Patti LuPone and John Doyle Eye Reunion in London Production of The Rink

Patti LuPone is eyeing a return to the London stage next year in John Kander and Fred Ebb's The Rink, Ambassador Theatre Group Managing Director Howard Panter revealed to Theatre.com. The project would reunite LuPone with British director John Doyle. The pair worked together on last season's Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd, which garnered LuPone a Tony nomination for her portrayal of Mrs. Lovett and Doyle the award for Best Director of a Musical.

The Rink centers on Anna the role LuPone would play, the matriarch of a roller-skating rink that has fallen on hard times, and her turbulent relationship with her daughter, Angel. The original 1984 Broadway production starring Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli was not deemed a success, though Rivera won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Anna. The Rink features music by Kander, lyrics by Ebb and a book by Terrence McNally.

LuPone has previously appeared on the London stage on four occasions. In August 1985, she made her London debut in John Houseman's production of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle will Rock at the Old Vic. Later in the same year, she originated the role of Fantine in the RSC's first staging of Les Miserables, directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird, at the Barbican Theatre. She won the 1985 Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance of the Year by an Actress in a Musical for both roles. She subsequently originated the role of Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard in 1993 and starred as Maria Callas in McNally's Master Class at the Queen's Theatre in 1997.

According to ATG's Panter, the plan is for The Rink to make a transfer to New York after its London run. ATG was a co-producer of Doyle's Broadway production of Sweeney Todd as well as its run in the West End, where it originated at the ATG-owned Trafalgar Studios after opening out of town at Newbury's Watermill Theatre. ATG is also a co-producer of the current Broadway transfer of Doyle's production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company, which originated in Cincinnati and will open at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on November 29.