Posted: 2/10/17 at 12:47am
Posted: 2/10/17 at 9:36am
chernjam said: "So far they seem more positive than the original 1994 reviews... Particularly for Close. It does bother me the divisiveness that is to ALW's score and the book/lyricists - Hampton and Black. Particularly Bentley from the NY Times. How are they simply blown away by Close's performance calling it one of the best of the century and then taking cheap shots about the music (basically repeating some of the same dismisive remarks they said 22 years ago)
Agreed. I'm so tired of reading these tedious dissections of Andrew Lloyd Webber's scores that come off, at least to me, as simple b*tchiness couched in "critic-speak" to mask the writer's personal vendetta against him. It's as if saying anything complimentary about Webber's music would leave a terrible taste in the mouth. For decades now, it has been de rigueur to demean and dismiss this man's work with a variety of trite slings and arrows that could easily be hurled at innumerable other musical scores, yet are reserved and repeatedly trotted out exclusively for Mr. Webber.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 9:49am
chernjam said: "Newsday: http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/theater/sunset-boulevard-review-glenn-close-ready-for-a-less-grandiose-close-up-1.13084270
At the very start of this review, she throws in a quick "not to be snotty about it" disclaimer, and then proceeds to make one snotty remark after another throughout, wrapping it up with "Like the merchandise, the show is a limited edition selling paste and glitter as treasures".
Posted: 2/10/17 at 9:55am
I'm sorry, but every pot-shot at the material (particularly the lyrics) is earned. Don Black and Christopher Hampton wrote some of the most childish and blunt lyrics I have ever heard in a musical meant for adults in this score, which is hard to get over when the source is the brilliant Billy Wilder. I think Brantley is pretty astute in pointing out how frequently they take an actual line of dialogue and turn it into what sounds like a rhyming schoolyard taunt. I would dearly love to go see a musical of one of the greatest and most theatrical films in American history and not wince repeatedly, but that will never happen with this show. That's despite the good qualities that Ms. Close and others (including Webber, to some extent) bring to it. The basic story is indestructably good, but good god, the libretto seems try. "Sunset Boulevard" is the most ridiculous title song I can think of in any musical.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 10:04am
chernjam said: "Variety: http://variety.com/2017/legit/reviews/sunset-boulevard-review-glenn-close-broadway-1201983033/
"He does manage to escape from the mansion on New Year’s Eve ( 'Had to Get Out' ), to party with his peers and snuggle with Betty Schaeffer (Siobhan Dillon, another snoozer), a girl he met at Schwab’s Drugstore"
Apparently there have been some rewrites. There is now a song called "I Had to Get Out", and Joe is introduced to Betty at the drugstore instead of at the studio.
Updated On: 2/10/17 at 10:04 AM
Posted: 2/10/17 at 10:09am
I would not be surprised if the interlude is listed as such. The song list struck me as very strange--lots of little moments billed as songs, and renaming. "Surrender" is "No More Wars."
Posted: 2/10/17 at 10:18am
"For decades now, it has been de rigueur to demean and dismiss this man's work with a variety of trite slings and arrows that could easily be hurled at innumerable other musical scores, yet are reserved and repeatedly trotted out exclusively for Mr. Webber."
I do have to say that I don't know any musically knowledgeable people (including musicians and composers) who think that his work is better than elementary. That doesn't mean it's bad, just unsophisticated, rudimentary, and facile. Like Wildhorn, it's easy to listen to, which, in its defense, is all most musically uneducated audiences can deal with.
Those lyrics really are among the worst ever written for the theatre, IMO. Bushels of doggerel rhymed couplets that rarely rise above the level of a silly nursery rhyme.
Updated On: 2/10/17 at 10:18 AM
Posted: 2/10/17 at 10:21am
"There is now a song called "I Had to Get Out"..."
I believe "I had to get out" is merely a lyric in the musical segment, "The Perfect Year," that transitions Joe from the mansion to the party (that is, not a full song).
Updated On: 2/10/17 at 10:21 AM
Posted: 2/10/17 at 10:29am
yes. it's the segue
JOE: "I had to get out, I needed to be with people my own age..."
Posted: 2/10/17 at 10:37am
newintown said: ""There is now a song called "I Had to Get Out"..."
I believe "I had to get out" is merely a lyric in the musical segment, "The Perfect Year," that transitions Joe from the mansion to the party (that is, not a full song).
Yes, I know, but in descriptions of musical theatre, the inclusion of capitalized words bracketed by quotes and parentheses usually indicates a song title.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 11:02am
Brantley wrote: Ultimately, it’s Close’s return that is this revival’s reason for being, and the rapturous audience reaction makes it clear that despite the plethora of talented actresses who have starred in the musical before and since — Patti LuPone, Betty Buckley, Diahann Carroll and Elaine Page, among them — she owns the role. Now all we need is a film adaptation before she ages out of the part.
She's already aged out of the part by 20+ years. She can easily get away with it on stage - not so on screen.
Glad to see this production getting a nice reception.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 11:08am
Jesse Green: http://www.vulture.com/2017/02/glenn-closes-new-sunset-boulevard-is-facedown-in-the-pool.html
I tend to like most of Jesse Green's reviews, but I am really shocked at how brutal this review is!
Posted: 2/10/17 at 11:26am
Felm_heart said: "Jesse Green: http://www.vulture.com/2017/02/glenn-closes-new-sunset-boulevard-is-facedown-in-the-pool.html
I tend to like most of Jesse Green's reviews, but I am really shocked at how brutal this review is!"
