[title]
Yesterday was the birthday of two of the most exciting women in show business: brassy Broadway legend Patti LuPone, the star of Evita and Gypsy; and bawdy alt-cabaret powerhouse Bridget Everett, the Amazon queen of the downtown scene. There’s a cosmic rightness to the fact that they were both born on April 21 (albeit nearly 25 years apart). Not only do both women have supernova voices, but they also share a balls-out, what-the-hell freedom that sweeps you up joyfully in their hurricanes.
In their honor, we offer you this amazing piece-of-history video:
The occasion? An April 9 roast of Everett at a benefit for Ars Nova, the coolest Off Broadway company in New York. When Everett took the stage at the end, she was joined by LuPone for a kicky duet of the Hall & Oates classic “Rich Girl.” It was a moment that no one present will soon forget, especially when (at the 2:30 mark) LuPone threw herself head-first into the Bridget Everett experience.
Is this a Judy-Barbra combo for a new generation? We need to see more of them together to find out. But seriously: We need to see more of them together.
Meanwhile, Everett can be seen this summer at Joe’s Pub with her band the Tender Moments, as well as in a reprise of her breakthrough 2014 show, Rock Bottom. Starting in June, LuPone will star at Lincoln Center, opposite her Ugly Betty son, Michael Urie, in Douglas Carter Beane’s new backstage comedy, Shows for Days. Don’t miss them.