SARAH BRIGHTMAN To Star in Australian SUNSET BLVD.- Page 4

[joevitus]

Posted: 10/13/23 at 4:11pm

Seb28 said: "CATSNYrevival said: "Feel free to disagree, but if I’m paying to see Sarah Brightman in Sunset Boulevard I’m not sure I’m paying to see the director’s vision. I’m paying for crazy."

Without a proper director's vision you will see a Sarah Brightman concert, vacant, wide-eyed, inflated doll look, singing a few sweet sounding songs."

I mean, that's all Hal Prince got out of her, either, so I don't think any contemporary "proper director" will help.

[rabymon10]

Posted: 10/13/23 at 6:02pm

rosscoe(au) said: "As someone who saw Debra in the original Australian production, she should shut her mouth. Her alternative Maria Mercedes was stunning in the roll and should have been cast as Norma for all shows."

Isn't Maria phenomenal hey! Sylvie Paladino would also be a hoot!

A friend and I were joking the other day upon hearing the remarks by Debra (haven't followed up the truth of their existence though) that with all due respect to Debra and what she was going through at the time of her run in Sunset, what's the point of moralising about having the right voice if you're not gonna show up and people aren't going to hear it? 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 10/14/23 at 2:32pm

Has Brightman ever done anything with an American accent?

[Fan123]

Posted: 10/14/23 at 5:06pm

There's her Carrie Pipperidge in the 1987 'Carousel' studio cast recording:

The American accent probably wouldn't have to be top notch for an Australian audience in any case.

Updated On: 10/14/23 at 05:06 PM

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 10/14/23 at 7:51pm

I completely forgot about that Carousel recording. She sounds so gorgeous I wish I could hear her sing 'If I Loved You'.

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 10/15/23 at 10:20pm

FANtomFollies said: "I completely forgot about that Carousel recording. She sounds so gorgeous I wish I could hear her sing 'If I Loved You'."

From later in her career, and a bit more operatic in style, but here you go!<
 

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1cM4y1V7zX/ Updated On: 10/15/23 at 10:20 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/15/23 at 11:58pm

 

Norma Desmond having an affected accent could work for the role, anyway.

 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 10/16/23 at 12:06am

There’s not really anything in the script that I can recall that dictates Norma must be American. Plenty of the stars of the Silent Era weren’t. Wilder even offered the role in the film to Pola Negri at one point.

[Seb28]

Posted: 2/2/24 at 9:05am

This video was just released with the casting of all the roles, including alternate Norma.

 

 

Updated On: 2/2/24 at 09:05 AM

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 2/2/24 at 1:52pm

I had the pleasure of attending a Sarah Brightman concert some many years ago.  Enjoyed it much more than I anticipated I would.  Wish I could see her "Sunset Blvd" performance in Australia, but alas. 

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 2/4/24 at 12:56am

I am sure that I remember reading many moons ago that Ms Brightman went to an Italian? vocal coach who completely transformed that way that she produced each note.

You could see that she changed the shape of her mouth, making it more rounder as she sang, and actually produced a different sound because of how she breathed and placed each note. This affected her diction.

I would line up in a heart beat to see this train wreck because there is no doubt in my mind that Ms Brightman lives in cloud cookcoo land and because of this she is perfect for the role of Norma, regardless of how she sings it.

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 2/5/24 at 11:47am

SweetLips22 said: "I am sure that I remember reading many moons ago that Ms Brightman went to an Italian? vocal coach who completely transformed that way that she produced each note.

You could see that she changed the shape of her mouth, making it more rounder as she sang, and actually produced a different sound because of how she breathed and placed each note. This affected her diction.

I would line up in a heart beat to see this train wreck because there is no doubt in my mind that Ms Brightman lives in cloud cookcoo land and because of this she is perfect for the role of Norma, regardless of how she sings it."

Correct.  Disclaimer: I've been a die-hard Brightman fan for about 29 years, I still enthusiastically listen to anything she releases, and I still attend her concerts, but I can still view her with constructive criticism.

