Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin are two of Broadway’s most venerated performers.

Both have won Tony awards, both have starred in film and television, and both are considered icons of their hometown, New York.

To have them both together on stage at once is something of a coup – a coup to be enjoyed by Brisbane theatregoers this month.

“I’m really looking forward to getting to Queensland,” LuPone purrs down the line from Manhattan.

“I’m actually coming down a few weeks early to spend some time up north, touring the islands and the Great Barrier Reef. So if you see some American dame out scuba-diving, it’d probably be me.”

After spending some time touring the state, Ms LuPone will find her way to Brisbane, where she’s performing with Patinkin during the succinctly-titled An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin.

The show has toured North America and Europe, and this will mark the first time it’s been presented ‘down under’.

“And I can’t wait,” she exclaims. “I’ve been wanting to get there for years ... It’s great to be in a position to be able to just pack my bags and go to somewhere like Australia. I’ve been very lucky with my career like that – it’s given me freedom.”

But it hasn’t always been a bed of roses, LuPone tells Queensland Pride.

“I’ve always felt not good enough, a little insecure – even now,” she says. “I’m always a little surprised that someone wants to come and see me, let alone people on the other side of the world.”

Why?

“I just don’t feel like I fit into showbiz world in many ways. For one thing, I don’t look like a star.

“In Italy, yeah, I might look OK – but in America? No way. I’ve got a big nose, I’ve got a raw face. It’s big, it’s emotional, it’s lived-in – even when I was young. In America, it’s all about teeth and tits and ass ... I don’t fit the stereotype.”

Perhaps, but she does have extraordinary talent – talent that sees her share the mantle of great female stars from the milieus of theatre and music, with the likes of Liza Minnelli, Elaine Paige, Chita Rivera and Caroline O’Connor. Come Saturday, July 18 any fan of high-quality musical theatre would be mad to miss LuPone when she comes to Brisbane.

An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin: 8pm, Saturday July 18 at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). Tickets ($99-$150) available from www.qtix.com.au or 136 246.

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