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Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

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#2

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:04pm

I think a revival could work as long as ALW allows the creative team to do their thing with minimal input. I think he's become less involved with revivals of his own shows in recent years like Jesus Christ Superstar and the Menier production of Aspects of Love instead concentrating on his newer shows and reviving the classics.
#5

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:16pm

Keep the set, kill the ensemble, all the chorus numbers, have the four main players only and it would work a treat.
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist. Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino. This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more. Tazber's: Reply to Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
#6

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:20pm

If you only had the four main characters how could you possibly do the opening number at all? It needs to have some kind of Ensemble, although not necessarily the huge one. Did anyone see the London revival production a few years back, I think it was mostly scaled down, I would guess they would model this one similarly!
#7

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:21pm

It's a wonderful, underappreciated score. I've always said, if another composer had written it, it would've had far more respect. Even Frank Rich loved the non Norma music. It's a powerful piece, and has some of the prettiest melodies ALW has composed. And it works, frankly, it works.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#8

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:26pm

While the prospect of Donna Murphy as Norma Desmond is an exciting one, as Michael Reidel points out, what is a non-profit like the Roundabout doing working on a commercial piece like SUNSET BOULEVARD? It's absurd, even by their standards.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.

Updated On: 11/18/14 at 10:26 PM

#13

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:55pm

You just said that the stage version was ugly and garish... The movie was all about being ugly and garish....Norma didn't do anything sutle, I mean she carried a dead monkey in the beginning.

I think it had to be that way to work the best.
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
#17

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/18/14 at 11:53pm

No Thanks!
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
#18

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/18/14 at 11:58pm

"While the prospect of Donna Murphy as Norma Desmond is an exciting one, as Michael Reidel points out, what is a non-profit like the Roundabout doing working on a commercial piece like SUNSET BOULEVARD? It's absurd, even by their standards."

Probably because Sunset Boulevard isn't as well known as Sir Andrew's most popular shows like Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, nor The Phantom of the Opera.
#20

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/19/14 at 12:18am

Why should they not do this but do a second revival of a first revival of a show that's already pretty darn successful? Who cares. It's not our money. It's one of my favorite scores and shows, and I think Murphy would kill it - acting wise. She's not the hearty singer.
#21

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/19/14 at 12:40am

Somethingwicked:

"While the prospect of Donna Murphy as Norma Desmond is an exciting one, as Michael Reidel points out, what is a non-profit like the Roundabout doing working on a commercial piece like SUNSET BOULEVARD? It's absurd, even by their standards."

??

Sometimes you seem to know what you're talking about and sometimes you're completely clueless. Are you an experienced NYC theatregoer or a teenage wannabe in Buffalo?
#22

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/19/14 at 12:40am

What exactly in Roundabout's mission statement would preclude this production? And it's been 21 years since the show first opened. Is that really too soon? And by "commercial" do you mean "popular" like their productions of Cabaret, 1776, Nine, Assassins, The Pajama Game, Sunday in the Park with George and Anything Goes?
#23

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/19/14 at 12:44am

Because the first revival of Cabaret - when first produced by Roundabout - wasn't a heavily commercial and recently produced production. Not-for-profits are based upon donor funds. My husband and I donate to Roundabout (and after a very mediocre Met Season, we were considering donating more at year end). An announcement like this makes me inclined to donate more to other theater organizations we support, including NYTW and Playwright's Horizons.

So to answer your question: I care.

#24

Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?

Posted: 11/19/14 at 12:48am

"Roundabout has always been a leading producer of classic work, reviving plays and musicals that are often neglected by commerical producers."

Wilmington: what about Sunset Boulevard strikes you as consistent with the above statement, taken from Roundabout's mission statement?

Edit: And if I'm not mistaken, most of those revivals, after the original productions, were done by not-for-profits.

Updated On: 11/19/14 at 12:48 AM

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