SARAH BRIGHTMAN To Star in Australian SUNSET BLVD.- Page 10

[Listener]

Posted: 6/1/24 at 1:24am

Especially if they can't even give it away... *sung in Patti's voice*

Sarah is deeply loved, especially by us here, but the general public would probably be shocked to hear a quiet voice from her in what is supposed to be an exciting evening of musical theater.

That review posted in full seems to nail it. Thank you for sharing it with us.

I really would be curious to hear a review of the understudy(s).

I really dislike that her hair is always out and perfect. Sorry, but glamorous youthful Sarah needed to play the part. Norma wears a turban.

Does anyone know if this set might go on tour somewhere? Would they really go through the expense of building it just to trash it in a few weeks? This revival looks so nice.

Not sure about Sarah's costumes though...

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/1/24 at 6:11am

This production is going to Sydney later this summer and I don’t think there’s any plans for it after that. But who knows. 

[Ensemble1716440075]

Posted: 6/1/24 at 11:53am

Listener said: "Especially if they can't even give it away... *sung in Patti's voice*

Sarah is deeply loved, especially by us here, but the general public would probably be shocked to hear a quiet voice from her in what is supposed to be an exciting evening of musical theater.

That review posted in full seems to nail it. Thank you for sharing it with us.

I really would be curious to hear a review of the understudy(s).

I really dislike that her hair is always out and perfect. Sorry, but glamorous youthful Sarah needed to playthe part. Norma wears a turban.

Does anyone know if this set might go on tour somewhere? Would they really go through theexpense of building it just to trash it in a few weeks? This revival looks so nice.

Not sure about Sarah's costumes though..."

Sarah likes to do this Christmas tour thing these days, so she wouldn't be available to tour immediately after this show ends its run. So maybe her alternate would do it, but I don't think she would.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 9:55am

Absolute massive flop in Melbourne, performances cancelled, final week pulled off sale. If this was London or New York this would have closed by now. Opera Australia subscribers returning tickets. I’ll be surprised if the Sydney season goes ahead. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 10:49am

rosscoe(au) said: "Absolute massive flop in Melbourne, performances cancelled, final week pulled off sale. If this was London or New York this would have closed by now. Opera Australia subscribers returning tickets. I’ll be surprised if the Sydney season goes ahead."

 

Now if Ben Platt was playing Norma, it'd be an entirely different scenario!

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 12:51pm

Quote from the BWW article: 

“the cast has been informed the production will cancel Tuesday performances beginning next week. As of today, all but one Tuesday performance from June 18th onwards in Melbourne have been taken off sale. All Sunday shows starting from July 1st have also been marked unavailable from the show's website.”

[MerchMan]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 1:03pm

rosscoe(au) said: "Absolute massive flop in Melbourne, performances cancelled, final week pulled off sale. If this was London or New York this would have closed by now. Opera Australia subscribers returning tickets. I’ll be surprised if the Sydney season goes ahead."

I've heard the same about the production, she's just not a draw down under!

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 1:16pm

TO BE FAIR (I guess), i believe Tuesdays were one of the days Brightman wasn’t performing and her standby was going on.  

[chernjam]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 1:36pm

This is so unfortunate because the blame will fall on Sarah Brightman who many thought from the beginning was not a good casting choice for Norma.  I have never been a fan of her voice - even decades ago when she recorded one of my favorites from Aspects of Love "Anything but lonely" with the altered ending that was added after the London Cast Recording - she paled in comparison to Ann Crumb.  
And unless I've missed it, you barely have had any official clips of her singing released.  The promo video uncharacteristically for Sunset was more on Joe Gillis singing the title song and "Too Much in Love to Care."  That seemed pretty telling that things weren't going great vocally and the clip of her speaking "I am big... it's the pictures that got small" just sounded awkward to me.  
I feel badly for everyone involved, including Brightman.  It looked like a beautifully lavish production - from some of the descriptions and all, it sounds like a lot of thought was brought to the look, feel and direction of things.  And I'm sure Brightman is getting paid a decent salary.  

