As I did after the "Songs from a hat" concert in Madrid, here it is the full setlist for Bilbao:
Unexpressed by John Buchinno
A Wonderful Guy (South Pacific)
The Ladies Who Lunch (Company)
As Long as He Needs Me (Oliver!)
Fever by Peggy Lee
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (Pal Joey)
They Say It's Wonderful (Annie Get Your Gun)
Not While I'm Around (Sweeney Todd)
Sleepy Man (The Rober Bridegroom)
I Wanna be a Cowboy's Sweetheart
I Could Write A Book (Pal Joey)
Ya Got Trouble (The Music Man)
Some People (Gypsy)
Small World / Bonus Track! Everything's Coming Up Roses (Gypsy)
Moon River (Breakfast at Tiffany's)
Calling You (Bagdad Café)
I Dreamed A Dream (Les Miserables)
Something's Coming (West Side Story)
Somewhere (West Side Story)
Meadowlark (The Baker's Wife)
Anything Goes (Anything Goes)
Anyone Can Whistle (Anyone Can Whistle)
Being Alive (Company)
Bilbao Song (Happy End)
Don't Cry for Me Argentina (Evita)
Some Other Time (On the Town)
A Hundred Years from Today
Fun facts:
Patti mentioned that whilst “I wanna be a cowboy’s sweetheart” had been pulled out of the hat at absolutely every concert in Spain, "I could write a book" and "Ya got trouble" didn’t do so until they reached the tour’s final stop in Bilbao. The funny thing is that all three, as you can see, came out one after the other.
(This one’s especially for you, Brits.) Patti recognised Emma Clarke, who was sitting in the front row, and waved to her from the stage.
She performed “Small World” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” as a medley straight after “Some People” on her own initiative, as “they weren’t going to come out of the hat”. I believe that the “Bonus track!” she exclaimed as she switched from one song to the other will remain etched in my mind forever 😂
From that moment on, the spirit of “Songs from a Hat” took a back seat, and the top hat was put away for the rest of the concert (except for "I dreamed a dream", I think?). Patti began to choose for herself which songs she wanted to sing. From the little comments she made, I got the impression she was in the mood for ballads (which is why she sang “Moon River” or “Calling You”) and also songs from West Side Story (as she said, her favourite musical).
(This is only relevant from a personal point of view… but if I had to be trapped for the rest of my life in a five-minute period, I would choose without hesitation the time I spent at this concert watching Patti perform "Calling You". People use the cliché that something is ‘magical’ far too lightly, but I can say in all seriousness that those minutes truly were. I don’t know how or why, but those few minutes yesterday encompassed the most beautiful sounds and the most captivating atmosphere I have ever experienced... Oh, how I would love to have the power to return to that moment whenever I wished.)
After “Somewhere”, Patti asked the audience directly which songs they would like her to sing next (she thought that, as this was her last concert in the country, some people might be disappointed not to have had the chance to hear their favourite song). That led to “Meadowlark”, “Anything Goes”, “Anyone Can Whistle” and “Being Alive”.
(Brace yourselves for this one, because some of you might just die of envy… 🤭)
When she got to "Anything Goes", she forgot the lyrics right at the start of the song. A girl in the front row started singing (beautifully, by the way!) to remind her how the song went. Patti had the song restarted so the young lady could sing it from the beginning and ended up inviting the girl up on stage to sing it with her. The poor girl, who (for some unknown reason 🤭) was overcome with nerves and excitement, declined… but not before insisting a couple of times that Patti definitely should have won the Tony for that role. Patti clearly enjoyed that (controversial 🤭) opinion and ended up dedicating the song to the girl and her mum.
(And finally, on a personal note… it was funny to witness what might well have been the origin of my girl’s villain story. From not caring where we sat and specifically choosing row 3 in Bilbao (even though most of row 1 was available at the time) because it offered her a bit more space to stretch her legs, to not only being completely absorbed in the concert (which doesn’t surprise me) but also getting really bothered that we hadn’t sat in row one with the sole objective of her picking a song out of the hat. In that sense, both she and the guy sitting at my level on the other side of the central aisle were unlucky that Patti called it a day so soon with the hat, because the two of them were clearly dying to get up and choose a song.)
Michael Jackson with the cast of “Oliver!” — Patti LuPone, Ron Moody, David Garlick, and Braden Danner — backstage at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on May 10, 1984.
