Sunset Boulevard Cast Recording

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 12/25/05 at 9:40pm

yay or nay?

*this was a double post so i just changed it into another arent i clever? Updated On: 12/25/05 at 09:40 PM

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 12:47pm

World Premiere Cast Recording (Patti LuPone, Kevin Anderson, Daniel Benzali) is the only one to get.

Posted: 12/26/05 at 12:50pm

I agree!

[GClef2]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 12:54pm

I totally agree---of all of the Norma's, Patti is the most musically enjoyable.

[musicaltheater1]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 12:54pm

The special edition with Betty Buckley is a good album. The album only has a few songs but, it was sold during her performance on Broadway. Excellent recording.

Updated On: 12/26/05 at 12:54 PM

[ALWrules]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 1:03pm

I happen to like both the London and the American cast recording. I prefer the American recording for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the orchestra is bigger and has a stronger, fuller feel, and there are some good orchestrations not in the London recording. Secondly, I love the cast of the American recording. I love Glenn Close, but I think people either love her or hate her. Her voice is good, but she so perfectly inhabits the role with her character. With Patti Lupone, you never think for an instant you are not listening to Patti Lupone, whereas Glenn Close convinces you of the character of Norma Desmond. The other cast members are superior all around as well. George Hearn is exceptional as Max; I love his version of "The Greatest Star of All." And Judy Kuhn is far superior as Betty than the woman in the London recording. And thirdly, the American recording is the entire show, meaning you get the entire Lets Have Lunch routine, which is fantastic, as well as a lot more of the intermittent book. But again, it is one of my favorite musicals, and I think either recording is a good investment.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 1:06pm

No comment on the Joe, eh? That's what I thought. Kevin Anderson's was REAL and the BEST.

And, by the way, didn't Alice Ripley play Betty on Broadway? Ugh, awful.

Posted: 12/26/05 at 1:17pm

Uh oh... you didn't call Alice Ripley aweful, did you!!
:)
Actually, I thought she was fantastic. Her vocals were subdued and just right. And she looked like one of those Barbie dolls from the 50's. (My opinion only of course)...
But I haven't met anyone who didn't enjoy her in that show. (yet...)

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 1:20pm

Alice Ripley did play it on Broadway - and her Betty got whinier and more annoying with every performance. Just awful.

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 1:25pm

Rath - I also was not really a fan of Alice Ripley's "Betty" - that is why she was such a revelation to me in "Side Show"

[jackson992]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 2:47pm

I have always loved Alice Ripley.

I like the Glenn Close version the best, to me the show is more real and as someone said you get the entire show. I really can't stand Patti Lupone's voice.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 3:03pm

even though Patti Lupone is a better singer than Glenn i prefer Glenn's version, Close acts all the time...and i think she is a decent singer. The sound of the orchestra is way better. And also George Hearn is pretty good and so is Alan Campbell and last but not least ...Judy Kuhn!

Updated On: 12/26/05 at 03:03 PM

[Mo3]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 4:12pm

I agree, I saw the show several times - I saw Buckley twice, Close once, and Mason once. Alice's singing was an abomination. She's a lovely woman and a terrific belter, but her soprano vocals in the show, every time I saw it, were horrible.

[jo]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 5:42pm

It was never released, but there was a BBC online broadcast of the SUNSET BOULEVARD concert in Ireland featuring Michael Ball, Petula Clark, and Emma Williams. Michael and Emma were outstanding ( great voices!) while Petula seemed a little weak vocally ( after all, she is past 70 now) which perhaps lent more authenticity to the role.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 7:40pm

I saw it in London, with Patti and the gang. They were it.

[Joe Mike2]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 8:21pm

The only recording that's worth getting is the London version with LuPone. While Glenn Close can be wonderful if rightly cast, she is simply not vocally up to the score. I saw her in LA before the show came to B'way but I didn't think she was that good. And, believe me, I went to the show wanting and expecting to love it. I'm a HUGE Glenn Close fan. She was wonderful in the first part of the show. After "With One Look" I thought, "My God, this is going to be the greatest performance I have ever seen in my life." After that, unfortunately, things started going down hill. She played the part like an old lady. This is not a matter of interpretation. Norma Desmond must be a woman of about fifty because of when the show takes place and the fact that she was a silent film star. By the end of the second act, her acting was so campy that she reminded me of a drag queen! I later flew to NY to see Elaine Paige in the role but unfortunately she didn't play that night though her understudy (whose name escapes me -- it wasn't Karen Mason)was fine. But, of course, I was disappointed not to see Elaine. Then I saw it with Petula Clark, who was good but, again, not really vocally powerful enough for the score. I would love to have seen it with Patti. I LOVE her on the CD although I have heard mixed things about her performance. I remember when she was first cast I thought she was totally wrong for the part but her singing on the CD convinces me that she must have been amazing. Also, the guy playing Joe on the London CD is far preferable to the Joe in the Broadway version who was beautiful to look at but lacked the seedy, desperate quality that the role requires. When I saw him the second time in NY after he had been playing the role for quite some time, he seemed vastly improved. Agree that George Hearn was wonderful as Max. By the way, I have the CD of Dianne Caroll in the part. She's not as campy as Glenn, but -- like Glenn-- her voice is not powerful enough for the score.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 8:28pm

NO recording of SUNSET BLVD is worth wasting much time or money on. It is one of the sorriest and sloppiest musicals ALW has ever written.

