SUNSET BLVD. [?]- Page 2

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 4:37pm

One of the BIG musical changes they made is with the song "With One Look." Beyond any "key" changes that might have been made, all subsequent Normas perform the entire end section of the song in a much lower key than the rest of the song. I limits the total vocal range required dramatically. Betty probably could have handled the same version of the song, but they had already changed all the orchestrations and even reworked the feel of the show (even changed the West End version to match the LA version), so I guess they decided to keep it that way. There have been TONS of discussions about this . . . nevertheless, I feel Patti SINGS the role the best, but Glenn took charge of the entire piece and really forced the movement of the show forward in a way that no other actress was able to do. I also saw Betty in the role and, while I LOVED the way she sang Norma, the show was really sluggish without Glenn.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 4:42pm

I totally agree Hanna. Whatever the quality of the show, Close's perfomance was tremendous. It's interesting for me to read about people who think is "horrible" in the role, who I take it are judging her performance from the cast recording and who never saw her live. I can't imagine anyone who saw her do the role saying that.

Patti LuPone and Betty Buckley may have "sung" it better, but neither came close to matching Close's layered performance, in my opinion. Patti LuPone was just miscast and Buckley's Norma was "crazy" from the word go.

Elaine Paige, was, perhaps the best all around Norma. Her acting was terrific and her singing was astounding.

I also saw Karen Mason do the role (nothing special) and Susan Dawn Carson (the understudy) who gave one of the most unintentionally hilarious performances I've ever seen on Broadway.



Updated On: 7/26/05 at 04:42 PM

[Flight0017]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 4:45pm

The only two who sang "With One Look" as it was originally written, were Patti LuPone (London) and Linda Balgord (first US tour).

WOSQ: Where did you hear about the staircase being rebuilt to fit Paige? I'm sorry, but it sounds extremely odd.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 4:47pm

The staircase was definitely rebuilt. A lot of articles at the time commented on that. Elaine Paige is only 5 feet tall.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 4:54pm

I was kind of surprised when the announced that Elaine Paige was cast. I heard one of the problems with Patti Lupone in the role in London was that the set was SO massive and she was SO SMALL that she was kind of lost . . . you definitely didn't get a feeling that she was larger than life. You got that feeling with Glenn and I really didn't put my finger on what Glenn was able to DO with the material until I saw her perform the songs again for the ALW 50th Birthday celebration. She was so vibrant and really became the character. She was able to make all of that happen even outside of the context of the show.

Updated On: 7/26/05 at 04:54 PM

[pattifan2]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 4:58pm

I have to agree, Hanna. I only heard Close on the recording and I do like her interpretation. She gave one of the best performances at the ALW concert, completely taking on the character despite her performing only the numbers.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:00pm

Glenn's Norma was also grotesque. She was honestly the only one I ever saw play the role who allowed herself to surrender to that aspect of the character.

LuPone was small, but she looked like Sophia in THE GOLDEN GIRLS. You just didn't believe for a minute that she had EVER been a silent film star. She also made bizarre choices with the character. She was much more effective in the workshop at Sydmonton. She sang the crap out of it, of course, but the danger of the role is that the show can creep to a complete standstill during Norma's numbers.

With Close (who sang it much better in the theatre, by the way then she did on the recording)those moments never became about some diva singing a campy ballad. They were too engrained in the character. I'd much rather see that then "great singing."

Updated On: 7/26/05 at 05:00 PM

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:07pm

That was my problem with Betty. I WANTED to love her performance. If I was sitting in my living room and listening to her sing the songs I would have been fine. As a matter of fact, I frequently listen to Betty's interpretation of Norma's song. Sitting in the theatre, though, I kept looking at my watch and wondering when the darn thing would be OVER. I was sort of lost in Glenn's Norma's insanity and didn't notice the faults with the piece (as much).

[pattifan2]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:08pm

I agree with you about Close's character; that is evident from the recording. She has a kind of hautiness which works really well. However, I have to disagree about LuPone - I don't think she was too small for the role at all. Her 'As If We Never Said Goodbye' was spine-tingling and was the finest moment in her performance. Her relationship with Joe was also the most credible in the couples that I saw which, of course, made the final scenes work better.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:11pm

Elaine Paige is smaller then LuPone and she was able to carry it off. LuPone's problem wasn't her size. She's just too earthy. She's a fantastic talent, she's just not glamourous. And she looked awful in the turbans. At Sydmonton, she wore her own hair. They should have kept that...

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:13pm

I never SAW Patti perform -- I agree she sounds amazing on the recording and I'm sure hearing her perform As If We Never Said Goodbye LIVE is thrilling. I've just heard that her small physical stature and the grandness of the set and costumes really didn't work well together.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:19pm

She was too small for the set in the sense that Patti's Norma would never have lived in that gaudy house.

Unlike Close who was like one of the gargoyles on the staircase.

I think when LuPone was hired, the plan was to make the show much more like the film -- visually at least. LuPone at Sydmonton had the Swanson hair and the Swanson style costumes.

That would have worked better for her.

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:20pm

It's great that a show that closed a number of years ago can still spawn such a great debate!

