25 years ago this week - 'The Great Sunset Meltdown' was taking place

25 years ago this week, Broadway, The West End and Vancouver were in the midst of what some in the press called 'The Great Sunset Meltdown'. The NYT declared, "A great musical titan has toppled."



That great musical titan was, of course, ALW's $12M musical 'Sunset Boulevard' which usually had more backstage drama since it's opening on the West End in July, 1993 than it did on stage. On Broadway, the show opened with Glenn Close (after a successful LA run) in November, 1994. Before opening on Broadway at the Minskoff, the show set box office records for advance ticket sales. Once it opened, it was a complete sell-out until she left in June, 1995. Betty Buckley took over to rave reviews, but the box office started dropping. After staying with the show for a little over a year, she left and was replaced by British theater diva Elaine Paige in September, 1996. Six months later, ALW decided to close the show on March 22, 1997 - after 977 performances. Investors recouped only 85% of their money back.



Webber also announced at the same time that the West End production - which opened in July, 1993 starring Patti Lupone and went through an ocean of bad press and a parade of actresses after her - was closing down two weeks later, on April 5, 1997 with Petula Clark the last to star in the $7M production. A third LIVENT production - which got started in Toronto in October, 1995 and had moved to Vancouver in December, 1996 starring Diahann Carroll - also posted a closing notice for April 9, 1997.



According to the official word form ALW's PR team, all three contracts for these leading actresses were expiring, and producers could not find 'stars of sufficient stature' to play the role of Norma Desmond.



''Andrew Lloyd Webber has scripted one of the most demanding female roles ever in musical theater,'' said James Thane, the managing director of the Really Useful Theater Company, Lord Lloyd Webber's production company in Britain. ''This makes casting incredibly difficult. The public expect a certain stature of artist in this role, and to continue beyond Petula's contract would risk compromising an extraordinary series of bravura performances.''



However, insiders knew all three shows were losing money - especially on Broadway, where Paige was playing to houses only 2/3 full in January and February of that year. ALW knew the show needed a star name on the marquee to survive, and before Buckley left he was in talks with musical actresses Cher, Diana Ross and even Olivia Newton-John to take the role. It was said he couldn't afford any of their salary requests, so he settled with Paige making her Broadway debut. The New York Times said this was 'the first of the long-running British mega-musicals on Broadway to fall'.

“ before Buckley left he was in talks with musical actresses Cher, Diana Ross and even Olivia Newton-John to take the role. It was said he couldn't afford any of their salary requests, so he settled with Paige making her Broadway debut.”

I still don’t believe that he/they couldn’t afford these women (or any other stars of that caliber). They could have easily made it happen and get a pretty penny out of it (most likely still close at a loss) and we could have had a longer run with even more iconic performances. Sigh.

Plus I’d imagine those stars didn’t really want to do Broadway anyway since they ultimately never did (with the exception of Cher appearing in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.)

The set seemed smaller in London, RippedMan.

My favorite Sunset scandal was not the Patti one, but with Faye Dunaway when she was fired then gave her “capricious man” press conference. Webber didn’t think she could sing the score, and I don’t think anyone has ever heard her sing a note of anything to this day. Even if she was tone deaf, I still would have paid top dollar just to see her do those book scenes. I imagine it would have looked something like Mommie Dearest on bath salts.

And this meltdown recap doesn't include the related Sunset 1st National Tour fiasco from around the same time, where the expensive physical production from Broadway/London/Toronto was kept nearly visually and operationally identical, including the flying mansion (which i recall required structural reinforcement in each theater), and where it was believed that the show was the star, meaning Betty Buckley's (as I recall) salary demands for Norma were not met to take the show on tour with a recognizable lead name, leaving mostly unknown, mid-30s, and arguably miscast Linda Balgord as the tour lead.

The tour lasted just 7 stops from '96-'97, including stop 2 in Cincinnati, which I saw (including Ron Bohmer's very good Joe) before folding and going out bare bones with a new production, director, and star, Petula Clark, a year later (which I saw in Cleveland).

With all that said, and though she closed the show on Broadway, Elaine Paige's Norma, which I saw in London, remains at the top of my great female performances list. Her small stature made the power of the giant movie screen real. Her nasally American accent only reinforced why talkies weren't in her future - and that voice!



I also saw Diahann Carroll's solid take on Norma in Toronto (with Rex Smith as Joe!), referenced above, though always heard Miss Carroll was a bit of a diva.

Not seeing the original Broadway production is one of my life's greatest regrets.

David10086 said: "Lot666 said: "Not seeing the original Broadway production is one of my life's greatest regrets."

I hope you got to see the revival five years ago with Close!"

Saw the original Broadway run with Close, Mason, Buckley and Paige, as well as the 1st Nat’l Tour with Balgord. HATED the 2017 concert-style revival though the orchestra was glorious.

I still marvel at the choices. Olivia Newton-John as Norma Desmond is rather like Doris Day as Mrs. Lovett (hey, I would've paid top dollar). The role stretched to many singing actors, and perhaps Newton-John's vocals might've soared in a character nailing star turn. But you smell a whiff of desperation with the list.

Auggie27 said: "I still marvel at the choices. Olivia Newton-John as Norma Desmond is rather like Doris Day as Mrs. Lovett (hey, I would've paid top dollar). The role stretched to many singing actors, and perhaps Newton-John's vocals might've soared in a character nailing star turn. But you smell a whiff of desperation with the list."

He went with one of the greatest musical actresses of the generation (Buckley) and the box office fell. He was desperate - he knew he needed some kind of big name casting at that point, and ONJ was it. Of the three names, I'd love to see Cher (who was also mentioned for the movie some 15 years ago).