Ben Rimalower to Bring His LuPone-Loving Solo Show Patti Issues to the West Coast

Ben Rimalower is packing up his baggage and taking his love for Patti LuPone on the road. Rimalower will perform his hit solo show Patti Issues in  California in March.

Patti Issues will play UC Berkeley’s Choral Rehearsal Hall (March 26), the Marsh Mainstage in San Francisco (March 27), Martinis Above Fourth in San Diego (March 28) and the Cavern Club Celebrity Theatre at Casita del Campo in Los Angeles (March 29 & 30).

When Ben Rimalower was 8-years-old, his father came out of the closet and embarked on a drug-fueled tear that left his family in tatters. Amid the chaos of his young life, Ben found comfort—like so many gay boys before him and after—in musical theatre, and specifically in the transportive voice of Broadway star Patti LuPone. Patti Issues explores the challenges facing LGBT parents and children, while shining unique light on gay men’s time-old obsessions with divas.

Written by and starring Rimalower and directed by Aaron Mark, Patti Issues ends its extended run at New York’s Duplex Cabaret Theatre on April 24. Rimalower directed and produced the off-Broadway plays Joy and The Fabulous Life of a Size Zero. He was the Founding Artistic Director of UC Berkeley’s BareStage.