Patti Takes a Bow

Your book is dishy and revealing. You don’t hold anything back, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Was there any discussion about whether you should be so forthcoming?
No, that’s just who I am. I didn’t make an effort to be anything but who I am already.

You’re now in previews with Women on the Verge ... Were you a fan of the film before you accepted the role in the show?
I hadn’t seen the film before. I’m a big fan of Pedro Almodóvar, but I had never seen Women on the Verge. I’m a big fan of Bartlett [Sher, the show’s director] and I love Lincoln Center Theater. If anything is up my alley, it’s a piece of Latin music or a piece of Latin material, so I thought this is something I should be involved with. When it comes to oversized emotions, this is where they belong — in Europe and particularly in this show.

You’ve played many extremely passionate women in your career. How does Lucia, your character in Women, differ from others?

There’s less singing here than in the other shows, but there are great costumes. I’m a platinum blond in this. I’m kind of a hot mama. [Laughs]

When you star in a revival, such as Anything Goes or Sweeney Todd or Gypsy, is there ever pressure to distinguish your performance from a predecessor’s?
No, no. The pressure may come from other people placing it on me, but I don’t place it on myself. All I have to do is read the script and I’m a different person. Otherwise I’m an imitator. I don’t think actors are imitators. We are creators.

There’s been talk of you reviving Gypsy again in London, but you recently told Out magazine that you and Arthur Laurents are on the outs again. Have there been any new developments with this?
I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him. I’m not on the outs with him, but he may be on the outs with me. [Laughs] I would love to play Rose again.

You’re in The Miraculous Year, which is a potential new series for HBO. What can you reveal about it?
We’ve shot the pilot and Kathryn Bigelow directed it. It has a splendid cast. It’s a great piece of writing by John Logan. It’s about a prominent artistic family in New York. I play the composer’s leading lady, who is also his best friend and who’s gone through all the wars with him. I’m knocking on wood right now that it gets picked up, because there hasn’t been anything like it.