From iconic films including The Princess Bride to TV series such Homeland to his award-winning performances on Broadway, Patinkin hopes his contributions to the entertainment industry have touched viewers as much as their support has sustained him.
Patinkin’s latest project, Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Being Alive — a solo concert in which he sings timeless classics accompanied by piano player Adam Ben-David — will come to San Antonio's Tobin Center for the Performing Acts on Saturday, March 16.
During a recent interview with the Current, Patinkin talked about how San Antonio saved his father’s life, the special bond he shares with his audience and what his late friend and collaborator, composer Stephen Sondheim (West Side Story), left this world behind.
We also talked about his growing popularity on TikTok, where his son posts videos of his father and mother answering pop culture questions and entertaining viewers with their everyday lives.
What comes to mind when you think of San Antonio?
San Antonio saved my father’s life. He was in the Army in 1942 as a pharmacist’s mate stationed in San Antonio. He broke his neck diving into Lake Michigan. The spinal tube to his brain kept closing. So, they called his parents and told them they needed to operate and that there was a 50/50 shot he wouldn’t make it. They operated and he was paralyzed for three years because it was a rather primitive operation at the time. But he lived. He learned how to walk again and talk again and write with his other hand and get married and have two children and bring life to me.
Are the songs you’ll be singing at your show some of your personal favorites or do you try to stick to a theme?
Well, I never like to say exactly what songs I'm doing. Sometimes I change my mind during the concert. We have a plan that we often stick to, but we do change our mind. So, I like people to be surprised. I don't want them looking at a program. I want them to be listening to the stories. It's a very eclectic group of composers and lyricists. I'm not the genius. I'm just the mailman. The songs are timeless. They make me feel good. They're like food for my soul.
Where did the title Being Alive come from?
We had a different song group before the pandemic, and it was a lot darker. Because of the times that were going on — not that the times are that bright right now — I said to my piano player, Adam Ben-David, “I'm ready to get back on the road.” So, we went back to the drawing board and went through 13 to 14 hours of material and started piecing it together. I said, “I want to have fun. I want my audience to have fun. We need to be living our lives and being alive.” And he said, “Why don't you call the concert that, Being Alive?” I said, “Yeah, let’s do that!”
What do you get out of performing on stage that you don’t get from the set of a TV series or film?
I get to be with the audience. The audience makes it. No matter what I do — whether it's in film, TV, plays — if there's no audience, all the work is for nothing. My favorite place to perform in the world is live concert venues because we're all together. We're all reacting to whatever happened in our lives that day.
It sounds like it’s all about connecting to the audience for you, yes?
It’s about connecting with people and learning how to make your life better with the people you love and care about or people you haven't met yet or the world at large. Whether it’s TV, film or the stage, they all share a common ground, which is to connect with the people you're speaking, singing or listening to. People have stopped listening to each other and stopped being kind to each other in this fragile world where we're living. Any form of communication that encourages us to listen and to connect to each other is a gift to us all. It’s certainly a gift to me.
The world lost a composing genius when Stephen Sondheim passed away in 2021. You worked with him throughout your career. What did someone like him leave behind for this world?
He left the Bible of my life behind. If I could write, I would write what he wrote. Stephen and Shakespeare have something very much in common, which is they turn darkness into light. I have the reservoir of his material to live off of. He was a friend and one of the treasures of my existence. His life and work and journey will be with us through time. It will never die.
Do you ever think about your own legacy?
No, I just think about what the hell am I going to have for dinner. I try to be a little Buddhist, meaning when I finish a concert or a film or a job or the day's work, it's over. Now, what’s the next thing? It’s not about what I’m going to do tomorrow, it’s about what am I going to do the very next second. What am I going to do the next moment? Who am I going to be with? What precious gift am I going to be given?
At 71 years old, I finally learned how short these things called our lives really are. You finally learn that you don’t want to waste a second of it. Go out there and find pleasure and have fun and be with people you love and care about and do what you love to do. See every sunset and sunrise, and walk in the rain, and look at the rainbows and all that corny shit. Just do it and do it, and do it until you can't.
How conscious are you about how popular you are on TikTok because of the videos that your son posts?
Well, it's all my son's gifts and genius. You know, we don't do anything. My wife and I just show up, and he asks us questions. He knows how to push our buttons. He knows how to mine what he wants. And we're off and running. I can't get over that that has happened. Secondly, I can't get over that we do shows we referred to as the Family Show, where it’s just the three of us, and we come on stage, and 2,000 people show up. I don't know why. There's no show. There's no music. There's no band. There's no play. There's no film. But they come to listen to us answer [my son’s] questions. I guess [my wife] Kathryn and I are a little crazy, and he just knows how to play us like a violin.
$59.50-$125, 8 p.m. Saturday, March 16, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org.Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
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