On the subject of Sondheim's thoughts on Webber I was reading Look, I Made a Hat and came across this section in the chapter on Passion: "This was a lesson I learned from Billy Wilder, a man whom I met for a little more than three minutes at a Park Avenue cocktail party sprinkled with celebrities. At the time (around 1960) Burt Shevelove and I were toying with the notion of transforming Sunset Boulevard into a musical. We had actually sketched out a few scenes, so when I found myself introduced to Wilder, the movie's director and co-author, I plunged right in. Blushingly, I allowed as how I was a co-author of West Side Story and Gypsy and now I had an interest in adapting his movie. "But you can't make a musual out of Sunset Boulevard," he snapped. Startled and dismayed, I assumed he meant the rights were unavailable. I was wrong. He continued, "It has to be an opera. It's a story about a dethroned queen." Instantly, I recognized that he was right and relayed the story to Burt and we abandoned the project; I had no desire to write an opera, which is a form I resist... As the subsequent musical by other hands proved (for me, at least), Wilder was right."
Also, as a present for Patti when she was opening Sunset, Sondheim gave her (as a joke) the "real Sunset musical" which was a recording of a couple of songs with music and lyrics by Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley and the role of Norma sung by Gloria Swanson. According to Patti, Gloria was not the greatest singer.
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
Updated On: 12/16/14 at 01:14 PM
