Patti LuPone tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.
The theater legend will sit out her ongoing role in the current Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” while she recovers from the virus. She is expected to return to the production on Tuesday, March 8, a spokesperson for the show said. LuPone reported symptoms before the matinee of “Company” on Feb. 26 and received an additional COVID test which came back positive. A second test confirmed the diagnosis.
“She is home resting, and everyone wishes her a speedy recovery,” the spokesperson for “Company” said in a statement.
LuPone is a major attraction for the revival, which elicited largely positive reviews after a triumphant run on the West End. She portrays the hard-drinking, oft-married, and caustic Joanne and her 11th hour number “Ladies Who Lunch” routinely brings the house down. LuPone played the same role in London, winning an Olivier Award for her efforts. “Company” was originally scheduled to hit Broadway in 2020, but COVID scrambled those plans and shut down the live theater business in New York for more than a year.
LuPone’s is considered to be one of Broadway’s great divas. She originated the role of Eva Peron in the Broadway premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita,” winning her first Tony Award. She won a second for her acclaimed turn as Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of “Gypsy.” LuPone also played Fantine in the original London cast of “Les Misérables” and performed in Broadway revivals of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and “Anything Goes.” She also starred in the 2010 original Broadway production of “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” and the 2017 original Broadway production of “War Paint.”
On screen she has appeared in “Summer of Sam,” “Witness” and “Driving Miss Daisy” and recently had a major role in Ryan Murphy’s “Hollywood.”
