Sunset Boulevard Revival Broadway Thread- Page 19

[Skip23]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 12:31am

Saw it today.

BIG Meh.

Fred Johanson comes out the best.

Price has directed Close WAY too big.  No pathos in the performance.  Campy and crass.  And that voice just isn't there anymore.

Xavier makes little impression as Joe.  As does Dillon as Betty.  Neither of them have much of a voice. 

Without the set, the mind just wanders too far into boredom. 

Liked the minimal but effective choreography.  Weird that they didn't use video for the upstage wall during the house scenes and other settings.  They were using it everyplace else.  The putt putt car effect was laughable.

Her final breakup is campy beyond any stretch of schizophrenia.

 

 

 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 2:25am

A Director said: "muscle23ftl said: "Best show on Broadway right now...

Nope!  From a music and lyrics stand point, the two best shows on Broadway right now are Sunday in the Park with George and Hamilton.  Sunset Boulevard isn't even a close third.

If you knew about art, you'd know that art is subjective. 
 

 

"

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 7:55am

chernjam said: "if you think this is "weak" and your dismissive of ALW's music, why give up 2 and a half hours of your life?  I never had an ounce of interest in Hello Dolly and the hype for Bette Middler certainly hasn't peaked my interest in the least.  I'm happy for people who can't wait for it and all... but would never go to it, because I hate the show"

^ This.

I think Bette Midler is a hoot, but I have no interest in Hello Dolly!; that musical style simply does not appeal to me. Consequently, I'm not going to waste my time and money on it just so that I can deride it to the theatre-going public at large. To those who like it...enjoy!

Remember that loony couple who devoted a year of their lives to virtual and actual protests of Love Never Dies in London? They created their own website, trolled every related discussion board out there, and actually accosted people entering the theatre with their homemade "warning" fliers. They were obsessed with shutting the show down because they didn't like it and it became some sort of religious calling for them to ensure that no one else "fell prey" to it. 

"[Were their] lives really as empty as that?"

 

Updated On: 2/13/17 at 07:55 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 8:12am

Could someone with a Playbill please post the list of musical numbers as they appear for this production? I understand that they are broken down differently from the original production and in some cases the track names have changed.

[Flowerlovestage5]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 10:41am

Lot666 said: "Could someone with a Playbill please post the list of musical numbers as they appear for this production? I understand that they are broken down differently from the original production and in some cases the track names have changed.

 

PLAYBILL PRODUCTION LIST

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 11:03am

Lot666 said: ...Remember that loony couple who devoted a year of their lives to virtual and actual protests of Love Never Dies in London? They created their own website, trolled every related discussion board out there, and actually accosted people entering the theatre with their homemade "warning" fliers. They were obsessed with shutting the show down because they didn't like it and it became some sort of religious calling for them to ensure that no one else "fell prey" to it. 

"[Were their] lives really as empty as that?"

"

LOL - yes!

btw - was kind of confused why they switched the track names... Especially "Surrender" to "No More Wars" - seems kind of odd for a score that's been known and cemented for about 23 years now

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 11:19am

Flowerlovestage5 said: "PLAYBILL PRODUCTION LIST"

Thanks so much for this, Flowerlovestage5! Wow, they really broke this down into minutiae. Instead of actual song titles, it looks like a bunch of lyric excerpts. Does anyone know if the "musical numbers" were presented like this in the original run?

 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 11:29am

Lot666 said: "Flowerlovestage5 said: "PLAYBILL PRODUCTION LIST"

Thanks so much for this, Flowerlovestage5! Wow, they really broke this down into minutiae. Instead of actual song titles, it looks like a bunch of lyric excerpts. Does anyone know if the "musical numbers" were presented like this in the original run?
 

 

Why don't you go see it? 
 

 

"

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 11:47am

muscle23ftl said: "Why don't you go see it?"

I already have my tickets and am going crazy waiting! I missed the original 90s production, so splurged for this one with premium orchestra seats in early March and again in late April. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 11:51am

chernjam said: "was kind of confused why they switched the track names... Especially "Surrender" to "No More Wars" - seems kind of odd for a score that's been known and cemented for about 23 years now"

Yep, and I don't think "No More Wars" works as a title that's representative of the song.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 11:54am

Lot666 said: "muscle23ftl said: "Why don't you go see it?"

I already have my tickets and am going crazy waiting! I missed the original 90s production, so splurged for this one with premium orchestra seats in early March and again in late April. 

 

"

I can totally sympathize, I missed Glenn in the original production and saw Betty Buckley and didn't enjoy the show. So I bought full price orchestra tickets and spent more than I have ever spent on tickets in my life for theatre. My friends and me thought it was worth every penny. I saw it twice already and can't wait to see it again and again.

