Youngstown’s Vosburgh receives belated thanks from Broadway star

By Guy D’Astolfo

He was surprised when Patti Lupone acknowledged his help.

When Broadway superstar Patti Lupone accepted the Tony Award for best actress in a musical Sunday night, she pulled out a list of long-overdue thank-yous.

Among the names that she read was Youngstown’s David Vosburgh, who worked with her as a vocal coach almost three decades ago when the two were young cast members of “Evita.”

Lupone won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for her work as Eva in “Evita,” but forgot to thank Vosburgh in her acceptance speech.

That was 28 years ago, and Lupone, of course, went on to become a Broadway superstar. But she obviously never forgot the career-making help she got from Vosburgh.

She corrected the slight Sunday night after receiving the Best Actress-Musical Tony for “Gypsy.” It became Lupone’s second Tony, after many near-misses over the years. “I was afraid to write a speech, because I had written a couple before and they never made it out of my purse. So I’m going to use one of the old ones and add a few names,” she said. Her acceptance speech ran over time, but she kept on talking as the band played a “hurry up” tune.

Lupone’s acknowledgement Sunday night came as a shock to Vosburgh, who said he watches the Tonys every year. “It was a great surprise,” he said.

As soon as Lupone’s speech ended, Vosburgh’s phones began ringing and didn’t stop, as friends and fellow actors called to congratulate him.

Vosburgh, who is production director of Opera Western Reserve in Youngstown, spoke to The Vindicator Monday morning from his office. Still excited, he recalled how he helped Lupone in those early days of rehearsals for “Evita.”

She was having vocal problems, and a friend suggested Vosburgh, a trained opera singer who was in the musical’s chorus, help her.

“I said, ‘How do I walk up to the leading lady and offer my help?’” said Vosburgh. But word got to Lupone of Vosburgh’s skill. “Within three days, she came up to me and said, ‘I want to take voice lessons with you,’ and walked away,” said Vosburgh. “I just about fell over.”

Vosburgh worked with her for more than six months. “I heard her voice every night, and could tell what she was doing wrong,” he said.

“Her acting was getting her away from her sound.” Vosburgh explained what he meant thusly: “It’s like, to produce a sound this way, you have to do this.”

“We took the songs apart and rebuilt them,” he said. “I taught her the notes, but not how to sing the score.”

Vosburgh didn’t get paid for his help — he described it as one performer helping another. But Lupone recognized his value. “She once told me, ‘You solved in one sentence what my vocal teacher, whom I had been flying out to see once a week, couldn’t solve.’”

A northeast Ohio native, Vosburgh is an instructor at Youngstown State University. He has directed or designed more than 100 productions for opera companies, various theater groups and national touring companies.

He has performed in more than 30 operatic roles. In addition to “Evita,” he was also in the original Broadway productions of “Maggie Flynn,” “A Little Night Music” and “A Doll’s Life,” and revivals of tours of “Sweeney Todd,” “Cabaret,” “Guys and Dolls” and “Parade.”

Vosburgh also served as artistic director for the Youngstown Playhouse, and, before that, the New York Lyric Opera.

He said he and Lupone keep in touch, however, their paths rarely cross.