Patinkin draws enthusiastic Eastman crowd By Amanda B. Cronkhite Campus Times (Rochester) Mandy Patinkin, who won a Tony in 1980 for "Evita," an Emmy in 1995 for "Chicago Hope" and a cult following in 1987 for "The Princess Bride," wowed an enthusiastic crowd at the Eastman Theatre to the tune of two encores on Sunday night. For two hours, the man best-known in college circles as "Indigo Montoya" sang a variety of classic showtunes, with the assistance of pianist Paul Fordin. The duo played selections by such legends as Hammerstein and Sondheim, who Patinkin affectionately referred to as "Oscar and Steve." A character without a play But he did more than just sing - he put his heart, soul and body into every song, opening with "Stormy Weather" and ending his second encore with the crowd-pleasing "Oh What A Circus," from "Evita." He also showed the crowd his sense of humor. Not many performers could sing "A Tisket, A Tasket" in two voices (with a bullhorn and a notepad for props) and ask a woman in the front row if she planned on breast-feeding. Following that, Patinkin sang a slow, painfully true love song, all the while holding his audience's attention and maintaining his credibility. Patinkin injected life into the performance, as well. As much as he had the audience laughing, he reminded everyone that his son Gideon said, "Look Dad, you're no Robin Williams." Selections included "Sam You Made the Pants Too Long," "Cohen Owes Me 97 Dollars" and "Honeybun," as well as a well-known song from "The Music Man" during which he had the entire audience singing along. "Every time I finish that song I understand why Robert Preston's dead," he said panting. He continued with a slow ballad and said, "The main purpose of this song is for me to catch my breath." Nothing engaged the audience more though than what he did at the end of his second number - counting 14 empty seats in the front row, he said that he wanted seven people from the upper left balcony and seven from the upper right to come down to fill those seats. Seurat to Quasimodo Needless to say, more than 14 people headed for the pit. But Patinkin managed to find seats for all of them and keep his audience laughing the entire time. Sunday's show was the last of Patinkin's 1996-97 tour. Compared to his prior shows, the broadway star played with the audience much more than usual. For example, during "Honeybunny," he called up three people from the audience, including a local piano player, and had them lead sections of the audience in a singing competition. On the way to Rochester, Patinkin's tour included an especially important stop. He appeared in Princeton, New Jersey where a benefit was held for the Christopher Reeve Foundation. When the audience applauded his benefit performance, he modestly said that Reeve had restarted research into spinal cord injuries and, because of him, a cure would be found. In truth, Patinkin accepted little of the applause that was given to him during the show. He walked out in a black T-shirt and pants with white sneakers carrying two baskets of flowers, said, "How ya doin?" and burst into song. He was anxious, energetic and visibly loving what he was doing - and luckily, he brought his audience right along with him. Patinkin's latest project is a remake of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" for TNT in which he plays Quasimodo. It's just another role in a rˇsumˇ that includes the characters of Georges Seurat in Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park with George," Marvin in "Falsetto's" and Hugh on "The Simpsons." One of his closing songs was "Bring Him Home" from the Broadway standard "Les Miserablˇs." After hitting the last note perfectly, he said to the audience, "Thank you for making the end of this tour a blast." He then sang a few more songs and ran offstage, but not before taking that breast-fed baby from the front row and saying to him, "My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to live." With that, Mandy Patinkin walked offstage with a smile.

Navigation Menu