Patti LuPone chats versatility, phones and possible Broadway return

Rest assured, Patti LuPone binge-watches television just like the rest of us.

(Right now she's catching up on "House of Cards," "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" and "Homeland").

It's just that nearly everything else she does cements her status as a true original.

As an actor, she's hard to peg, with a rich background and diverse legacy of bold characters brought to life on stage and screen.

EXCLUSIVE:  Betty Buckley proves it's never too late to chase dreams

She's also hard to predict, propelling herself into the headlines again last year for snatching a cellphone from a texting audience member.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

"That’s always been sort of my calling card, versatility," the two-time Tony and Grammy Award-winner said in a phone interview. "I don’t have a favorite anything. It limits you. If this is your favorite, then everything sort of leans in that direction and you don’t get to experience all the other interesting things out there. Sometimes I wonder whether I should have stuck with one thing, but that’s not who I am. I’m extremely curious, and my training also dictated a love for the versatile. To me, the most interesting thing about my career is the variety in it, and the surprise."

LuPone will be performing at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts at Ocean County College in Toms River on Oct. 1.

She describes her cabaret "Far Away Places," as a "travelogue" filled with songs she loves to sing.

COLUMN: Broadway's battle with cellphones rages on

The evening will include pieces from songwriters Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, Willie Nelson, Kurt Weill, Edith Piaf, Frederick Hollander, the BeeGees and more.

LuPone recently finished a run as Helena Rubinstein in the world premiere of the musical "War Paint" at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. The show is widely expected to move to Broadway, perhaps as early as spring. It's a safe bet LuPone will move with it.

"An announcement is forthcoming is basically the only thing I can say," she said.

The run got largely positive reviews, and LuPone agrees.

"The creative staff is so talented. Christine Ebersole was just brilliant as Elizabeth Arden and we have a really, really phenomenal company of actors. It was beautiful. Every element of the creative staff is so impressive. Costumes, set design and our composer, our lyricist, our bookwriter, our director, choreographer, all of it."

LuPone does have one qualm about a potential return to the Great White Way, and it links back to her stance on cellphone use in theaters.

"I’m concerned about (phones) when I go back on Broadway," she said. "Everybody is in agreement. Nobody in the theater wants this to happen, nobody. There’s not an actor out there who says 'yeah, yeah, let the cellphones go off.' I think if I get so frustrated, I’ll just pack up my dressing room and go home," she sighed.

She says the distractions wrought by phone users are indicative of a bigger societal issue.

EXCLUSIVE: Kristin Chenoweth on inspiration, 'dream album' and blackjack

"Respect, courtesy, consideration for the person next to you is gone, if people think they bought a ticket and they can do what they want, especially when an announcement is made. Then what is their excuse when they hear the announcement that it is illegal, it is forbidden? How can they then say 'I can do what I want?' Is that how they live their lives? Are they anarchists? ... But if that’s the way you think as just a human being, whoa. Is that what you do in church? Is that what you do in the library? Is that what do you when your partner is talking to you? Is that what you do when you interact all the time? I think that society has become so isolated because of all the electronics we have."

She says she wishes house management and even audiences themselves would get more involved when there is a person texting, scrolling or filming, adding that she would take that type of disturbance in the audience over phone use any day.

"I went and saw 'The Chairs' years ago on Broadway and some audience member was laughing his head off and another audience member was kicking him. There was a little fight going on and it was more exciting than what was going on on stage — but that’s live theater. Cellphones going off is not live theater."

She also adds that house staff need to be vigilant.  "It shouldn’t be up to the actors. It should really be house management and ushers that take care of it the minute they see it. They’re in the house and they’re watching. What audiences also don’t realize is how many times we don’t stop the show."

While stopping "Shows for Days" at Lincoln Center may have been extreme ("the day that that incident happened, it was a nightmare from the matinee down to the evening show," she said), it was effective, LuPone said, adding signs went up and there was only one cellphone interruption the rest of the run. She's had other run-ins with gadget-grasping audience members in the past.

If it comes down to it, she says, do what needs to be done.

"Stop the show — stop the show. I think if the audience gets scared of being humiliated, and shows will be stopped and they will be thrown out, I think people will think better of it."

While she's enjoyed a successful string of film and television appearances, including a recent run on the popular "Penny Dreadful," LuPone says the stage always will be home.

"I think for the actor, the stage is their medium. If you’re on television or film, there’s a lot more people in control of your performance. You might give a certain performance, and then the editor and the director will determine what they think is better for you and it. When I’m on stage, that doesn’t happen at all. The curtain goes up, it’s between the actor and the audience. That’s it," she said.

EXCLUSIVE:  'Sugar!' film sweet to Alice Ripley

LuPone's appearance kicks off a season for the Grunin Center that also includes Arlo Guthrie, Ramsey Lewis and John Pizzarelli, Urban Bush Women, The Celtic Tenors and much more, including a full complement of stage shows and holiday events. For more information, visit grunincenter.org.

Ilana Keller: 732-643-4260; ikeller@gannettnj.com

PATTI LuPONE'S 'Far Away Places'

WHEN: 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 1 (Dinner 6:30 p.m.)

WHERE:  Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts, College Drive, Toms River

TICKETS: From $64, Dinner and show $99-$109

INFORMATION:  732-255-0500 or visit grunincenter.org/