Recipient of 7 Tony Award Nominations and the winner for Best Choreography, After Midnight was a play focusing on the popular, prohibition-era hot spot The Cotton Club and was scheduled to include residencies from Fantasia Barrino, Patti LaBelle, Natalie Cole, Gladys Night and numerous other notable singers. The majority of the positive reception took place at the anchoring of Barrino, but it was during LaBelle’s stay that the curtains closed. Undoubtedly disappointed that she wasn’t able to see her time on stage, Natalie had some choice words about Ms. Labelle’s performance that were relayed to Dish Nation via a source close to the production:

Natalie was overheard telling friends that Fantasia really made the show work, but Patti was just not up to par. People were saying that Patti would get tired in middle of her set and would just mouth the words instead of singing them. Natalie didn’t hold back — she went on to say that Patti had lost her touch — saying she was too old and too tired to make the performance work.

This comes as no surprise as no surprise as Natalie is known to be outspoken and opinionated. A few other celebs and names close to the production were said to have felt similarly but none with the Natalie’s intensity. Fantasia was definitely amazing during her tenure at After Midnight but did any of you who got a chance to see Ms. LaBelle have any notable feelings about the performance she gave? Or do you think this could just be Natalie venting her frustrations at not being able to have her full time on stage? Let us know in the comments!

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