Marvel 'Agatha All Along' showrunner on the Patti LuPone pitchy singing joke in Disney+ show
"I was a little bit like, 'You can't say anything negative about Patti's singing!'" showrunner showrunner Jac Schaeffer
One of the most curious and exciting casting choices for Marvel's Agatha Harkness spinoff show on Disney+, Agatha All Along, is the addition of Patti LuPone to the cast, which also includes Kathryn Hahn, Aubrey Plaza, Joe Locke, Debra Jo Rupp, Sasheer Zamata and Ali Ahn. Playing the oldest witch in Agatha's coven, Lilia Calderu, she's a psychic who has lost control of her visions, seeing flashes of terrible things in the future, but powerless to stop them.
"I think it's a weird scenario to be so young and be surrounded by people who are cream of the crop," Locke told Yahoo Canada in Toronto about working with LuPone. "I saved so much money on drama school, because that was my drama school."
"Just being around Patti LuPone is theatre advice. Watching her work and the way that she's such an incredible actress. She really cares so much about what she's doing."
Watch Agatha All Along on Disney+ at a discounted price of $1.99/month for three months
As showrunner Jac Schaeffer described, Agatha All Along has a "theatrical" feel, so it's no surprise LuPone slipped right into this unique Marvel world of witches. But what's particularly fun about her on the show is that the story doesn't shy away from referencing the fact that there's a legendary Tony and Grammy Award winner in the cast. Including making a joke that Lilia is a little pitchy when the coven is singing together.
"Patti is so playful and she's so much fun, and she's such a technical performer and she's so trained, and she delivers the goods every single time," Schaeffer said. "But more than anything she wants to work. She wants to be there on the day, she wants to be in the scene, and so she's up for anything and she knows how to be funny."
"That line, I was a little bit like, 'You can't say anything negative about Patti's singing!' But she was like, 'Yeah, that's the point. That's what's so fun about it.' So that was a really delicious moment. [Songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez] were there that day, and I was directing that day. When I was covering Patti, there's one singing moment that Patti has and the Lopezes were like, 'Can you please feature that? Can you please get that?' And I was like, 'Yes Lopezes, I am happy to do whatever you want.'"
The inclusion of LuPone in the Agatha All Along cast really exemplifies the show's strength, featuring a group of women with differences in skills and experiences, all put together to lead this really dynamic and interesting story.
"It was a real priority to have characters of different ages. First, it felt correct for the world of witchcraft, the idea of Maiden, Mother, Crone," Schaeffer said. "As a creator, it is always very important to me. Women are my priority and it's women of all ages."
"That was something that we wanted to bring into this circle. It was really fun and really rewarding, but it also just felt absolutely necessary to the story."
