Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
MrMidwest
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/05
#1Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/4/12 at 3:14pm
Just in case somebody hadn't seen it before.
Faye meets her waterloo in Lloyd Webber
egghumor
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/9/11
#2Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/4/12 at 4:25pm
Highly interesting statement from Ms. Dunaway, thanks! I saw her interviewed about it soon thereafter and while I can't recall the exact adjective she used to describe him, I do remember clearly that she underscored it this way:
Dunaway: Andrew Lloyd Webber is a 'horrible' [fill in your own harsh adjective there] man. Everyone knows it."
#2Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/4/12 at 8:14pm
Guess who recorded that very clip himself, back in the day? 
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was such a delicious drama to us theatre queens.
The Scorpion
Leading Actor Joined: 1/3/07
#3Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/5/12 at 3:22pm
This is what Andrew Lloyd Webber had to say on the debacle retrospectively in an interview dating from 2000:
"[...] when [...] Faye Dunaway left SUNSET BLVD, it was not a capricious decision by myself alone. I was not even part of the company at the time, but I was asked to have breakfast with the creative team and the American producer. Everyone was very worried -- and I know that both Trevor Nunn and the musical director David Caddick had her best interests at heart. It was felt that it was difficult to go forward. But the baggage of the decision stuck to me. And I wasn't even supposed to be in LA at the time, I only went there because my REQUIEM was being performed in the midwest. I took the plane back and there was a phone call from her waiting. I hardly knew her, but if she was that upset about it I suppose I should have called her back and called Trevor and everybody. But I had just got off the plane and I was absolutely knackered, and I decided to deal with it in the morning. The next day of course she had given a press conference and it was all over the media!"
Personally, I don't buy his excuses... Of course the decision stuck to him -- his name was above the show's title as composer AND producer! He's never been one to accept the blame.
Updated On: 11/5/12 at 03:22 PM
#4Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/5/12 at 8:13pmFaye Dunaway is so eloquent.
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#5Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/5/12 at 8:48pmKnackered. Is that what you kids are calling it nowadays?
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#6Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/5/12 at 11:44pmI thought she was kinda swell in the interview clip.
#7Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/6/12 at 8:11am
Webber really did flail with that show. Abruptly firing Faye, shutting down the L.A. production, and moving the entire thing (with Glenn Close) to Broadway, usurping both LuPone and a second American (New York) cast.
Lots of news clips and interviews of puzzled (and occasionally angry) people, at the time.
Faye handled it as well as anybody could, under those circumstances.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#8Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/6/12 at 4:01pm
Faye was "damn mad!" Actually, she was very well spoken and justifiably bewildered. She has a reputation to uphold so she addressed the press.
Patti busted up the dressing room-not quite as eloquent.
#9Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/6/12 at 5:59pm
The difference is that Faye is an Academy Award winner(which is much more "high profile" at a worldly level) and she doesn't have mental problems and she has some class, unlike Patti LuPone.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and his team are very clever and weren't able to find the right star for this show, until Glenn Close came along, who was truly "Norma Desmond", could act and sing the role like no one else. Patti is an excellent singer, but she wasn't the right one for this role. Faye acted the part very well, but she simply couldn't hit the notes and the director decided to get rid of her, which is cruel, but everyone in show business knows that that is the way it goes.
#10Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/6/12 at 6:07pm
Patti LuPone doesn't have mental problems, and if ALW was clever he wouldn't have made two 'mistakes'. This kind of fiasco is unheard of..
egghumor
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/9/11
#11Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/6/12 at 7:02pmI seem to recall another interview where Faye Dunaway said: "I'm not mad at Andrew Lloyd Webber... I'm mad at the Dirt!"
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#12Faye Dunaway's 1994 press conference on the Sunset Boulevard debacle
Posted: 11/6/12 at 7:04pm
:::The difference is that Faye is an Academy Award winner(which is much more "high profile" at a worldly level) and she doesn't have mental problems::::
I'll have what he's smoking.
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