Patti LuPone hit in head with roses during 'Company' curtain call

Patti LuPone returned to Broadway's "Company" Tuesday night and was welcomed back with roses from a fan at the curtain call. But the gesture that was meant to touch her heart instead ended up being a direct hit to her head.

The Northport native, who had been absent from the show since Feb. 26 after testing positive for COVID-19, was basking in the love from the audience as she took her bow after Tuesday's performance when the roses came flying from the audience and hit her in the head. The moment was captured on video that her co-star Claybourne Elder shared on his Instagram account the following morning.

"Hit in the head with roses," Elder captioned the clip. "This is the moment a fan did what we all want to do at the end of Ladies Who Lunch: throw roses at Patti LuPone's head in adoration." As of Thursday afternoon, the video had garnered more than 35,000 views.

LuPone, 72, who was obviously caught off-guard by the flowers, began laughing after she realized what had just happened.

The Tony Award winner, who plays the martini-swilling Joanne and performs the showstopping number "The Ladies Who Lunch" in the revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical, had missed 11 performances while recovering from COVID-19. She also missed a few performances while the show was still in previews in early December due to a non-COVID-related illness.

"Company," which was set to bow just 10 days before Broadway went on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, opened on Dec. 9, 2021.

LuPone won an Olivier Award, Britain's equivalent of the Tony, for her performance in the 2018 London production of "Company."