Show days for Grease: The Musical star Patti Newton, who’s playing Miss Lynch in the hit show, always start the same way.
“When I walk into the theatre, there’s a big picture of Bert in Wicked. And he’s got his arm up and he’s smiling, so I high-five him and give him a little kiss every day going in and out,” says the 79-year-old, who’s starring in the show at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre.
“I feel Bert’s very much part of me doing these shows. I think they’ve been sent from heaven,” she says.
Patti, who lost her husband, Aussie icon Bert Newton, in October 2021, says she also feels close to her late spouse when visiting his grave with her daughter Lauren, 44, and six grandchildren, Sam, 16, Eva, 15, Lola, 12, Monty, eight, Perla, five, and Alby, three.
STAYING STRONG
“We go to the cemetery, and we all say a little prayer. It’s funny because Perla does the sign of the cross and then she has a chat. She says, ‘Hi Poppy, I got a new teacher and I found a new friend, and I love drawing and colouring in, and I found a Bert and Ernie book the other day from Sesame Street, and there was one that said Bert, so I coloured it in just for you.’
“I get quite emotional, but I never let them see that,” Patti admits. “Because I don’t want it to be a sad thing.”
Patti says little Perla got a bit of a shock when the family ran into her famous Poppy at the Madam Tussauds wax museum in Sydney in April.
“She’s the only one that got a little bit funny because she said, ‘Nan, you said Poppy was up in heaven.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, he is.’ ‘Well, how come he’s here?’ I said, ‘Well, this is not really Poppy. This is like your dollies that you’ve got. A version of Poppy. But we can always come and have a look at him if we want to see what he looked like.’”
DOING IT ALONE
Having her family close by when she’s home in Melbourne is a huge comfort for Patti, while learning to live without her beloved Bert.
“Bert was in hospital for the last year of his life, I was used to being on my own,” she tells Woman’s Day. “And I have the most wonderful daughter. She feeds me very well. I have dinner with them a lot. I’m very much part of their lives and they’re part of mine.”
Patti says her son Matthew, 47, who she often speaks to, and her long-time group of friends also ensure she’s never lonely.
“I’ve got great friends that I’ve had since I started at Channel Nine at 15. And we’re always giving one another advice. I do have a nice little group around me.”
But she isn’t planning a big bash to celebrate turning the big 8-0 next year.
“I have about three or four gatherings a year with all the girls that are of my vintage. We have party pies and cakes and a bit of champagne, so I don’t have to really celebrate any particular day
more than the other, because we do have a bit of fun during the year.”
The newest recruit to her inner circle is her Grease: The Musical co-star Marcia Hines. “We share a dressing room and she’s absolutely lovely,” Patti shares of the 70-year-old singer.
“She and Bert had done shows together but we’d never worked together. It’s made my performance better because I’m so happy being here. We have a lot of laughs.”
But being a stage queen does have its challenges. “I’ve got a bit of a bad hip and so getting up and down the bleachers is sometimes a bit difficult,” she jokes.
And that’s what Patti says she misses most about her husband of 49 years.
“At the end of each day we’d say, ‘Well, I’m going to sleep now. I’m taking my hearing aids out,’ and I’d say, ‘Well, good night – I’m putting my mouthguard in now,’ and then we’d lie down.
“Bert would say, ‘You know, the only thing’s left is if I had to screw my leg off,’” Patti says fondly. “I often think about that, because Bert lost his leg. If he was here, I would love to say that to him because he’d go hysterical. We would say, ‘We’ve been saying that for years, you know.’
“We had a good life. We had a lot of fun.”
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