SUNSET BOULEVARD Reviews- Page 5

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 10:47am

chernjam said: "A PBS review:  http://peconicpublicbroadcasting.org/post/sunset-boulevard-reviewed-david-richardson-theatre-critic#stream/0"

"...doesn’t have the monstrous sets and the big sweeping stairway which frankly I was hoping to see once again.."

Me too (or rather, for the first time)!

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 10:54am

chernjam said: "Inquirer review:  https://entertainment.inquirer.net/215300/glenn-close-makes-triumphant-return-sunset-boulevard"

This one points out that March 19 will be Ms. Close's 70th birthday. I have a ticket for March 18, and currently have the evening of March 19 free. Might they do anything special for her birthday? I guess I could buy another ticket for Thursday night as well...

 

[Skip23]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 11:44am

What an underwhelming disapointment. 

 

Close's voice definitely isnt there anymore and her acting is all push and little pathos or shading. She has a very mannish manner that is a bit distancing. (Saw 5 Normas. Fave was Paige.).  It's a crime when the audience laughs at her final scene. 

 

Really missed the sets. The mind wanders a bit too much in this production.

A weak Joe doesnt help. He is also all surface. We dont get a feeling for his desperation and sly manipulation. Joe has to have a bit of the down-trodden. This guy is all one (wrong) note.  

 

And where are the voices?  Joe and Betty are weak. Max is the only strong lead. Really annoying. 

 

Liked some of the choreographer's work. Made those negligible crowd scenes actually interesting. 

 

Price's direction and basic blocking were simple and static. And why no video on the back wall. It was everywhere else. 

 

The best campy moment was the dancing headlights. That's the takeaway?

[Skip23]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 11:44am

What an underwhelming disapointment. 

 

Close's voice definitely isnt there anymore and her acting is all push and little pathos or shading. She has a very mannish manner that is a bit distancing. (Saw 5 Normas. Fave was Paige.).  It's a crime when the audience laughs at her final scene. 

 

Really missed the sets. The mind wanders a bit too much in this production.

A weak Joe doesnt help. He is also all surface. We dont get a feeling for his desperation and sly manipulation. Joe has to have a bit of the down-trodden. This guy is all one (wrong) note.  

 

And where are the voices?  Joe and Betty are weak. Max is the only strong lead. Really annoying. 

 

Liked some of the choreographer's work. Made those negligible crowd scenes actually interesting. 

 

Price's direction and basic blocking were simple and static. And why no video on the back wall. It was everywhere else. 

 

The best campy moment was the dancing headlights. That's the takeaway?

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 12:03pm

girl bye

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 5:29pm

chernjam said: "one critic was lauding the title song as one of the most biting and capturing the movie's essence"

chernjam, check this out if you haven't already seen it. At one point, Michael talks about the musical complexity and ALW's intent behind the title song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSMp_2HwQnE

 

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 7:14pm

Lot666 said: "chernjam said: "one critic was lauding the title song as one of the most biting and capturing the movie's essence"

chernjam, check this out if you haven't already seen it. At one point, Michael talks about the musical complexity and ALW's intent behind the title song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSMp_2HwQnE

 "

Thanks for sharing Lot666 - really enjoyed hearing an extended interview with Michael Xavier

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 9:02pm

Glenn Close: "I'm desperate to make this movie."

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/_Sunset-Boulevard_-Returns-to-Broadway_New-York-413740883.html

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 10:07pm

Lot666 said: "Glenn Close: "I'm desperate to make this movie."

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/_Sunset-Boulevard_-Returns-to-Broadway_New-York-413740883.html

"

I'd settle for a professionally shot version of this production.  I'm doubtful Paramount would ever do a full-fledged movie musical...

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/15/17 at 6:43am

chernjam said: "I'd settle for a professionally shot version of this production.  I'm doubtful Paramount would ever do a full-fledged movie musical..."

I would too. I much prefer filmed stage shows to "movie-ized" versions.

 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 2/15/17 at 10:05am

She am become Norma Desmond.

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/15/17 at 2:29pm

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/02/sunset_boulevard_broadway_review_glenn_close_goes.html

I'm sometimes astounded by the gulf between the views of different critics, almost as if they attended different shows:

"Director Lonny Price and his lead actress seem determined to force you out of the moment, overloading the production with so many 'Major Theatrical Event' moments and signposts that it all starts to sag beneath the weight of its own self-importance."

"Instead of resisting the camp and Gothic elements...Close fully embraces them. Her face stretched into a Kabuki mask of barely-hinged madness, every movement and gesture stylized, she pushes the performance into the realm of kitsch."

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/16/17 at 12:27am

Another review - Newsweek:http://www.newsweek.com/glenn-close-dominates-stage-sunset-boulevard-musical-557167

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/16/17 at 5:48pm

chernjam said: "Another review - Newsweek:http://www.newsweek.com/glenn-close-dominates-stage-sunset-boulevard-musical-557167"

This is the third one I've read where the writer misspelled "Gillis" as "Gilles". 

 

[10086sunset]

Posted: 2/16/17 at 10:44pm

Riedel on Jesse Green...

"The only critic I can find who dinged Close’s performance is Jesse Green of New York magazine. Jesse’s a good critic and a friend, but on this one he’s as brain-dead as Norma’s pet monkey."

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/16/17 at 11:09pm

Huff Post RAVE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/in-sunset-boulevard-glenn-close-triumphs-again_us_58a6477de4b0fa149f9ac405 

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/17/17 at 8:10am

Lot666 said: "I'm sometimes astounded by the gulf between the views of different critics, almost as if they attended different shows"

It's almost like art is subjective!

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/17/17 at 8:34am

haterobics said: "Lot666 said: "I'm sometimes astounded by the gulf between the views of different critics, almost as if they attended different shows"

It's almost like art is subjective!"

Precisely. Yet, each one writes from the perspective that their personal opinion constitutes the definitive assessment of the show. 

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/17/17 at 8:36am

Lot666 said: "haterobics said: "Lot666 said: "I'm sometimes astounded by the gulf between the views of different critics, almost as if they attended different shows"

It's almost like art is subjective!"

Precisely. Yet, each one writes from the perspective that their personal opinion constitutes the definitive assessment of the show. "

It is their definitive assessment of the show, though.