An Evening With Mandy Patinkin

Samantha

I so appreciate you taking the time to speak with me. When the Dr. Phillips Center called me and said that you make it a point to promote your shows in Jewish publications, that meant so much to me. I really appreciate that.

Mandy

I’m Jewish. It’s very much a part of my soul, who I am, how I see the world and live in this world. I celebrate that aspect of my existence. I’m grateful that I’m here on this planet for a very short time, as we all are, to be able to experience the joys of living. As corny as it sounds, you only get so many days and sunrises and sunsets to be with your family and loved ones and the audiences that I love to perform for. I love doing this more than anything else I do. If you told me you can’t make films or TV shows or recordings or podcasts, you have to choose one thing, I would choose the live concert venue because there’s nothing that’s more immediate. I get to be the mailman for these beautiful songs. In many cases, they’ve become classics thanks to an extraordinarily eclectic group of people who wrote little lessons about how to be silly or goofy, or how to let things go, or how to have some fun, or how to communicate with your kids or your loved one or your wife or the world at large... and just how to be alive – and I need that like I need air and water.

Samantha

It sounds like that’s where you got the name of the show, Mandy Patinkin in Concert – Being Alive.

Mandy

It was exactly how we did it. I wanted the show to be fun for the audience. With the pandemic, people have been locked up forever behind their masks, hiding behind their phones and their TV sets and their couches, not being with each other. We need to be together. That’s what humanity is about. My pianist Adam Ben-David said, “It sounds like you want to feel alive. Why don’t we call it that?” I said, “Perfect.”

Samantha

I saw during the pandemic your TikTok fame and your son Gideon making these hilarious videos of you and your wife Kathryn, and I feel like I’m watching my uncle Mandy and aunt Kathryn. Tell me about how this all came to be.

Mandy

Our son Gideon was worried that we might end up six feet under, as so many of us were worried during the pandemic. He wanted to start recording Kathryn and me in case we didn’t make it. So he came by one day. He starts asking us questions in front of the Forsythia tree. Kathryn and I had a fight the day before our anniversary, and Kathryn starts talking about the fight and who won, and I’m talking about it, and the next morning Gideon says, “You know, that was pretty funny. And I think a lot of people would like to see what you guys had to say. Can I put it on your social media?”

I said, well, I don’t know how to upload or download or inload or outload. He did it, and before we knew it, all of a sudden it was everywhere and people just were enjoying whatever the heck we were doing

Samantha

You did bring so much joy to so many people, myself included, during the pandemic. My Jewish friends and I would all share the TikToks back and forth, texting them to each other. I don’t know if you realize what laughter and joy you brought, and I cannot wait to see this show. I will be eyes wide open on March 7 in Orlando.

Mandy

Well, thank you for coming. We put it together to give ourselves a good time and the audience, too. And I promise everyone who comes that we’ll do everything we can to give you a good time. So if you’re doing nothing, come on down. And if you hate it, you can go to sleep, whatever you want to do.

This story was originally published in print in Spring 2024.