Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer- Page 3
Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer
lovesclassics
Broadway Star Joined: 10/7/05
#50re: Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer
Posted: 7/3/09 at 4:30pm
I think Christine Ebersole could do a great job.
Bernadette Peters, too. She doesn't look her age at all.
Or Donna Murphy.
Or Victoria Clark. Saw her recently at the Boston Pops and her range was really surprising. She did a number called "To Keep My Love Alive" and she was really crackers the way she delivered some of the lyrics!
Holbee
Featured Actor Joined: 8/3/05
#51re: Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer
Posted: 7/3/09 at 5:25pmEvans was spectacular in the role. And the production itself out John Doyles John Doyle. I have never see the devise used as well (Sunset, though, has an actual chorus, as opposed the principals-as-chorus of Company). Joe was pretty great too, he played many many instruments and had a very everyman charm which was different than the usual 40/50's style film noir leading man the musical usually serves up.
#52re: Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer
Posted: 7/3/09 at 5:29pm
Donna Murphy would make an excellent Norma Desmond but I doubt she would be interested since she has turned down chances of being in a few revivals before.
Alice Ripley would be my number one choice, since Norma Desmond is not supposed to be incredibly old either. I think Bebe Neuwirth could also turn in a great performance and I could definitely buy her as a silent film movie star.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#53re: Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer
Posted: 7/3/09 at 5:30pm
"Bernadette Peters, too. She doesn't look her age at all."
I completely disagree. I think she has the right look for a former silent screen star, but she's too old for Norma. Ebersole could be interesting.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
#54re: Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer
Posted: 7/3/09 at 5:36pmI don't enjoy Ebersole's "As If We Never Said Goodbye" and I think her performance has the potential to be predictable (ala BLITHE SPIRIT), she should probably do an original show instead.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#55re: Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer
Posted: 7/3/09 at 7:45pmBetty Buckley did it once and she needs to do it again, this time so she can get herself a Tony for it.
Byron Abens
Broadway Star Joined: 7/17/08
#56re: Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer
Posted: 7/3/09 at 8:02pm
Would she be eligible if she was cast? I know Lonette McKee was not eligible for the Hal Prince revival of Show Boat since she had previously won for playing Julie back in the early 80s. I wonder what the ruling would be for an actor who had been a replacement in a role to later be opening a revival in the same role.
However I think Betty Buckley is getting a little too old for the role now. Max met Norma when she was 16, most likely somewhere in the years between 1915-1920, putting Norma in her late 40s, maybe 51 at most. Betty turned 62 today.
#57re: Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer
Posted: 7/3/09 at 8:11pmTrust me, she could pull it off. If Marisa Jaret Winokur could play a 15 year old, Betty can play a 50 year old.
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#58re: Norma in Sunset Boulevard transfer
Posted: 7/3/09 at 11:37pmI agree. This production, directed by Craig Horwood, puts anything Doyle's done to shame.
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