Profile for Mellony

cmorrow said: "I don't know for certain when the practice of creating B-roll footage began, but I would guess it was in the 1970s, when producers started airing TV commercials for their shows. TOFT holds a TV commercial for the original production of A Little Night Music, first broadcast in 1974, but there is no video footage in it, just still photos."

Oh that’s cool to know about the ALNM commercial. I know the ‘79 Evita ad has video of Mandy and Pat

VintageSnarker said: "In terms of mental health, I don't think it quite finds its footing in negotiating Norma as both emotionally fragile and manipulative."

I loved the way Nicole played the scene between Norma and DeMille. That was the most impactful I've ever seen that scene be, and it threaded the needle perfectly between her ambition and her fear and fragility. I just wish more of that energy was brought to her scenes with Joe,

Norma is groomed by a man who is essentially her boss from the time she’s 16 (and maybe statutorily raped depending when her relationship with Max started). And now that man lives with her and has spent years gaslighting her into thinking she’s still famous. And who knows how else she’s been abused by the industry, you can read plenty of horror stories. And the industry responded by kicking her out as soon as she became too difficult and too old. So, maybe “emotio

ColorTheHours048 said: "I think the real divide here is between audience members who require some level of literalism in their theatre, and ones who are on board with experimentation and non-literalism.”

FWIW, Jamie Lloyd’s Evita was one of my favorite productions of Evita I’ve ever seen. Another show with a largely unlikeable protagonist, but I think his modern style made the character feel more immediate and easier to connect with. She certainly wa

SonofRobbieJ said: "She may be a pitiable figure, but she's not to be pitied. She is a vampire, sucking the blood out of Gillis (in this case, his writing talent) and when he tries to break the spell, she destroys him."

Yeah, I agree Jamie Lloyd has shifted Norma's characterization back to a modernized version of her movie characterization. But I don't know that that works for the musical? The Norma we see in the movie is not a character that sings. She w

PipingHotPiccolo said: "Is she a monster when her fragility leads her to self harm?"

Sorry to keep posting, but yes this really stuck out to me. Nicole plays Norma's panic attacks and suicide attempt with no gravity to them. Her panic attack after Joe finishes the script and says he's moving out was played for laughs with how quickly Norma snaps out of it. Yes, Norma is manipulative, but her suicide attempt always seemed like a genuine act of desperation and

ColorTheHours048 said: "I don’t think the monster needs to be fully human to connect with them. The woman murders a man in cold blood. She’s not as sympathetic as some seem to want her to be."

Totally, I think it’s a matter of preference, and not a right or wrong choice.

I just wanted to point out that I’m not going off of what I hypothetically “want” Norma to be, but the actual productions I’ve seen in th

ColorTheHours048 said: "A vampire, possibly. She’s not meant to be the kind of grandiose silent movie star literally written in the script and presented in the realism of the movie/original production."

Sunset Blvd is ultimately about a fragile, aging women who is discarded by the industry she dedicated her life to due to her age and poor mental health. That is, underneath all the camp and melodrama, the societal critique at the heart of the show.

Se

Here are the two lyrics to compare, under the spoiler. Original in bold and Jamie Lloyd in italics.

My issue isn't making Betty more steely or cynical. It's that she's coldly professional. For her to cheat on Artie, she has to want Joe on some level, even a superficial one. Jamie Lloyd's Betty doesn't want Joe at all--if anything, she seems like a mother constantly chiding her angsty teenage son.

Just compare the lyrics. In the

R. GreenFinch said: "For me, this production is really about how all of these characters use and manipulate each other. I think this version of Joe isn't really in love with Betty, she's just a way out of his situation."

I totally agree this is Joe's motivation (at least partially) in every production of Sunset. But I also think Betty has genuine feelings for Joe. Otherwise, what does she have to gain by cheating on Artie?

Personally,