), and Regina (Kennedy Center). She was also a founding member of both the Drama Division of The Juilliard School and John Houseman’s The Acting Company. LuPone is the author of the New York Times best-seller Patti LuPone: A Memoir.   

For tickets, more information, or group discounts, call State Theatre Guest Services at 732-246-SHOW (7469) or visit online at STNJ.org. State Theatre Guest Services, located at 15 Livingston Ave, New Brunswick NJ, is open by phone and email only, Tuesday through Friday from 11:00am to 5:00pm. For in-person purchases, Guest Services is open Tuesday through Friday from 12:00pm to 4:30pm. Additional ticket and transaction fees may apply. 

After major renovations, State Theatre New Jersey has reopened and celebrated its 100th Anniversary in December 2021 in a fully renovated theater including newly renovated lobbies, all new restrooms, upgraded HVAC systems, a new elevator for access to all levels, and brand-new theater seats. Originally built as a silent film and vaudeville palace, State Theatre’s historic significance was honored by PBS by featuring it in its documentary series, Treasures of New Jersey, in the fall of 2018. “Treasures of New Jersey: State Theatre New Jersey” can be streamed online.

Today, State Theatre is the largest performing arts center in Central New Jersey and has welcomed more than six million people through its doors since reopening as a non-profit performing arts center in 1988. State Theatre New Jersey is a cornerstone of the cultural vitality of Middlesex County and averages a total economic impact on New Brunswick and the surrounding area of more than $18 million a year. The mainstage programs have featured high-caliber artists such as Diana Ross, Tony Bennett, Kevin Hart, Ringo Starr, Melissa Etheridge, John Leguizamo, Harry Connick, Jr., Diana Krall, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Program offerings include Broadway, orchestra, family, dance, comedy, rock/pop, jazz, Performances for Schools, and Sensory-Friendly Performances. 

State Theatre New Jersey’s programs are made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.