Patti LuPone is perhaps best known for her roles in the Broadway hits Evita, Les Miserables and Gypsy.

But the Tony award-winner has also experienced some slightly less-glamorous roles — not to mention a few flops — during her long theater career.

In her book, Patti LuPone: A Memoir, LuPone recounts the stories behind the hits and the misses as well as the ups, the downs, the firings, the feuds and other dramas of the Great White Way.

The theater maven’s memoir isn’t just a peek backstage. LuPone also shares how she learned her craft through formal instruction at Julliard, at repertory theater, in countless rehearsals and with each new curtain call onstage. Copyright 2010 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Copyright 2010 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.