One thing about Close that the others (no matter how capable they were) was that she is a genuine movie star. That intangable excitement of seeing an actual movie star play someone like Norma was something. Close was quite a loopy 'Norma,' but VERY effective in the theatre.

[gymman]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:23pm

Oddly enough, this is the only ALW that I sort of enjoyed. This discussion helps me to understand the pacing problems tha the show had, though. I saw Buckley, who sang great, but lacked the acting chops to power the show. It would just kin of "stop" and wait while she sang.

[chess12]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:24pm

I saw Petula Clark in New Orleans during her SUNSET BOULEVARD tour. I thought she did a great job. She used a horrible speaking voice which made the audience realize WHY she lost her career when talkies started. No one would want to hear a voice like hers coming from a star. Think Fran Drescher's voice coming out of Greta Garbo's mouth. Her singing voice was modulated, of course, to perform the songs and to perform them well.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:25pm

It's such a fine line to walk to play the campiness that's needed but NOT come off as a cartoon. There are so many dimensions that have to be played to pull off the entire piece. I think Betty was able to handle the insanity and deperation, but not the camp. I have a feeling that Patti's camp would be JUST over the edge bordering on caricature. Glenn's Norma seemed to have all the elements and a bit of a nod to Gloria Swanson.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:28pm

Hanna -- that is a great, great point. And I think you hit it dead on. Buckley had no humor in the role, which made her Norma ultimately too scary and the show too pandering.

Paige was also very funny and looked the most like Swanson.

[gymman]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:29pm

Great point, Hanna. I really think Buckley is talented, but she's not a multi-dimensional actress. She was crazy from the get-go, so the show lacked momentum. I am just thinking again about how really difficult this role is to play! I cannot imagine Carrol in it at all.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:38pm

Thanks all for your interesting comments. SUNSET is my favorite ALW score to date. I dont normally listen to overtures, but I Love this one. I've never seen this show performed on stage. I was wondering if anyone of you thought this show could work as a "scaled" down show. As in, if they did a revival of it. I understand the running costs were MASSIVE because of the amazing set, and although Norma's mansion should be very gaudy and clutter, I was just wondering, if that whole "scaled down" concept could work. I also think its one of ALW's most melodic scores, as in, most all of the songs are hummable and rememerable. ( I think its better than phantom)

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:47pm

I think it could work in a scaled down production; the Broadway production was gorgeous looking, and I think they felt they needed something special like the previous British import hits (i.e., chandelier, helicopter, etc) so they had Norma's floating stage (which actually worked great during the New Year's scene when Joe is at Artie's cramped apt, and Norma is prowling around her manse). Of course, a scaled down production needs great casting and a great director.

I do have to put in a word of defense for Buckley's Norma; I thought the Close was the scariest of them, and Buckley's was more emotional and sensitive.

Updated On: 7/26/05 at 05:47 PM

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:47pm

I think it could work in a scaled down version, as long as the "faded glory" feel continues to come through in the set design. I have to disagree, however, with the quality of the score. . .it's okay, but I think ALW has much more creative/unique work that he has written.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:50pm

The second American tour was greatly scaled down. It didn't use the massive Broadway sets, and I take it worked fine.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:51pm

The Sondheim-Prince production was mentioned in the press around the time they were launching MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG with Lasnbury's name attached as a possible star. Nothing more was said and then suddenly Sondheim was teaming with James Lapine for SUNDAY IN THE PARK. I wrote to Sondheim and asked what happened with SUNSET. He replied that it was never really planned, growing out of a desire by Angela Lasnbury, Hugh Wheeler and Hal Prince to do it "...and on my refusal, Miss Lansbury's press agent wishing it into existence."

Still, I feel it would have been wonderful and a lot better than the show we ultimately got!

Just to clarify an earlier point, when RUG started experiencing financial problems in the early 1990s, it was decided what they needed was another big blockbuster hit to help the cash flow. Lloyd Webber had long been interested in writing a musical based on the film but now that the rights were available and a production schedule forced upon him, he did not have time to write a full original score...which is why so many of the songs were taken from his trunk. This, more than anything else, seems to have been most damaging to the show.

I am surprised the number of people who say they like it while admitting that it isn't very good. I suppose the razzle dazzle of the original sets helped, and the star performances too. I never liked it. On CD or on Stage, it always struck me as a major waste of time, money and talent. And it should have been an amzing musical.

I don't thing ALW was the right composer for it. I think Kander and Ebb might have gotten it right.

Part of the problem is that the British don't really understand the Hollywood studio system in effect from the 1920s thrugh the 1950s.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:55pm

FrontRow . . . Kander and Ebb would have been BRILLIANT on Sunset Boulevard. I can't help but think of a "SpiderWoman" type of score with the Sunset Boulevard story. That would TOTALLY work.

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:59pm

Front Row - surely RUG must have known that NOTHING is a sure fire hit, and will help with their cash flow. Andrew Lloyd Webber was at his zenith of popularity in the late 80's when Phantom hit, and you think his next show would be sure fire. Although the first Broadway show I saw (and I quite loved it), 'Aspects of Love' was the biggest box office flop at that time.