SUNSET BLVD. Reviews - Page 11

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 10/24/24 at 2:37pm

lila12 said: "I realize that Nicole is off on Tuesdays and today is a Thursday - is she going on tonight far? SeatGeek still lists her as scheduled to perform but I can't figure out where else to look and see if someone is announced as being out."

They will def send out comm if Nicole is out unexpected. If you are worried, you could check SeatGeek, just like other folks said.

I even got an email about the casting after buying a ticket just to see Mandy in the role on a Tuesday (Nicole's scheduled off day)

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 10/24/24 at 3:18pm

Okay, so I’ve had about a week to process this wackadoodle production, and I wanted to share my thoughts on the extremely divisive staging of the entr’acte. I’ll admit, when I saw it live I was utterly perplexed and really didn’t know what to make of it. People on this board have referred to it as Brechtian, as it makes the audience fully aware they are watching a piece of theatre with actors portraying characters, references to Nicole’s pop career and Andrew Lloyd Webber himself.

I’ve thought about it a lot and the meta aspects of this production have started to come into clearer focus. The original film was extremely meta. The casting of Gloria Swanson, using footage from her silent films, the blending of her reality and the fiction of Norma’s. Cecil B. DeMille and Hedda Hopper play themselves in the film and Buster Keaton and others make cameos. Norma is writing a script for Paramount and of course visits the studio in the film while the actual film Sunset Boulevard is produced by Paramount itself. There is a self awareness to this brilliant film, with meta winks throughout.

Even the original run of the musical cast “aging” or “fading” stars as Norma Desmond, complete with the scandal involving Faye Dunaway.

Love it or hate it, I can’t get this production out of my head. There’s more to the choices than meets the eye at first. Thanks for letting me ramble a bit.

Updated On: 10/24/24 at 03:18 PM

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 10/24/24 at 3:53pm

Yessss, Effed...come beeee with ussssss...the weirdos that love this production....

(Wait till you see Jamie Lloyd's PIPPIN!)

In all seriousness, I love what you just wrote because that's the same journey I took with this production, though I loved it right from the start. I spent days the piecing together of what seemed to be insane choices and realizing that this is Lloyd's way of capturing the meta of the film.

Also...do we think the film Sunset Boulevard is the first real piece of meta cinematic storytelling? I'm in no way a film historian, but I'm having trouble coming up with earlier films that may have played with meta storytelling so blatantly. I mean...Buster Keaton just playing cards. Heaven. 

Updated On: 10/24/24 at 03:53 PM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 10/24/24 at 4:07pm

There’s no denying how influential this film is, from Persona to Mulholland Dr. to Being John Malkovich. As far as joining the side of fans of this production… let me cook. :) I am a huge fan of the film and Patti’s recording and this production has reignited my fascination. I think I’ll have to go back see it again. I’m still not sold on everything. I don’t really get the removing of the headsets for example. Are they supposed to be actors in a film? Are they themselves writing Sunset Boulevard? I didn’t get a lot of it. At one point Betty and Joe are working on Dark Windows and they are writing Norma’s dialogue on the laptop. A lot of bizarre moments that I’m still trying to make sense of.

[Seb28]

Posted: 10/24/24 at 5:29pm

OhHiii said: "Seb28 said: "OhHiii said: "People who respect the material and the artform are just interested to hear what their motivation is. But it very much seems like a one way street."

I’ll just say this response sums up how ridiculousyou’ve been here. “People who respect the material and the art form” as if those who do like this production don’t. Get off your high horse. One could flip that argument on you for rejecting theatre as a living breathing art form that should take risks."

So how is this not confirming my point and how is this showing interest in the well explained arguments of people who didn't like it?

[Seb28]

Posted: 10/24/24 at 6:37pm

TotallyEffed said: "The original film was extremely meta. There’s more to the choices than meets the eye at first."

There might be certain winks to meta in the film as well, but it is the complete opposite of this production. The text (lyrics) actually matched the characters there. Both Norma and Joe never broke the 4th wall. It really is not comparable.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 10/25/24 at 9:49am

Nicole and Tom are about to appear on Morning Joe on MSNBC in the next segment.

[dan94]

Posted: 10/25/24 at 3:50pm

I saw this last night. I don't want to get into it much, things have descended rapidly and I don't want to give too much fodder for another 5 back to back postings. 