Wow. This is the only one I've read so far that took issue with Ms. Close.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 11:30am
Scarywarhol said: "I'm sorry, but every pot-shot at the material (particularly the lyrics) is earned. Don Black and Christopher Hampton wrote some of the most childish and blunt lyrics I have ever heard in a musical meant for adults in this score, which is hard to get over when the source is the brilliant Billy Wilder. I think Brantley is pretty astute in pointing out how frequently they take an actual line of dialogue and turn it into what sounds like a rhyming schoolyard taunt. I would dearly love to go see a musical of one of the greatest and most theatrical films in American history and not wince repeatedly, but that will never happen with this show. That's despite the good qualities that Ms. Close and others (including Webber, to some extent) bring to it. The basic story is indestructably good, but good god, the libretto seems try. "Sunset Boulevard" is the most ridiculous title song I can think of in any musical.
"
Scarywarhol - I'll have to dig through the reviews I collected 22 years ago where one critic was lauding the title song as one of the most biting and capturing the movie's essence... (which might have actually been the NY Times original review of the World Premiere) Not trying to be argumentative or defensive here. Although maybe I am a bit defensive... because the insult demeans those who love this score and listen to it over and over. I don't consider myself some ignoramus. I loved Light in the Piazza. Been to a bunch of Sondheim's shows (Passion being my favorite) for example. And even though I have those recordings, there's dust on them.
My point is this same old "ALW is unsophisticated" crap is a lazy, snobbish critique. There's a reason 4 of his shows are on the boards in NY. And while this is a triumph for Close, she needs something to sing in order for that to be the case.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 11:41am
chernjam said: "one critic was lauding the title song as one of the most biting and capturing the movie's essence"
The title song is one of my favorites in the show. Admittedly, it includes a few clunky lyrics, but the music itself is sufficient to carry the piece through the rough spots and "capture the movie's essence" for me. If that makes me "musically uneducated", so be it; I like what I like.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 11:46am
"My point is this same old "ALW is unsophisticated" crap is a lazy, snobbish critique."
Yes, you are being defensive. As noted, good musicians understand that his music is unsophisticated. That doesn't make you an idiot for liking it.
It's like those Wildhorn apologists, who feel personally insulted when musicians acknowledge that his work is elementary, or DaVinci Code fans who take umbrage when critics call the book populist crap.
Simplistic entertainment satisfies the masses, most of whom are unsophisticated. I mean, definitions of "sophisticated" are "having, revealing, or proceeding from a great deal of worldly experience and knowledge," and "developed to a high degree of complexity." By definition, this will only apply to a minority.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 11:50am
"If that makes me "musically uneducated", so be it; I like what I like."
And you are, of course, well within your rights, and no sane person would call for legislation otherwise.
But I wonder if this is how we have finally acquired an amoral vulgarian as President; because so much of our populace is sufficiently complacent to claim, "I know enough, I need not learn any more."
Posted: 2/10/17 at 11:54am
newintown said: "But I wonder if this is how we have finally acquired an amoral vulgarian as President; because so much of our populace is sufficiently complacent to claim, "I know enough, I need not learn any more.""
So now I'm a Trump supporter because I like a song in a musical? That's quite a leap and terribly condescending.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 11:54am
I don't really care if one critic decades ago found lyrics like "Sunset Boulevard! Frenzied Boulevard! Swamped with every kind of false emotion!" to be searing, specific, or at all in tune with Wilder's smart sense of irony. But I'm sorry if my opinion of this libretto has been taken as a personal insult to anyone who enjoys it.
The notion that commercial popularity is unquestionably indicative of artistic quality is now, and has always been, ridiculous. It's like telling people not to insult the Transformers franchise because hey, there's another one coming out, so they must be good.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 12:00pm
"So now I'm a Trump supporter because I like a song in a musical?"
Never said any such thing - that's called a logical fallacy (I'm sure you've heard of them), and it's a stupid way to have a discussion, because it doesn't actually respond to what's been said; instead twisting others' words in an attempt for an easy "win."
But nobody ever really buys a logical fallacy. Not even the dope who uses them.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 12:01pm
Scarywarhol said: "The notion that commercial popularity is unquestionably indicative of artistic quality is now, and has always been, ridiculous."
On this we agree.
Posted: 2/10/17 at 12:09pm
Leave it to newintown to wedge politics and a jab at the President into a discussion about Sunset Boulevard...
Posted: 2/10/17 at 12:09pm
newintown said: ""So now I'm a Trump supporter because I like a song in a musical?"
Never said any such thing - that's called a logical fallacy (I'm sure you've heard of them), and it's a stupid way to have a discussion, because it doesn't actually respond to what's been said; instead twisting others' words in an attempt for an easy "win."
But nobody ever really buys a logical fallacy. Not even the dope who uses them."
You said that I was "within my rights" to like what I like, but you had to "wonder if this is how we have finally acquired an amoral vulgarian as President". How is that not suggesting that "people like me", who are "sufficiently complacent to claim, 'I know enough, I need not learn any more'", have led to a Trump presidency?
Posted: 2/10/17 at 12:13pm
Fair enough. Complacency like that which can be extrapolated from your comment may have led to the recent election results - I did put it in the form of a hypothetical, you might note.
But in no way is that an accusation that you personally are a Trump supporter.
Can you apprehend the difference? Or are you too tightly tied to snarky defensiveness?
Updated On: 2/10/17 at 12:13 PM
Posted: 2/10/17 at 12:43pm
Felm_heart said: "Jesse Green: http://www.vulture.com/2017/02/glenn-closes-new-sunset-boulevard-is-facedown-in-the-pool.html
I tend to like most of Jesse Green's reviews, but I am really shocked at how brutal this review is!"
I found his review to be mean for the sake of being mean.
"But Sunset Boulevard, which opened tonight in a train wreck of a revival starring a woeful Glenn Close,"
The show is not loved or liked by everyone but I don't see how you can make the jump to "train wreck." The majority of reviews seem to disagree with his take.
