Mandy Patinkin Brings 'Dress Casual' Concert To SFCC

In his Broadway debut, Mandy Patinkin won a Tony Award for his role as Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Evita."

Patinkin won an Emmy Award in 1985 for his critically acclaimed performance in the CBS series "Chicago Hope" and he recently starred in the CBS series "Criminal Minds" as FBI profiler Jason Gideon.

The award-winning actor/singer will bring his "Dress Casual" concert to the South Florida Community College's Artist Series March 2. Featuring Broadway pianist Paul Ford, Patinkin's performance will include songs from writers Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Randy Newman, Adam Guettel and Harry Chapin.

"I was very young and very happy," to win a Tony Award in 1980 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1980 at the age of 28, Patinkin told Highlands Today in a phone interview Monday.

Born and raised in Chicago, Patinkin said he got into acting by following a girl to the University of Kansas.

"This girl that I was very fond of went there; she was a year ahead of me and by the time I got there she had found someone else," he said. "So I then went and looked at the theater department while I was there."

Patinkin was encouraged to go to the Juilliard School of Drama in New York City.

Though the school is known as a music school, Patinkin instead focused on classic theater.

"From there I just started working, and life's been good," he said.

In both his acting and singing, Patinkin doesn't look back or listen to previous interpretations of a character or song.

"I make a concerted effort not to listen to how other people have done it so that I have my own freedom and I don't have to spend energy trying to get things out of my mind," he said.

"For instance if I want to do Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' I know there are some productions of that on film - Ken Branagh (director) and Ema Thompson did one, Patinkin said, but the last thing I want to do is look and see what Ken did because then I have to get that out of my mind. I want to have a fresh approach."

Patinkin's influences included his teachers and a former classmate, actor William Hurt.

"But, I am also deeply influenced by my children and my wife and by things that go on in the world," he said. "I am deeply influenced by great writers like Stephen Sondheim and William Shakespeare and Yip Harburg and Irving Berlin and the thoughts they put down on paper, which were wishes for themselves and the world.

"I think of myself as a mailman essentially for these wonderfully gifted geniuses and I am there simply to deliver their mail as best I can."

Patinkin started his concert career in 1989. He has six solo albums and is featured on number of Broadway soundtracks.

"I'm attracted to songs that tell stories," he said. "If the song has a good story, I always figure the music is good enough."

For his philosophy on performing, Patinkin follows the words of Shakespeare and his wife, Kathryn Grody.

"Shakespeare said 'to thine own self be true' so basically listen to your heart; listen to yourself; don't let anybody tell you, you can't do something; believe in what you are thinking and go for it.," Patinkin said.

Concerning his wife's advice, Patinkin said "After I do aIl the work I possibly can on any given song or play or scene or anything I'm doing, she says to me - 'now Mandy, you've done this work; trust it and forget about it; go out there; listen to the words and see where they take you.'"

Patinkin's film credits include: "The Princess Bride," "Ragtime," Dick Tracy," "Yentl," "The House on Carroll Street," "Alien Nation" and "True Colors."

He received a Tony Award nomination in 1984 for his starring role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical "Sunday in the Park with George," and returned to Broadway in 1991 in the Tony Award-winning musical "Secret Garden."

Patinkin will perform at 7:30 p.m., March 2 in the South Florida Community College Auditorium.

Tickets range from $33 to $47 and may be purchased online at http://performances.southflorida.edu 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Tickets may also be purchased 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Monday - Friday by calling the SFCC Box Office at (863) 784-7178 or by visiting the SFCC Box Office, located at the SFCC Auditorium, 600 West College Drive, Highlands campus.