I simply want to state that I disagree Nicole is giving a gamechanging vocal performance. Don't get me wrong, she sings it well. But I don't think it's the transformative vocal some have portrayed.

The voice has a polished veneer on it. That veneer is textured, which gives the appearance of depth. But there is no honest vocal depth. She largely vacillates between whisper singing and screaming. She is regularly pushed to her limit. And when that limit is not enough the mic tricks start. I have not heard a mic that manipulated since Beanie in Funny Girl. Nicole hits her limit, the song still has three more shades of dramatic heft left, and they crank up the reverb as high as it can go.

Don't get me wrong, she actually does sing it well. I have some questions about long term sustainability, but time will tell. She is not the second coming of Callas as I have been reading.

The string synth is obliterating the other 17/18 instruments. It's twice as loud as the rest, and makes the score sound unnecessarily tinny. 

[Mellony]

Posted: 10/25/24 at 4:18pm

dan94 said: "I don't want to get into it much, things have descended rapidly and I don't want to give too much fodder for another 5 back to back postings."

I already said more than my fair share in the other thread, so I've been staying out of this, but thank you for bringing this up. So many people have been making bad faith arguments about why this production is the most awful thing ever, and so others are doubling down and saying it's the most revelatory thing to grace Broadway in decades and Nicole is the most godlike performer of this generation. This discussion no longer feels in touch with the actual production being performed, which is neither of those extremes as indicated by the mixed reviews.

 

[BJR]

Posted: 10/26/24 at 8:42am

TotallyEffed said: "I don’t really get the removing of the headsetsfor example. Are they supposed to be actors in a film? Are they themselves writing Sunset Boulevard? I didn’t get a lot of it. "

For me, they're leaving the industry, the leaving the show, they don't wanna play any more. Connecting it to the Entr'Acte being all about the allure, the falseness, the ridiculousness of show business, when they've been wronged in the story and burned by the crushing wheel of ambition and selfishness, they take off their mics and take themselves out of the story, leaving it all.

 

[Skip23]

Posted: 10/26/24 at 7:11pm

Saw this today for the second time

Even worse this time.

Joe says “it’s only a movie”. I say it feels like Lloyd is saying “it’s only a Broadway musical”.

There is little Connection With the source material, especially with the casting of the leading lady

So what’s the point? - that you can just throw any idea into the mix and some of it works and some doesn’t but that’s the Audiences problem - not the creators.

I felt insulted by this Production. I Felt like I didn’t really matter - that The Director did whatever he wanted to - Hell, it’s only a musical.

And again, what is going on with the sound designers. So much of this is just mush.

Not for nothing, but the last half of the second act literally falls apart. I had trouble keeping my eyes open.

Did like the choreography though.

Updated On: 10/26/24 at 07:11 PM

[OhHiii]

Posted: 10/26/24 at 8:50pm

Imagine paying that much money just to be a hater. It’s active at this point and it’s weird.

[chernjam]

Posted: 10/26/24 at 8:57pm

OhHiii said: "Imagine paying that much money just to be a hater. It’s active at this point and it’s weird."

I mean, seriously...  I can't imagine investing the money or the time into something I didn't like

[Auggie27]

Posted: 10/26/24 at 9:25pm

Excellent explanation, BJR. I was touched by the mic removal moments, which somehow pulled all of the threads together in the Lloyd conceit. 

[Skip23]

Posted: 10/26/24 at 11:14pm

OhHiii said: "Imagine paying that much money just to be a hater. It’s active at this point and it’s weird."


Weird?  
 

I went back after all these great reviews to see if I really missed something  

 

I didn’t

 

And I also didn’t pay those prices either. 

[MCW1227]

Posted: 10/27/24 at 2:23pm

While I appreciated this production for the edgy more hip angle, it’s difficult to consider this the ultimate Sunset Blvd stage production. For me, scenery and costumes are a huge part of story telling. Gimmicks with cameras are interesting but if I was not already familiar with this story, I think I would have been a little lost. Why is Norma covered with blood at the end? Wasn’t she just taken away by authorities? The ensemble was a generic group trying to play different parts of undefined characters. I just rewatched the 2017 production with Glenn on YouTube and still get a thrill even though I’ve seen it in person twice. Don’t think I’ll feel the same with this production. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/27/24 at 3:46pm

I have seen SB 5 or 6 times in the past.  I have always loved ALW's score (I am one of those who think it is his best) and have seen at least one great Norma.  Nevertheless, I have always gotten restless before the performance ended.  There were definitely boring stretches along the way.

