Mandy Patinkin – What has he been up to?

As any member of the Round Table can tell you, I am a Mandy Patinkin/Jason Gideon fan and was very sad to see Mandy leave the show. I did not stop watching the show, as many of Mandy’s fans did, and can happily say I love all our characters, our writers, and everyone involved with the show.

I have kept tabs on what Mandy has been doing and want to bring you all quickly up-to-date.

In case you didn’t know, Mandy is an accomplished singer and stage performer. He has recorded several CD’s and has been in several Broadway Musicals. He won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Che Gueverra in Evita and was nominated for a Tony Award for his role as Georges Seuerat in Sunday in the Park with George. Of course, I am prejudiced, but I think he should have won for that role as well! He also starred in the musicals The Secret Garden and The Wild Party on Broadway.

Mandy performs solo concerts throughout the United States and also teams up with his Evita co-star, Patti LuPone, to give fans An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin. They even went to Australia last summer to perform their show. Mandy doesn’t have any solo concerts scheduled at the moment, but there are some Patti/Mandy concerts scheduled through March 2010. See http://www.avidtouring.com/index.php for a schedule of the performances throughout the country.

The Fall of 2008 saw Mandy as Prospero (pictured above) in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, with the Classic Stage Company (CSC) in New York City. Mandy continued his work with CSC by participating in their Open Rehearsal Series in Much Ado About Nothing in December 2009. I hope he continues his association with CSC. It is a great place to see the Classics.

Mandy also performed his various solo concerts (Dress Casual, Celebrating Sondheim, and Mamaloshen (all in Yiddish)), over a couple of weeks in NYC in December 2008 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his first concert and then took his show on the road to perform in London in January 2009. Unfortunately, his long-time collaborator and accompanist, Paul Ford, was not able to go to London with him as he had an emergency appendectomy just before they were scheduled to leave for London. Mandy proved the show business adage “the show must go on” by performing with a substitute pianist, Ben Toth, while in London. For those of you who have never been to a Mandy Patinkin concert, it is just Mandy and Paul and a piano. He brings out 2 large baskets of flowers at every concert and sets them at each end of the stage. That’s it. No set dressing. No back curtain. The only props are a bench he sometimes uses and a chair or stool.

Stay tuned as I will continue to let you know what the former CM Song and Dance Man has on tap.