"Sunset Blvd" (The Song) Question

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 6:09pm

When he says, "...before tommrow's execution..."

Is Joe forshadowing his own death? Does he know that he'll probably die? Does he know that he'll have go phsyco on the girl to get her to leave the mansion before she's hurt?

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 6:16pm

I don't know about "tomorrow's execution" in terms of actual timing, but I suppose it is foreshadowing, since Joe is seemingly narrating from beyond the grave.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 6:21pm

Oh, I totally forgot that point. He IS narrating. But then, is this song part of the "story" or is it Joe narrating what is going on? I was just wondering. I was trying to figure out how I would play this song if I were the character and I had some trouble.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 6:22pm

I had never thought of it that way, but yeah, it makes sense as foreshadowing. (I love that show.)

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 6:29pm

Me too. It's one of my fav. scores to listen to all the way through. I just love it. I would KILL to be in that show.

I always thought it would be interesting if they took a pause after "tommorow's execution...-pause- Sunset Blvd...." to make it more dramatic.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 6:34pm

Ooh I like that idea. That would be very suspenseful. Joe Gillis is my dream role. BTW, I saw the world premiere production with Patti LuPone in London and that's the only cast recording that I own and listen to. I never saw it on Broadway.

Updated On: 7/8/06 at 06:34 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 6:37pm

I have the Broadway version. I think I might prefer Patti Lupone because she has the better voice to listen to. Though, I think Glenn Close does a damn good job in the role. To me you don't have to have a very pretty voice to play the part because it sort of lends itself to that. She is the forgotten movie star, so it's good that she has a decent voice, but nothing steller. It's like, you could tell that maybe in her prime she was a great singer, but now that she's old and wasting away, she's loosing what she had.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 6:42pm

The selling point for me on the London CD is Kevin Anderson. He gives Joe Gillis the everyday down-on-his-luck kinda guy sensibility, which makes everything that happens to him that much more intense. Alan Campbell is, as Webber usually likes, *overly* dramatic to the point where it's just a big joke and he's more of a character than a real person.

[HamletWasBipolar]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 7:11pm

I think all of us, in real life, have a gut feeling before disaster occurs. Especially when we know we've been up to no good ie. using someone. That would be a real life experience to put in the character. I dont think he was referring to an actual physical death, but a foreshadowing of something bad about to occur.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 7:35pm

I guess there's many ways it could be interpreted. I'm not sure it's a "gut feeling" because he uses the word "execution." It woudl be different if he didn't use such a blunt word.

I'm sort of indifferent about Alan Campbell's Joe. He doesn't seem to be all that entertaining. Like, he sort of plays him very synical to the point of being boring almost. He has his moments, but for the most part he does alright with the role. I really want to get the London Cast Recording. I just have to find it for a price I like!

[StageManager2]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 7:37pm

I think it's also a reference to John the Baptist, to whom Joe compares himself in Act I: "My work was over/I was feeling no pain/Locked up like John the Baptist." Later, in Act II Norma also compares him to John th Baptist: "When he scorned me I/Knew he'd have to die/Let me kiss his severed head."

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/8/06 at 8:29pm

I totally missed that whole comparison. I'll have to listen to it again tonight. Thanks.