Denise Whelan Is Norma Desmond ....

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 9:28am

.... in Maine State's production of "Sunset Boulevard". (Playbill.com). The costume in the picture is beautiful...but to me, it looks a little 1920's flapper. Break a leg. from RC in Austin, Texas
Denise Whelan Is Norma Desmond

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 9:34am

There's a short little video clip in the Maine State Music theatre website. In it, the WOL and AIWNSG costumes are gorgeous. Also, her rendition of As If.... is pretty good.
Maine State Musical Theatre

[castlestreet]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 9:34am

She looks like she just stepped off the set off an episode of Dynasty!

[castlestreet]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 9:36am

She sounds pretty good- although why do they have her interacting with DeMille during AIWNSG? And that poster design is awful!

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 9:54am

I actually like that poster. from RC in Austin, Texas

[PattiLover]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 10:20am

Saw her in Lancaster at the Fulton in Sunset Boulevard. She was really great. I've always been a fan of Denise, she's a really great person. I absolutely loved her as Velma in Hairspray.

If you're near, go see this production.

[emlodik]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 11:55am

How are they getting away not crediting Anthony Powell for costume design? Half the costumes seem to be his! I had the same issue with last year's production of "Sunset Boulevard" in Salt Lake City. Half the costume were from the original production, but no mention of Powell in the program!

[castlestreet]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 12:06pm

He's not getting credit? That's ludicrous! Aren't a lot of these regional productions simply renting the original costumes? Someone please correct me on the renting if I am wrong.

[emlodik]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 12:08pm

Yes, they do, but the ones that rent only a portion tend to credit their local costume designer, never mind that he/she only put together like 35% of the wardrobe and the rest came from Powell.

PS - How many of the original Powell pieces are there? With all that renting, traveling, wearing, and alterations, I don't know how long they'll last.

[castlestreet]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 12:13pm

I don't know, but if they ever want to sell them for charitable purposes, I'll be first in line to get my hands on one- I still think they are among the most beautiful ever created!

[kipster]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 10:34pm

castlestreet- I know this is pretty minor, but they don't have her interacting with DeMille during AIWNSG; that must have just been how it was staged at the Fulton a few months ago (this is a coproduction, so the montage is from them...)

I wish they would get some pictures up of the set because it's really gorgeous; and they should definitely be giving Powell credit for his costumes.

[PattiLover]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 12:33am

Kipster, it looks okay from a distance but it's actually not great. It's very brown, not gaudy, vampy and gothic. The portraits of her are gigantic, plentiful and not very subtle (I wonder what they do in the event of an understudy). Also, for some reason she has a lot of books and bookshelves. Like Norma Desmond sits around reading books!

That's not the worst of the sets...

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 12:50pm

In it, the WOL and AIWNSG costumes are gorgeous.

Um, just like everyone else pointed out -- they are using Anthony Powell's original costume designs. We all thought they were 'gorgeous' when they first were seen back in 1994.

[kipster]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 3:01pm

I'm really excited to see how the CLO's production is going to look (with their budget I'm expecting a pretty awesome set)- I wonder if they too will be using the Powell costumes/designs...

[morosco]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 3:11pm

Powell's costumes for rent from Goodspeed

[kipster]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 3:19pm

Interesting that the Goodspeed rental terms require that a production acknowledge Goodspeed, but not necessarily the original designer. Is that how most rentals work?

[emlodik]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 3:29pm

Kipster, it looks okay from a distance but it's actually not great. It's very brown, not gaudy, vampy and gothic. The portraits of her are gigantic, plentiful and not very subtle (I wonder what they do in the event of an understudy). Also, for some reason she has a lot of books and bookshelves. Like Norma Desmond sits around reading books!
-------------

I may be wrong, but it seems Norma's mansion is just a recycled library set from "Beauty and the Beast."

Updated On: 7/19/12 at 03:29 PM

[kipster]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 3:39pm

Interesting idea- the Fulton built the set new for this show, but perhaps their designer reused some of his old designs...

[emlodik]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 5:43pm

That has to be it. Whatever the other musical this was designed for originally was, I just can't picture anyone intentionally adding big bookshelves to Norma Desmond's mansion!

[PattiLover]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 12:32am

The set was awful. The set designer is actually quite good though. His set for The King and I at the WST was unbelievable. I have no idea what happened with Sunset, but everything was subpar in contrast to Norma's costumes.

[Broadwayhunk]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 2:53am

Poor thing, those costumes they had her wear are horrific. What's with the huge puffy cuffs?

[emlodik]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 7:34am

DUDE! Those are Anthony Powell's original designs, and the Paramount suit is partly based on what the great Edith Head designed for the film version. These are the only good thing about this production. Are you nuts?

[kipster]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 5:08pm

Just to assuage everyone's concerns, I looked back at my program from the show, and right on the first page (ie the show's billing) it says "Based on the film by Billy Wilder", and right underneath that, "Costumes based on designs by Anthony Powell." Kurt Alger, the guy that the Playbill press release refers to, is just listed as the company's resident costume/wig designer. So there, must've just been the press release.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 5:25pm

I LOVE Powell's "As If We Never..." costume for Norma. There's something *strong* about it. In fact all of her costumes give an impression of strength. Nice contrast to the weakling wearing them. Except for the last one. That one's just all over the place like she is, lol.

[emlodik]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 5:56pm

I kind of wish they kept the three foot headdress from the original London premiere, but powers that be thought it was too much. It was based on Gloria Swanson's headdress in "Male and Female."