If the composer doesn't think enough of the material to bother writing a completely original score for it, why should we bother listening to it?

It was an expensive flop on Broadway, in London, in Toronto and on tour, and ALW should be thoroughly ashamed of it.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 9:54pm

Yeah, 7 Tony Awards is something to be devastatedly ashamed of.

The *mistake* ALW did make, however, was pushing Patti aside and giving the role to a novice, who in fact, only won her Tony because she was up against one other actress that year.

The book and the score are lovely. They only should have moved the London production to Broadway unchanged.

Updated On: 12/26/05 at 09:54 PM

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 12/27/05 at 4:34am

World Premiere Cast Recording (Patti LuPone, Kevin Anderson, Daniel Benzali) is the only one to get.


yuck. Yuck yuck yuck yuck

It's horrible. It's like they've come along and said "well, we're doing a cast recording. But it's going to include the dialogue as well. So let's just treat everything like we're supposed to sing - and NOT act - it. And we'll just slur on the dialogue and make it the most boring representation of any score / show since Les Miserables Original London Cast"

Yuck yuck yuck

Glenn Close all the way

[OtherDaryl]

Posted: 12/27/05 at 10:02am

The Diahann Carroll/Rex Smith recording is priceless.

Any Diahann Carroll recording is priceless.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 12/27/05 at 10:55am

While 7 Tony awards sounds impressive, 2 of those (Best Book & Best Score) were by acclamation as there were NO other nominees in the 94/95 season. In previous years when there were not enough nominees to fill a category it was eliminated, as it should have been in 1995. The award for Best Musical was won simply because the only other new musical to open that year was a second rate juke box show called SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE. AT least it was a hit running 3 seasons and showing a profit, but it was hardly Tony worthy. SUNSET's other 4 wins (Glen Close, George Hearn, John Napier's wonderfully overblown sets and the fantastic lighting deign) were all certainly deserved. But the show itself is weak, and too expensive to revive in its original form yet without the sets and costumes and lighting it would never work.

As for recordings, Diahann Carroll was horribly mis-cast and she knew it. She was literally sleepwalking through performances by the end of the run. The show was a huge failure in Toronto with houses heavily papered to no avail. The CD (highlights only with her and Rex Smith) is now out-of-print but copies are frequently found in used CD stores.

Patti LuPone is the ONLY one who could really sing it, but the show was much changed after the recording was made, so the London cast Cd doesn't really reflect the show in its final form.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 12/27/05 at 11:00am

"At least it was a hit running 3 seasons and showing a profit, but it was hardly Tony worthy."

I always heard it closed at a loss because the production costs were so high.

[mcphan19]

Posted: 12/27/05 at 11:15am

I agree that Diahann Carroll was totally miscast, evidenced in the fact that in "The Perfect Year" Rex Smith (who was a passable Joe) sings HIGHER than she does, which sounds strange and very wrong. As for the debate between the London and American cast recordings, I enjoyed both, but prefer the American over the London for its completeness (and for the realistic sounding gunshots - the ones on the London cast recording sound like toy gun caps). Vocally however, Patti does have one up on Glenn (but interestingly enough on the ALW 50th Birthday DVD, Glenn sing much better there than on the American cast recording. Go figure.) Even so, my favorite Norma will forever be Elaine Paige - it's a shame there's no (legal) recording with her.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the German highlights recording with Helen Schnieder and Uwe Kroger - that recording is well worth the price (if you can find it). Also, the Betty Buckley 4 track CD is well worth finding. It's too bad that an Austrailan cast recording was never made, I would have loved to have heard Hugh Jackman sing the title song (and the Perfect Year, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs from the show).

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 12/27/05 at 11:16am

Just to clarify...SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE was a hit that ran 3 seasons and made a profit.

SUNSET had a long run (over 2 years) but closed with a considerable loss. Some have pegged it as high as $11 million though I have never seen that confirmed. The London, Toronto and touring versions also closed in the red. Ironic too because Webber rushed this show out to help save RUG which was in desperate need of more cash flow. The whole thing was a major mistake. Sad.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 12/27/05 at 11:18am

Ah. Gotcha.