Just before I started this column 20 years ago, Patti LuPone had been hired and then fired by Andrew Lloyd Webber to play Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.  Actually, “fired” is really not the right term.  I guess “let go” is more accurate, since she most certainly played the role – she played the shit out of it, if you ask me.  I attended one of the shows shortly after LuPone heard she would not be taking the show to Broadway and, trust me, she WAS Norma Desmond.  But she was dumped in favor of Glenn Close, who had successfully played the role in Los Angeles and was, let’s face it, a bigger “name”.  Well, history has a funny way of repeating.  The English National Opera wanted to stage a limited run of the musical at the London Coliseum next year.  Lloyd Webber said he’d love to see Glenn in the part – especially since she never did it in London.  However, the ENO was quite keen on casting Patti.  Sir Andy let it be known no Glenn, no rights to the show.  And, poof, just like that, Close got the gig.  Webber is looking at this run as tryout for a potential film version.

Miss Close may have won the part, but she lost the guy.  Hours after her hard-earned casting coup had been announced, her third husband filed for divorce.  The couple had been married for nine years, and Miss Close’s publicist says the split was “mutual and amicable”.  So, in a way, Patti wins.  She’s played all the roles, been hired (and fired) by the best of them, and had the same guy by her side throughout.  She may not be a “movie star”, but I think, wherever she is, LuPone is smiling.