Robert Luponan actor and dancer who began his role as an aspiring director and choreographer in musicals “Chorus Line” The Broadway star who then helped run a vibrant off-Broadway troupe known for thought-provoking new productions died Saturday in Albany, New York. he was 76 years old.
His wife, Virginia (Robinson) LuPon, confirmed the death at a hospice near his home in Athens, New York. She said the cause was pancreatic cancer.
Mr. LuPone was well known to television audiences from his roles in the ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Law & Order’ franchises. But his first love, like his sister, Patti LuPonewas the theater.
In 1975, when Mr. LuPone auditioned for “A Chorus Line,” he had been dancing since childhood and had appeared in several Broadway shows. Originally cast as Al, one of his dancers vying for her line of choruses in his Broadway musical, Mr. Lupone conceived and directed the show Michael He persuaded Bennett that Barry I said I could play Director Zack after Bostwick. He was cast in a part, but left the show during the workshop stage.
“Michael is having a hard time directing an actor.” In an interview on Muny’s website, LuPone said:, a musical theater in St. Louis that staged “A Chorus Line” in 2017. He has a tremendous ego. And I have a tremendous ego. Barry Bostwick clearly has a bigger ego than I do. “
“A Chorus Line” became a big hit at the Public Theater and on Broadway. Shubert, which will run for 15 years, opened at his theater, Walter his car wrote in The New York Times: Giggles, pleas, casual snippets of their past.
The show was nominated for 12 Tony Awards — Mr. LuPone was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical — and won nine, including Best Musical. That year his sister was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for ‘The Robber Bridegroom’.
“A Chorus Line” proved crucial to Mr. LuPone. His future was no longer in dancing.
LuPone said her brother was an “extraordinary dancer” and that his decision to quit dancing “haunts me”. “I don’t think he could accept the autocratic environment created by choreographers at the time,” she wrote in her email.
That realization led him to study at the Actors Studio and perform with the Circle Repertory Company. He began teaching acting at New York University in 1981 and was so outspoken that his students were initially taken aback.
“Who is this guy in musical theater talking to us actors?” Bernie Telseysaid one of those students in a telephone interview. “He had never taught before. But it turned out to be the best class ever.” Some students continued to study with him after graduation.
In 1986, LuPone and Telsey founded what would become Manhattan Class Company. MCC TheaterWill Kantler soon joined as Associate Artistic Director and was appointed Artistic Director in 2011.
For nearly 40 years, the company has aimed to produce challenging and original plays and musicals. This is aimed at what Mr. LuPone called the “third act,” an impact on audiences who continue to talk about the show long after his return.
Three of MCC’s productions moved to Broadway and were nominated for a Tony Award for Best Picture. “Reasons to Be Pretty” (2008), about people’s obsession with beauty. and “Hand to God” (2014) is Darke’s comedy about a teenager and his profane, possibly demonic sock puppet.
Produced at the Off-Broadway MCC, “Wit,” a play about Margaret Edson’s thoughts on dying after learning that a woman has ovarian cancer, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1999. It won the Drama category and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. .
Robert Francis LuPone was born on July 29, 1946 in Brooklyn and raised in Northport, Long Island, New York. His father, Orlando Joseph LuPone, was the principal of Northport Elementary School. His mother, Angela (Patti) LuPone, was a homemaker and Robert and Patty’s show encouraged her business ambitions, driving the two to classes. Robert and Patty danced together as children, and Jones won her beach talent contest in which she placed third.
“I still have the trophy,” Ms. Lupon said. “It was tango.”
Before Robert entered school, he took tap lessons after school. Martha Graham SchoolAs a teenager, she studied modern dance with Graham, Jose Limon and Anthony Tudor. He attended Adelphi College on Long Island, where he transferred after being inspired by a better dancer than he was at the Juilliard School. He majored in Ballet and minored in Modern His Dance, graduating in 1968 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
By then, he had joined the ensemble in a 1966 production of “The Pajama Games” at Long Island’s Westbury Music Fair (now Westbury’s NYCB Theater). He made his Broadway debut as a dancer in ‘Noël Coward’s Sweet Potato’ in 1968, and additionally he auditioned for ‘A Chorus Line’ by his agent after dancing in three Broadway shows.
Mr. LuPone worked steadily as an actor in theaters, movies, and television. He played the Apostle Paul in the film version of “Jesus Christ Superstar” (1973). He made six opera appearances (Daytime He was nominated for an Emmy Award for “All My Children”). He appeared in series such as ‘Gossip Girl’, ‘Ally McBeal’ and ‘Billions’. When, From 1997 to 2001, He has appeared in Broadway productions such as Arthur Miller’s ‘View from the Bridge’, Sam Shepard’s ‘True West’ and Herb Gardener’s ‘Thousand Clowns’.
He performed in six episodes of “The Sopranos.” Bruce Cusamano Tony Soprano’s next-door neighbor and doctor, who encourages Tony to see a psychiatrist.
In addition to his wife and sister, Mr. LuPone has a son, Orlando, and a twin brother, William.
LuPone’s acting career was secondary to his work at MCC. At MCC he developed, directed and produced four to five shows a year, as well as being the permanent home of the theater. Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, Located on West 52nd Street in Manhattan, opened in 2019.
“Bob was fearless,” Telsey said, adding that the playwrights often found it difficult to accept LuPone’s candid notes at test screenings. “They would have been very stressed, but after three days they realized Bobby was right. He didn’t throw a punch.”