28 years ago today: ALW fired Faye Dunaway from LA's 'Sunset Boulevard' ! — Page 2

Let's play 6 degrees - - -

Patti LuPone won a Tony for her performance in "EVITA" written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The award was announced and presented to Patti by Faye Dunaway who would later that year star in a television film about Eva Peron entitled "EVITA PERON" that only served to cash-in on the success of the Broadway show. Patti then goes on to London and plays "Norma Desmond" in Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical, "SUNSET BOULEVARD" only to be unceremoniously dumped and replaced for the musical's Broadway bound production in L.A. by Glenn Close who was then to be replaced by none other than FAYE DUNAWAY...only to be unceremoniously dumped like Patti was.

Thanks for playing! :)

Updated On: 6/26/22 at 10:27 AM

As an avid fan of this show's art by Dewynters, I have followed its' history pretty closely. When the decision was made to record the American Premiere, a different design was needed to differentiate albums so the black and white was created. When the decision was made to make that the Broadway production, the art changed too. In Los Angeles, it was always the peach.

I also want to note that the Canadian company BRILLIANTLY resurrected the peach and combined it with a rich purple, which is my favorite. But much of the Livent variations on the already well-established shows were a favorite of mine (JOSEPH with that indigo I prefer to the black is another example).

The hand with gun and red variations were just not effective, IMHO. Thankfully, I don't think the hand with gun was ever used domestically. I see why the red was added when it needed a stronger visual presence to stand out on B'way and on tour, but I thought it was garish and ineffective. Nonetheless, all the Sunset variations still have a space on my Sunset poster wall!

The Canadian production had a more yellow / gold tone color scheme to it's artwork with Diahann Carroll. At least that's how it appears on the CD covers. The German CD also has the black / white / silver color scheme.

Billy Masters recently did a Tony recap, and his first guest was Anastasia Barzee, who played Betty opposite Faye Dunaway in rehearsals for that L.A. ''Sunset Boulevard.'' Barzee says Dunaway was ''incredibly nice, incredbily gracious and very scared and fragile.'' During a put-in, Barzee says Dunaway was losing her voice and ''could not have been sweeter'' and ''was asking for help.'' Barzee says ''the book scenes were unbelievably brilliant,'' but Dunaway ''really couldn't sing it.'' Barzee believes Dunaway was talked into it, and later was told that ''Andrew Lloyd Webber really had his heart set on [casting a movie star].''

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYvo5hpDq3A&t=212s

Dark_Vader said: "I've always wondered why Judy Kuhn didn't continue in the role in L.A."

She became pregnant and had a child.

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "Dark_Vader said: "I've always wondered why Judy Kuhn didn't continue in the role in L.A."

She became pregnant and had a child."

Exactly. This is why she was the only principal cast member from L.A. that didn’t transfer to the Broadway production. No conspiracies.

While we’re on the subject, I have a little page dedicated to my Sunset collection. Check it out - missing somethings, but it has the Canadian posters. Always looking for more material to add, if you have scans or photos of things I’m missing, I’d love to see & share (with credit of course) and create a larger repository! https://www.joeldickinson.com/sunset

Thanks for sharing that Faye story. So sad, but it sounds like reviews may have been devastating.

verywellthensigh said: "Try...listening to the link I posted. "

I listen to it frequently and it reminds me of how tremendous she would have been as Norma. I can hear it in that exact voice...

"You do know a Mr. Gillis? Well, exactly how much do you know about him? Do you know where he lives? Do you know what he lives on?"

At least I was able to catch her stellar work in Master Class!

I recall reading an article recently there were a list of celebrities who ALW asked to audition for the role once Close left, knowing they would sell tickets to an LA audience. Those names included : Michele Lee, Cybil Shepherd, Diana Ross, and Diahann Carroll (who didn't make the cut for LA, but was offered the role in Canada).

Story goes he really wanted Ross, but they couldn't come to an agreement. She only wanted to do the weekend evening shows, no matinees. And she wanted to replace Close in NYC - again, evening weekend shows only. ALW couldn't agree to that.

He really pushed Lee to take it, too (he allegedly had offered her the role in 1993, but she needed time off after 14 years of filming 'Knots Landing'. In 1994, she did audition for him - but then she withdrew her name as she wasn't sure she could commit to a musical for so long (I think it was six months).

CATSNYrevival said: "I wish I could have seen Diahann Carroll, what I have seen and heard of her performance seems very positive."

wiggum2 said: "The Canadian CD of SB is not my favorite"

Well, your dad says your mom LOVES it!

wiggum2 said: "The Canadian CD of SB is not my favorite"

Mine either - she sounds like she's sleep-talking through it. However, I have read from plenty of fans who have seen just about every actress performing as 'Norma' say that Carroll was the best on stage - even better than Buckley. That said, it's too bad she didn't get her wish and replace Buckley in late 1996 on the Broadway stage. I would have loved to have seen her in this after seeing Buckley. Why ALW would give the chance to Paige over Carroll is beyond me. I think Carroll would've sold many more tickets.