Glenn Close? — Page 2

Thanks, Wyn :)

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"I'm always reminded of Paxton Whitehead's quip when Glenn Close was first gaining lots of recognition:

'Glenn Close? That's not a name; it's an address.' "

God, but I love Paxton Whitehead, Reg. Thanks for unearthing that one.

I can even hear him saying it.

"As those notions aren't scientific, one can believe whatever one wants, but I'm pretty sure that almost across the board people would consider Meryl Streep the greatest actress of her generation."

Well, not in my book. I would also place Dame Helen Mirren and Judy Davis above Streep in the list of actresses from the English speaking world in that age range.
As you said it's all subjective.

"The ones who say she can't sing are -- surprise, surprise -- the LuPone obsessives who can't get over what happened and hate anyone who dares to take on a role that Patti has done previously (cf. comments about Elena Roger in Evita). One particular fanatic I knew of online wanted every show Patti had done to be permanently shut down and never open again unless Patti was in it. No joke."

Oh, God! I remember that creep. He used to troll on YouTube, where he'd obsessively look up video clips of shows Patti did at one point or another just so he could trash the other actresses tackling the role, be it "Sunset Boulevard," "Sweeney Todd," "Gypsy," "Evita," "Oliver!," whatever...

A lot of these LuPone fans are completely delusional, unhinged and completely demented monkeys, especially when it comes to "Sunset Boulevard." I remember one loon on some message board in particular that claimed Glenn Close "stole" Norma Desmond from Patti LuPone by sleeping with Andrew Lloyd Webber and that the reason the show closed was because it was part of Patti's lawsuit settlement.

Also, the whole bitchfest regarding "key changes" in "Sunset Boulevard" is beyond aggravating. Most people who complain about it don't even fully understand the topic. Glenn Close only had PORTIONS of the score lowered for her and sang 80% of the score in the same key as Patti. Also, the keys weren't just lowered for Glenn, it seems ALW preferred the lower keys and kept them that way for most of the show In fact, many other actresses who followed Glenn sang it even LOWER (Elaine Paige, Helen Schneider, Daniela Ziegler) and some had it LOWERED COMPLETELY (Diahann Carroll, Faith Brown and that abomination known as Petula Clark's Norma Desmond.) Also, Patti's keys are nothing special, when I saw Ann Crumb in the Arvada Center production in 2010, she sang them just fine and the amazing Linda Balgord in the ill-fated 1st US Tour out-sang and out-belted even Patti, all in the original keys.

Besides, Patti has no problem getting keys lowered for herself, just listen to her in "Gypsy" and "Sweeney Todd." Of course, her psycho fans would never admit it and would still bash away at Glenn Close with gay abandon (pun mildly intended) for singing in a lower key without even understanding what the term means.

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That absence of 'twinkle' is a pitfall.

Only because the show is crap. Glenn Close wisely played the part as if she were mocking the entire endeavor.

As for her singing in SUNSET (or BARNUM or SOUTH PACIFIC for that matter), it was neither good enough nor bad enough to be remembered. I certainly see no reason to have a meltdown every time her name is mentioned.

The idea that use of the original keys somehow defines success in any role should make people giggle.

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I too long for the days when it was "okay" to cast someone who was an actor first, vocalist second- but when you do- you get crucified by the likes of people who post on boards such as these.

For a while now I've thought (and said elsewhere) that Broadway these days is more interested in casting someone with Idol-style vocals but whose competence as an actor is not THE priority. I still think the reverse is true in the West End, although I think it might be going the way of Broadway given the people who seem to get the most spotlight these days. Count me as someone who is way more interested in believing someone to BE the character they're playing above anything else in their performance. As such, I'll take Close's Norma over LuPone's and Crawford's Phantom over Karimloo's, to give two examples, any day. In both cases, the former actor gives the better complete portrayal in terms of immersing themselves in the character. Oh yeah, and it's also why I think Elena Roger's Evita is superb.

Updated On: 7/18/12 at 09:12 AM

I'm not a PHANTOM fan, but the Karimloo casting in the sequel struck me as one of the most bizarre creative decisions possible. That show begged for an older PHANTOM, to bring to the story a sense of history, of the gravitas and high stakes inherent in his reconnection with Christine. But they made him a supernatural X-Men figure, in effect another Raoul, and the show is fluffy romance novel silliness as a result. Lloyd Webber could've composed the role for an older singing actor, and deepened the mystique and character. Instead, he decided to sell records.

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I thought I would loathe Harvey Fierstein as Tevye, but he won me over, and he danced his butt off as well.

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And some don't give a crap about the key changes and just don't like Glenn Close's voice.

Updated On: 7/18/12 at 01:36 PM

I'm in the camp who enjoyed Hodge in La Cage, Elena in Evita, Close in Sunset, Crawford in Phantom b/c each and everyone of them acted the hell out of the roles they were playing. For all the bitching that goes on around here about "its a musical, they should be able to sing" all of you who feel that way, I believe it was your GOD, Mr. Sondheim who has said repeatedly that HE prefers actors who sing vs. singers who try to act.

Yes, Sondheim says that this his principal reason for not being an opera fan. I love opera, but even there I am more interested in good acting rather than singing, which is rarer in that artform. I guess it's because I started off as a theatregoer rather than an opera fan. I'm glad you said this though because I was getting concerned I was completely alone on this!

I'm not a PHANTOM fan, but the Karimloo casting in the sequel struck me as one of the most bizarre creative decisions possible. That show begged for an older PHANTOM, to bring to the story a sense of history, of the gravitas and high stakes inherent in his reconnection with Christine. But they made him a supernatural X-Men figure, in effect another Raoul, and the show is fluffy romance novel silliness as a result. Lloyd Webber could've composed the role for an older singing actor, and deepened the mystique and character. Instead, he decided to sell records.

Re my Crawford/Karimloo comparison, I was actually referring to their performances in the original (having refused to go near Love Never Dies). As far as the dire sequel is concerned, though, ALW hilariously stated when the Oz production opened that he "couldn't get away with [casting] a 30-year-old Phantom" (despite obviously doing that in London), yet that's precisely what he did AGAIN with Ben Lewis! I agree, though, that Lewis has a more fittingly dark voice for the role. I suspect the reason they went so young, apart from pandering to fangirls (in the original London production the Phantom/Mr Y, having tragically become completely divorced from his iconic status as a gothic horror monster, walked around with an open shirt to reveal his pecs), is because no seasoned performer would touch the show.

It appears that Andrew Lloyd Webber did not change the keys for Glenn, but for mostly artistic reasons when he was revising the score for the American premiere.

Agreed. The people he *really* lowered the score for were Petula Clark and Diahann Carroll. In some cases I prefer Glenn's keys...I like how the key change in 'With One Look' suggests her mental instability.

Updated On: 7/18/12 at 03:45 PM

But that's the thing, I literally see NOTHING wrong with her singing. At the very least, she sang ring around that bizarre bleating Petula Clark was doing when she played Norma.

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