Donna Murphy to lead as Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD reading, a possible revival?- Page 2

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 1:10am

Cabaret: two Broadway revival productions since the original production (in 1969).

Anything Goes: two Broadway revival production since the original production (in 1934).

Edit: And correct me if I'm wrong, but most of the revivals, after the original productions, were created by not-for-profits.

Updated On: 11/19/14 at 01:10 AM

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 1:11am

Also in their mission statement: "We are committed to producing the highest quality theatre with the finest artists, sharing stories that endure..." "It’s about igniting your passion and sparking your imagination. It’s about helping you lose yourself in a really great story." All of that applies to SB. Personally, I see no resaon for this revival, if that's what it ends up being, but not because it's at odds with their mission statement.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 1:20am

"It's probably my favorite ALW show (tied with EVITA & JCS)"

Then you don't have a favorite.

[binau]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 2:45am

The roundabout is "not-for-profit", not "for-loss". They need some commercial success to help them survive I think. Would be excited to see this.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 8:08am

I get the giggles when people go all high art on Roundabout's ass. The company likes and needs hits. In the musical theater, what makes Kander and Ebb so much more high-brow than anybody else? (Put on WOMAN OF THE YEAR and take a listen, as they say on TV.) It gets to be silly, treating any producing mechanism as some sort of artistic standard bearer. Remember, the Royal Shakespeare Company produced CARRIE.

Updated On: 11/19/14 at 08:08 AM

[indytallguy]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 8:13am

Not-for-profit is a tax status meant to support institutions that do work for the public good. It is not, as others have noted, a business philosophy. Every not-for-profit must at some point generate excess revenues or else they become solely dependent on donations, an unpredictable and generally unsustainable revenue stream. The difference with for profit is that they plow any excess revenues back into mission-related work instead of paying dividends to stockholders.

[Sauja]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 9:27am

I love the idea of Murphy in the role, and I think a stripped-down take is what the show needs, but there are other, very large problems with the show. The second act has SEVEN reprises. ALW has a tendency to overdo it on the repeated phrases and motifs, but even for him, this show seems to be hamstrung by its limited variation.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 10:13am

I wouldn't mind seeing a revival, but I've never warmed to Donna Murphy. She doesn't seem "big" enough to handle a silent movie star sliding into crazy.

[dreaming]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 10:30am

I think she'd do well in the role. I think she'd deliver a much more nuanced performance than we're used to seeing-and that might be very good, indeed. I also think that she has that Hollywood glamor which the role calls for.

Any word on who her Joe Gillis is?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 11:08am

"I get the giggles when people go all high art on Roundabout's ass."

Especially because they've never produced anything of merit. The Roundabout is NYC's version of community theater.

When you look at other theater companies and their contributions, you can identify great productions that have had a lasting impact on theater.

Steppenwolf's "Grapes Of Wrath"
Royal Shakespeare Company "Nicholas Nickleby"
Donmar Warehouse reimagine of "Cabaret"
Public Theatre - "A Chorus Line" "Angels in America"
NYTW - "Rent"

What can the Roundabout point to as their crown jewel?

Updated On: 11/19/14 at 11:08 AM

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 11:59am

I've read something online regarding Donna Murphy. The article mentions that she tends to overanalyze her character/role to the nth degree. I know very little about her, so to what extent is that true? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? Just wondering.... RC in Austin, Texas "winter is coming".

[Brick]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 11:59am

And this is just a reading. Remember they did readings of Sheik and Slater's SPRING AWAKENING and the all-male COMPANY, to name just a couple, without producing either.

[Johnnycantdecide]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 12:20pm

God.. I'm still holding out hope for that revised production of Company.

[mike_ant]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 12:37pm

"What can the Roundabout point to as their crown jewel?"

I would like to argue that Roundabout has indeed some crown jewels. At the very least, there's Kathleen Marshall's "Anything Goes". The tap dancing sequences are now pretty much the blueprints of all community theater stagings.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 1:07pm

"At the very least, there's Kathleen Marshall's "Anything Goes". The tap dancing sequences are now pretty much the blueprints of all community theater stagings."

I hope you mean this the way I took it because it made me laugh.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 1:10pm

That is such a silly comment re Donna Murphy overanalyzing everything. Who cares what her provess is when what we get are definitive performances such as her turns as Fosca, Anna Loewens, Ruth Sherwood, and Lotte Lenya? Murphy is one of her generation's greatest artists, I would love seeing her as Norma Desmond, the type of casting in which only a non-profit like Roundabout would be willing to invest.

[Jonwo]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 1:32pm

I don't anything wrong with Roundabout reviving Sunset Boulevard especially if they can manage to make it a success that the Broadway version never was.

The Pajama Game was only produced by Roundabout because the commericial producers behind it weren't able to find a theatre.

[Fantod]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 1:58pm

I wonder if they are planning on doing an intimate production like the recent London revival, or just a regular production that is less elaborate than the original.

[dreaming]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 2:08pm

Ray-she's perfect for the role. She does have a glamorous, classy manner about her. She does do a lot of homework for a role but I don't see it as affecting her performances negatively in the least. What makes her so exciting is that she's usually able to make it look so very effortless (and she inevitably disappears into the role).

[AnythingGoes23]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 2:55pm

I think this is great and ideal for Roundabout.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 3:50pm

I would of preferred if the did Aspects of Love.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 4:28pm

I loved the original set design. Outside of the mansion set it wasn't terribly elaborate and I thought the way the panels moved to create different locations was clever especially the stage 18 exterior. I understand that we will probably never see a production that elaborate ever again but I would prefer some kind of happy medium between the elaborate original and the unit set design of the Watermill production. Also keep Webber as far away from this as possible before he decides that Betty needs a rap song.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 4:49pm

I'd love to see a revival of Sunset Blvd. Not sure about Donna Murphy...I keep thinking of the insult dog at the Tony Awards saying: "Who the hell is Donna Murphy and who's covering her shift at the Olive Garden?" - haha. They should hire a star for that role. You can't go from Glenn Close to Donna Murphy. But regardless it's a great show and I'd go see it with anyone in it.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 4:52pm

Phantom of London, I would love to see a revival of Aspects too!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 4:54pm

You can't go from Glenn Close to Donna Murphy.

You can when it takes 20 years and a zillion actresses in between.