Mandy Patinkin

FROM SONDHEIM TO CHAPIN: Broadway and classic American songs are on the program at Mandy Patinkin’s upcoming concert. (Photo by Joan Marcus)

On Friday, October 20 at 8 p.m., “Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Being Alive” comes to the State Theatre New Jersey at 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick.

The program includes a collection of many of Patinkin’s favorite Broadway and classic American tunes—from Irving Berlin to Stephen Sondheim, and from Cole Porter to Harry Chapin.

Patinkin’s career has encompassed theater, the concert stage, film, television, and recording artist. In his 1980 Broadway debut, He won a Tony Award for his role as Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, and was nominated in 1984 for his starring role as George in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, Sunday in the Park with George. Patinkin’s other stage credits include Compulsion, Paradise Found, The Tempest, Enemy of the People, The Wild Party, Falsettos, The Secret Garden, The Winter’s Tale, The Knife, Leave It to Beaver is Dead, Rebel Women, Hamlet, Trelawney of the ‘Wells,’ The Shadow Box, The Split, Savages, and Henry IV, Part I.

In 1989, Patinkin began his concert career at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater in New York City.  Since then, he has toured (and continues to tour) his various solo concerts across North America, in London’s West End, through Australia and New Zealand, as well as on Broadway and off-Broadway. 

In addition to solo concerts, Patinkin has created collaborations with artists including opera star Nathan Gunn and Broadway actress Patti LuPone. Other credits include “Bridges,” a concert with musicians from various countries in the Middle East; “The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville,” with Taylor Mac, and direction by Susan Stroman; and most recently with his wife Kathryn Grody in “An Evening with Mandy Patinkin & Kathryn Grody,” moderated by their son Gideon Grody-Patinkin.

He has numerous film and television credits, and is a recording artist.

Patinkin has helped raise funds for organizations including Brady Campaign, PAX, Doctors Without Borders, Association to Benefit Children, American Jewish World Service, Search for Common Ground, National Dance Institute, and ACLU. He is a board member of the Arava Institute and continues to work with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), highlighting the plight of refugees worldwide.

Tickets range from $29-$99. Visit stnj.org.