Back in 1980, immediately after the curtain had come down on the Saturday performance ofEvita,Patti LuPone would leave Broadway and hurry down to a Chelsea boite called Les Mouches. There she performed the midnight nightclub act immortalized on this album. If you’re looking for clean, traditional interpretations of show tunes, stay away. But if you want to relive an over-the-top night from back when New York truly was a wild and crazy town,Patti LuPone at Les Mouchesis fantastically fun. Backed by an ace quintet led by pianist/musical director David Lewis, LuPone throws herself with manic intensity into a set list split between Broadway tunes (“Love for Sale,” “Meadowlark” and of course “Rainbow High” and “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” fromEvita) and pop/rock songs like Paul Jabara’s “Heaven Is a Disco,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Because the Night” and the Kinks’ “Superman.” The energy is infectious and the between-song banter downright hilarious, with LuPone chuckling and guffawing and speed-talking, and generally sounding like she’s just put her fingers into an electric socket (her shout-out to Stephen Sondheim is particularly funny). Those were the days… --Elisabeth Vincentelli