If anything, this will make another good book or add another episode to Broadway Bob's "Sunset Project" podcast :)  

Fortunate for ALW that he seemed to not have any involvement with this production

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 1:39pm

The reviews were terrible as was the word-of-mouth so her not being popular in Australia had zero to do with it. The advance press was huge and the production was heavily anticipated but sadly, she didn’t meet the challenge or what was hoped for. She was not a good fit and they were too far long to pull the plug as everything was being set up way before they even started rehearsals to see it wasn’t going to work. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 2:01pm

I'm very sad for all involved. Had it not been for the extremely long-haul flights required, this is something I would've seen, regardless of the reviews.

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 2:35pm

Lot666 said: "I'm very sad for all involved. Had it not been for the extremely long-haul flights required, this is something I would've seen, regardless of the reviews."

Same here. I priced it out and it was just a bit too much. If it had been anywhere in the continental USA I would have gone!  I was really hoping it would be a success.

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 5:27pm

This isn't surprising at all, I knew it would fail as soon as it was announced that Sarah Brightman will be starting in it.  What I found most shocking was that some Americans actually bought tickets to fly to Australia to see it!!!!!!!!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 5:36pm

Hi there - that’s me. I’m an American who’s going to see it and I CANT. WAIT. Reviews aside, as I’ve said before seeing Brightman on stage in a musical is right at the top of my theatrical bucket list and I really never thought I’d get to see it. Good or bad performance aside, it’s something I’ve always wanted to see so it makes the whole thing worth it for me. Good on you if you don’t want to go see it but it’s not really “shocking” that others do. 

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 6:09pm

I managed to see her last winter during her holiday tour. When she sang the title song from Phantom, my inner theatre geek was freaking out. While I was not alive yet during her phantom years, I can safely say that seeing her still being able to belt that out at her age is truly remarkable. 

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 6/12/24 at 6:33pm

I’m sure you’ll love her performance!!!!!! 

[Lot666]

Posted: 6/13/24 at 8:31am

tomwsjr said: "This isn't surprising at all, I knew it would failas soon as it was announced that Sarah Brightman will be starting in it. What I found most shocking was that some Americans actually bought tickets to fly to Australia to see it!!!!!!!!"

You must be great fun at parties.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/13/24 at 8:36am

tomwsjr said: "This isn't surprising at all, I knew it would failas soon as it was announced that Sarah Brightman will be starting in it. What I found most shocking was that some Americans actually bought tickets to fly to Australia to see it!!!!!!!!"

I flew to New York to see Leoplostard and Prayer for the French Republic among other things,  it’s not unusual for people to fly places to see shows. I’ve flown to Los Angeles from Australia to see a few things. 

[Ensemble1716440075]

Posted: 6/13/24 at 10:02am

Welp, there goes any chance of them filming or recording it.

[pablitonizer]

Posted: 6/13/24 at 10:23am

Jordan Catalano said: "Hi there - that’s me. I’m an American who’s going to see it and I CANT. WAIT. Reviews aside, as I’ve said before seeing Brightman on stage in a musical is right at the top of my theatrical bucket list and I really never thought I’d get to see it. Good or bad performance aside, it’s something I’ve always wanted to see so it makes the whole thing worth it for me. Good on you if you don’t want to go see it but it’s not really “shocking” that others do."

 

Same here! I mean It's Sarah effin Brightman we're talking about here! It's my dream come true to see her in an actual musical. I saw her live on tour three times and it was a blast, she still has that incredible voice. When 'Phantom' starts to play, the whole house is at her feet. I was hoping a Broadway transfer for this, but now it seems unlikely :( 

[TylerJia]

Posted: 6/13/24 at 11:10am

Sarah has been out the last few shows and hearing rumblings of her departure altogether... Time will tell.

[Ensemble1716440075]

Posted: 6/13/24 at 11:13am

They are already transferring the minimalistic one, why do people keep saying they want to see this transfer to Broadway?

[Wick3]

Posted: 6/13/24 at 11:37am

I think her fans just want to see her perform on Broadway again. 

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 6/13/24 at 6:40pm

The back stage gossip from this disaster will almost be as juicy as the previous Sunset at the Regent Theater.
Ms Brightman will never set foot on the Opera House stage unless in one of her candy floss away with the faries heavily mimed gloss and smoke fantasies.
Everything about her puts my teeth on edge.
Yes. I feel better now.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/13/24 at 9:50pm

Yes, it seems a done deal that she won’t be appearing in Sydney. The next week is going to be interesting.