Mandy, Patti - real cozy

Our weather finally has an autumn snap in the air, and there is hardly a better way to get cozy than to spend time with old friends.

And we literally get "Old Friends," via Stephen Sondheim, and a host of other songs by Broadway's boldest-faced composers in the Prince Music Theater's production of An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin.

LuPone and Patinkin made their names (and garnered Tonys) as Eva and Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber's original Broadway production of Evita, and they seem to have a true affection for one another. The pair radiates their warmth all the way to the theater's back rows, bringing a bit of Lincoln Center to Chestnut Street, as they tear through medley after lovesick medley.

From South Pacific to Merrily We Roll Along, Carousel and more, the duo stop only for a line or two of dialogue from the musicals and a brief intermission.

Directed by Patinkin, the performance is suffused with a sense of ease, but also of rebellion. LuPone once famously sued Andrew Lloyd Webber (and won), while Patinkin recently walked away from his day job on the television show Criminal Minds, citing "creative differences."

And both still have an air of the scrappy independent about them. The show feels intimate, as though they simply decided together that they'd rather be doing nothing else, invited longtime Patinkin collaborator and pianist Paul Ford to come along, and grabbed bassist John Beal on their way out the door.

There are no fancy sets or big dance numbers, only the singers, their songs, a pair of chairs, and the musicians' unobtrusive accompaniment.

Still, it seems a waste to have the great Ann Reinking as your choreographer and then to underutilize her talents. There is a bit too much sitting while singing, perhaps a concession to the performers' ages.

But when they get moving, particularly during an "April in Paris/April in Fairbanks" medley, they channel the Fringe festival and swing each other around the stage perched on a pair of rolling office chairs, and we enjoy it as much as they seem to.

There is little concession to age regarding the choice of tunes, however, with an abundance of ingenues dotting the song list, and both reprising their signature Evita roles (and LuPone's signature song, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina") without a care for the intervening years.

They may croon "Baby, It's Cold Outside," but inside the Prince, Patinkin and LuPone keep the house nice and comfy.

An Evening  with Patti LuPone  and Mandy Patinkin

Cast: Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin, Paul Ford, John Beal.

Playing at: Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Through Monday. Tickets: $60-75. Information: 215-569-9700 or www.princemusictheater.org