She used to sing classical or operatic music very "naturally," ("Requiem," "Phantom," etc). In the mid-90s it seems she wanted to be taken more "seriously," and studied with the aforementioned Italian vocal coach. This noticeably changed her diction and live singing style, in my opinion, for the worse. To the point where I find several of her live videos very difficult to watch, beginning around 1998 - "Gala Christmas In Vienna," "Sarah Brightman In Concert At The Royal Albert Hall," and the Andrew Lloyd Webber 50th Birthday at the Royal Albert Hall.

Her big career surge beginning in 1997 with her hit "Time To Say Goodbye" spawned studio albums which are very nice to listen to, because she's heavily edited and controlled.  Same thing with her major world tours around that time. They were visually impressive shows, but appear heavily lipsynched, until the end of each concert, when she switched to live vocals for selections from "Phantom" and her hit "Time To Say Goodbye." Suddenly the very affected vocals came into play, and she no longer stayed perfectly in time with the musicians on stage. 

Her most recent concerts involve her standing in the same spot, center-stage, with carefully controlled lighting and not even any improvised audience banter. She literally reads any spoken dialogue to the audience from a script projected on teleprompters on the stage floor.

As curious as I am to see what she does with Norma Desmond, and as exciting as it is for her to take on this role, I have no idea how she's going to physically, vocally and technically pull this off.  She's also been asked many times over the years if she'd return to the stage in a musical role, and has always been adamant that she's moved beyond a run in any stage musicals.  I'm confused why she's doing this now, and why Australia?

I guess we'll find out in a few months!

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 2/5/24 at 1:49pm

Why Australia? She was asked. or her manager did and possibly because Australia is so far from Broadway or the West End they they thought that no-one would notice if it was a train wreck.

We do have critics here and can report around the world.

It will be that 'deer in the headlights' style of performance with very little movement, fabulous lighting, costumes and scenery and more auto cues than props.

Sylvie will be stunning.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 3/18/24 at 12:53pm

 

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/18/24 at 2:29pm

Tina Arena was the original choice as Norma. 

[BETTY22]

Posted: 3/18/24 at 3:16pm

Is this a traditional product or Jamie's? 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/18/24 at 3:19pm

Check the video Taffy posted just a couple replies above yours.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 11:04am

It looks like Kristen Blodgette is going to be the MD on this, based on the video they just released. She was WONDERFUL when she did the revival on Broadway, I wish she would be doing it again this fall in New York. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 3:20pm

Broadway Flash said: "It looks like Kristen Blodgette is going to be the MD on this, based on the video they just released. She was WONDERFUL when she did the revival on Broadway, I wish she would be doing it again this fall in New York."

I love her; she's a sweet and gracious lady. I miss seeing her in the pit at The Majestic.

 

[Listener]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 4:26pm

Ooooh. I'd love to see Tina in it!

I wonder if this production will come to North America. Toronto? LA?

[123musicalfan]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 4:44pm

Broadway Flash said: "It looks like Kristen Blodgette is going to be the MD on this, based on the video they just released. She was WONDERFUL when she did the revival on Broadway, I wish she would be doing it again this fall in New York."

 

Was that David Caddick that appeared in the video next to Sarah Brightman and Kristen Blodgette? It looked like SB was introducing him, and I'm guessing it might be because she has worked with both Caddick (if it is him) and Blodgette since the 1980's.

So thrilled that Sarah is back where she belongs in an ALW musical. Haven't been this excited about a production in ages!! Hope it gets recorded (or even better, filmed)  for those of us that will not be able to see it. 

Updated On: 4/10/24 at 04:44 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/28/24 at 9:06pm

[Impeach2017]

Posted: 4/29/24 at 11:01am

Great pic.  She looks perfect.  Hope there will be a recording.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 5/20/24 at 9:08am

First performance is tomorrow night! Is anyone here making the trip? I've got tickets for Thursday.

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 5/20/24 at 9:26am

I can't wait to hear how this is. I'm rooting for Brightman, but I have serious concerns over the current state of her voice as well as her acting abilities.