I am one of those who thinks this production of Sunset is thrilling.  In fact, it is one of the most thrilling productions that I have seen in more decades of theatergoing than I like to acknowledge.  I thought that Nicole Scherzinger sang her portions of the score gloriously. and moved with great fluidity; I will be happy if she wins a Tony.  I did not think that she was nearly as great as Glenn Close was, however, despite the fact that Close's voice was not strong. 

I struggle to decide whether that is simply because Close is such a great actress, or whether it is also impacted by the thrilling production, i.e., the production is the star.

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 10/27/24 at 8:35pm

Skip23 said: "OhHiii said: "Imagine paying that much money just to be a hater. It’s active at this point and it’s weird."


Weird?


I went back after all these great reviews to see if I really missed something



I didn’t



And I also didn’t pay those prices either."

 

 


nearly one  month after saying something like “I don’t care about this production”, but still keeps posting on this thread with nothing constructive . Maybe it is actually true love

Updated On: 10/27/24 at 08:35 PM

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 10/27/24 at 8:40pm

Pardon me if someone else has mentioned this, but I think the large amount of blood on Norma's face/body at the end is a callback to the myth (and, in the world of the production, the script Norma is desperately trying to get produced) of Salome, where Salome kisses the severed head of John the Baptist -- with Joe standing in for John the Baptist. It actually works on a few levels. 

[Skip23]

Posted: 10/27/24 at 10:04pm

spicemonkey said: "Skip23 said: "OhHiii said: "Imagine paying that much money just to be a hater. It’s active at this point and it’s weird."


Weird?


I went back after all these great reviews to see if I really missed something



I didn’t



And I also didn’t pay those prices either."






nearly onemonth after saying something like “I don’t care about this production”, but still keeps posting on this thread with nothing constructive . Maybe it is actually true love "

 

ABSOLUTELY!   I love that so many people are so hoodwinked into thinking this is the second coming.  DO YOU HEAR ME????  It's really all I think about!  The monkey is making me crazy!!!  Can I be a cameraman?  Maybe I can get a job as the coke addict in the prologue to "Too Much In Love To Care".  I LOVE it, do you hear me?  Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhh............

 

 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 10/27/24 at 11:32pm

Skip23 said: "spicemonkey said: "nearly onemonth after saying something like “I don’t care about this production”, but still keeps posting on this thread with nothing constructive . Maybe it is actually true love "

ABSOLUTELY! I love that so many people are so hoodwinked into thinking this is the second coming. DO YOU HEAR ME???? It's really all I think about! The monkey is making me crazy!!! Can I be a cameraman? Maybe I can get a job as the coke addict in the prologue to "Too Much In Love To Care". I LOVE it, do you hear me? Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhh............"

At this point I feel like Skip's gone method with a Norma-level breakdown over this

[Skip23]

Posted: 10/28/24 at 12:25am

ZACKLY!

What type of perfume does Nicole wear?
Does she get nail fungus from walking barefoot?
Is the cameraman/woman cute? Is that sexist?
How does Arnie get his skin so clear?
What does the fake blood taste like?
Why did Nicole smile at the curtain call? Did she get called up from Equity for that?

Aaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

[JasonC3]

Posted: 10/28/24 at 8:53am

We can probably summarize most of this thread's comments:

If Lloyd's concept works for you, it seems to really work for you. And the opposite appears to be also true.

Not at all surprising for a show that in its previous iterations generally had a similar tone, look, and feel.

Looking forward to many more weeks of some debating the issue ad nauseam given that this performance art is free to all. Updated On: 10/28/24 at 08:53 AM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 10/28/24 at 9:06am

That this production is sparking such debate shows the power of the production. Theatre should be inspiring this kind of conversation and debate more often. Thank you, Jamie Lloyd.

[inception]

Posted: 10/28/24 at 10:08am

Nicole Scherzinger is scheduled to be on Colbert tonight. 

The website doesn't mention her performing, but it does say tomorrow night will have a performance from Rachel Zegler and Jack Antonoff, featuring the cast of “Romeo + Juliet."