Ben Rimalower is a lucky guy: He counts Broadway legend Patti LuPone, one of his show-business idols, as a friend and colleague. LuPone, who skyrocketed to fame and won a Tony Award as Broadway’s original Evita, helped Rimalower survive a difficult childhood. Ultimately, she inspired him to become a performer himself.
Rimalower will perform “Patti Issues,” his one-man show that recounts how his love for LuPone helped him through a troubled childhood, at Mary’s Attic (upstairs at Hamburger Mary’s), 5400 N. Clark St., on Thursday-Friday, June 13-14, at 8 p.m.
“I needed to escape from toxic situations at home,” he said of his lifelong adoration for LuPone. He describes LuPone’s “balls to the walls fierceness” as being very empowering to him during his youth.
Both Rimalower and his father are openly gay. “There was a lot of drama around my dad’s coming-out,” he said. “We don’t speak now.” The performer shared a story about going to see a show in New York and running into his dad, who was seated near him. The two exchanged a few polite words, but there was no connection and they’ve not had contact since. “Patti Issues” recounts the tumultuous relationship between father and son, and how Rimalower worked through it via his admitted obsession with LuPone. Ultimately, he and LuPone became friends and colleagues.
“Patti’s wonderful,” said Rimalower. “She’s such a supporter of this show. She really talks me and this show up.”
He shared the beginnings of their unusual friendship. “I got to know Patti when I worked on Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd in 2001,” he said. “It was taped and aired on PBS.” But it was in Chicago that their friendship blossomed. Rimalower worked in the Windy City when LuPone and George Hearne performed Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at the Ravinia Festival. He recalled the experience as “magical.”
“There was a lot of down time in Chicago,” he said. “I really got to connect with Patti LuPone. It was a relaxing vacation. The Ravinia Festival is summer camp for artists, it has a great artistic sense. You can feel the warmth there.”
It is therefore with great enthusiasm that Rimalower returns to the area to share his most unusual, but ultimately uplifting coming out story.
Tickets for “Patti Issues” at Mary’s Attic can be purchased at Rimalower’s website, www.benrimalower.com.