By Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO —- It’s JFEST time again, which means that we get an eclectic assortment of Jewish performers and performances. One of the events that really had people excited this year was the Mandy Patinkin show. Now if you are Gen X, like me, when I mention Mandy Patinkin you may look at me and say “who?” It will take me only one sentence to wipe the look of confusion off your face, “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.” For those of you unfamiliar with the 1987 movie The Princess Bride, this is the iconic line that Patinkin’s character says over and over.
What you may not know though, is that besides being in that famous movie, he is also a Tony award winning Broadway actor, and a tv star.
The show was part concert, part stand-up, part story-telling. It was just Patinkin and an accompanist on piano. After spending a bit of time heckling the late comers in the audience, he spent some time singing some songs from Broadway musicals, old Jazz hits, and even a surprising rendition of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
The show felt a little like he just found himself on stage and was amusing himself singing whatever came into his head. Obviously that wasn’t the case, as the accompanist knew exactly what was going on, and even helped out with some vocals and sight gag props. While I liked Patinkin’s version of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and he’s a good singer, I have to admit that I was relieved when he took a break from singing and moved into comedy and storytelling.
I’m not a very musical person, so I can’t say this was good or that was bad, but many people whom I spoke to after complained about his vibrato. I didn’t notice it per se, just found myself growing a little weary of the singing after a while. He also caused some controversy by dropping some F-bombs, which I didn’t mind; in fact, they made me laugh. For me personally, I find a well -used F-bomb to be very expressive and honest. The audience was mostly an older crowd though, and the three occasions he used the word may not have been to everyone’s taste.
I really enjoyed his stories. He shared his origin story with us. And when I say origin story I really mean it; he told us about his birth and subsequent accidental bris. The stories moved on from there, and we learned about his first taste of Broadway on a trip to New York with his dad, who idolized Angela Lansbury. We also learned about how he got into acting as a teen. And then he brought us full-circle, telling us about meeting Angela Lansbury when he was nominated for his first Tony for his part in Evita in the 1970s.
He finished up with a few more songs, and a discography to give credit to the artists who wrote/ sang the songs originally.
It was a full-house at the Balboa Theater, and the audience was a very loving audience who was there to see him, because he is Mandy Patinkin.
JFEST runs through June 30 and has an eclectic line up of talent. Each year it’s an entirely different line-up and feel, so it’s worth looking into every year for a little extra dose of Jewish culture, and shmoozing. You can learn more on the JFEST website.
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Sandi Masori is a theater and restaurant reviewer for San Diego Jewish World.
Patinkin’s voice was compromised and I was not fond of his song choices. I wasn’t sure if he lost his way or if it was a part of his schtick, but it felt awkward. Latecomers are a real issue in San Diego. The theater should have delayed the start time or done late seating, as it was disruptive. I also liked that he commented about the people who were sneezing and coughing (without masks). A disappointing show and I would not recommend it to anyone.
Mandy is a huge disappointment! As a human being, as a Jew he should stand against violence. against jihadist ideology, with his large social media platforms he should speak up the trues about the Israel Hamas war and be on the right side of the history: condemning terror against Israelis, condemning antisemitism that spreads around our college campuses. Speaking up about thousands of misplaced Israelis that can’t return to their homes in the Soumya and in the north of Israel. He stands for the wrong cause. Not going to see a penny from me!
I didn’t attend the show nor do I have any desire to. I question why we are spending so much money and bringing him to our community though? Mandy Patinkin is being embraced by our community, making $$$$ from our community- we are paying him a ton when we could use for our community. Go look at his instagram- he’s a huge self hating Jew. Someone explain to me why we are doing this? He posts such vile anti semitism. San Diego let’s do better! His most recent posts say all eyes on Rafah. Well what about our hostages? Go see for yourself. How about bringing Michael Rapaport or Matisyahu here instead? Those are the real outspoken loud and proud Zionists that deserve our respect and can Unite us which is what we need rather than division.
Absolutely correct! It is time to purge the anti-Jewish Jews who try to appease and fit into the woke cult by disparaging Israel and providing (often mimicking) stupid, ignorant and divisive propaganda. Our community dollars should be going to intelligent and thoughtful artists and performers that either are supportive, apolitical or have an informed view. No Jihad apologists!
I heard from several friends that it was a terrible show. I wonder if he mentioned my dear friend, his sister Marcia, who died some years back.
I attended with my 12-year-old daughter. The ticket office told me there was no age restriction but wondered if his language would be loose with being a storyteller. He did have a few F-bombs and we both looked at each other and giggled. We both enjoyed his stories and learning about him. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in Yiddish (I think?) made me tear up. I didn’t know who he was until a few months ago and have never seen “Princess Bride”, lol. But we both had a good time and enjoyed the show.
I receive some comments in my email (editor@sdjewishworld.com) although simply posting your comment below the story in question is a more expeditious route.
From Sandy Scheller: The only good thing about the Mandy Patinkin performance was that it started on time. In my 50 years of being involved in theater and working at Cirque Du Soleil, I can honestly say this was horrible show and a waste of time. Mr. Patinkin went low by dropping the f bomb 3 times! One in particular was when a woman shouted out “I love you, Mandy” he told her to shut the f..k up! Mind you children were in the audience. There was a crowd of latecomers because of parking and tight security. Rather than be grateful that he had an audience he belittled them making the rest of the audience feel uncomfortable. The best word to describe this performance was disappointing. Little by little more and more people left after his storytelling that took over 35 minutes, asking his pianist to remind him where he left off. On one hand he talks and sings about respect and honoring his father yet his lack of consideration toward his audience of all ages made him a hypocrite. He told a story of his mother being told that he was circumcised before his bris. At one time he joked about wanting to “show the problem” but thankfully kept his pants on. He did say that at 90 he would “show us then.” Heaven help us!