Patti LuPone: Don't Close Broadway!

“It’s scary,” Patti (above) tells us of the number of
Broadway shows that have been shuttered.

Patti LuPone: Up In Arms
Over Broadway Closure

As if the Great Recession isn’t bad enough, now the City of New York wants to make it even harder for Patti LuPone to earn a buck.

In January, the diva’s Broadway revival of Gypsy closed ahead of schedule due to (as the show’s producers put it) “these uncertain financial times.” And even if she does return to the stage in the future, Patti’s not sure she can make her 8 p.m. curtain – assuming that NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg moves ahead with his plan to turn the Great White Way into the Great Walkway.

Last month, Bloomberg unveiled a proposal for closing Broadway to vehiclular traffic from 47th to 42nd Streets – in the heart of Times Square – in order to build a series of pedestrian malls.

“I don’t know how I’m going to get to work. Excuse me, I’ve got a show – move over!” says Patti. “What am I gonna do? Obviously [Bloomberg] doesn’t go to the theater. Well, maybe he does. [But] I’ve never seen him.”

To read how the New York Post’s Page Six covered TV Talk’s interview with Patti, click here.