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 12:41pm

muscle23ftl said: "I missed Glenn in the original production and saw Betty Buckley and didn't enjoy the show. So I bought full price orchestra tickets and spent more than I have ever spent on tickets in my life for theatre. My friends and me thought it was worth every penny. I saw it twice already and can't wait to see it again and again."

At least you got to see the original sets, which I would pay big to see! 

I paid more for this one than just about any other show as well, with the possible exception of the Phantom 25th anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall in London. We went both Saturday and Sunday night, our seats were on the first floor, and the GBP was killing the USD at the time, so it was crazy expensive. And I have no regrets at all.

Since you saw the 90s version of Sunset, perhaps you can explain something to me - do you recall how the opening swimming pool/Joe's body effect was done? I've scoured YouTube and can't find any footage of it. It's my understanding that the audience perspective was "looking up" from the bottom of the pool at Joe, face down and floating, and the body was "fished out" of the water by the police. How did that work?

 

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 1:28pm

Lot666 said: "muscle23ftl said: "I missed Glenn in the original production and saw Betty Buckley and didn't enjoy the show. So I bought full price orchestra tickets and spent more than I have ever spent on tickets in my life for theatre. My friends and me thought it was worth every penny. I saw it twice already and can't wait to see it again and again."

At least you got to see the original sets, which I would pay big to see! 

I paid more for this one than just about any other show as well, with the possible exception of the Phantom 25th anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall in London. We went both Saturday and Sunday night, our seats were on the first floor, and the GBP was killing the USD at the time, so it was crazy expensive. And I have no regrets at all.

Since you saw the 90s version of Sunset, perhaps you can explain something to me - do you recall how the opening swimming pool/Joe's body effect was done? I've scoured YouTube and can't find any footage of it. It's my understanding that the audience perspective was "looking up" from the bottom of the pool at Joe, face down and floating, and the body was "fished out" of the water by the police. How did that work?

"

Lott666 -
Basically there was a screen in front of the stage, that was angled,  With lighting you got the sense that you were looking up at a pool at the dead body of Joe Gillis - while the reporters, cops, etc were looking at it from an elevated stage.  So the effect was you were at the bottom of the pool, looking up, as they fished the body out...  Then the stage went black and the cops, reporters, crowd walked on stage with the now-recovered body from the pool covered -- and in that crowd was the living Joe Gillis who drops out of the crowd to begin "I guess it was 5 Am"

It was a pretty neat...  When I think back to that production though, the lengths they went to recreate EVERY aspect of every scene - it was breathtaking to look at, but in hindsight (and in light of this new production) way too much.  I remember reading that the car for the trip to Paramount which was onstage for 30 seconds cost something like half a million dollars (will have to look that up... it was the NY Times story the day after Sunset closed)  I never was one who wanted to see Sunset revived without the original sets since they were so amazing, but, I'm happy to have been won over by the new production.  The money is much better spent in having that phenomenal orchestra with these leads.

BTW- in light of the 40 piece orchestra, how ridiculous did the other West End Sunset revival with the characters playing instruments look?  I remember reading that they were going to do that and instantly thought what a terrible idea.

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 2:45pm

chernjam said: "Basically there was a screen in front of the stage, that was angled,  With lighting you got the sense that you were looking up at a pool at the dead body of Joe Gillis - while the reporters, cops, etc were looking at it from an elevated stage.  So the effect was you were at the bottom of the pool, looking up, as they fished the body out...  "

I wish I could find footage of this! When they pulled the body out of the pool, was the effect convincing (i.e., did it move as though through water), or was it stiff? I'm trying to picture it, and it seems like the clothing, hair, etc., would ruin the effect because it wouldn't "wave" around in the "water".

chernjam said: "When I think back to that production though, the lengths they went to recreate EVERY aspect of every scene - it was breathtaking to look at, but in hindsight (and in light of this new production) way too much."

For me, that's part of the magic of theatre and I would've loved it.  I wish I had a Tardis so I could go back and see that show. Would also love to have seen the house levitate to expose Artie's apartment.

 

Updated On: 2/13/17 at 02:45 PM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 10:56pm

I got to see the 1994-5 production on Broadway, but it wasn't nearly as thrilling as this new 2017 production and let me tell you and I think chernjam wouldn agree. This version works better. Then again, maybe if I had seen Glenn in the original production, maybe I wouldn't have found it forgettable like I did with Betty Buckley and Alice Ripley (yawn)!

[scripps]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 11:53pm

I saw the original Broadway production three times. I was but a wee lass, so my parents had to sit through it three times with me. We saw Betty Buckley once, and Elaine Paige twice. Naturally, I wanted Paige to sign my window card after a performance one night, so we waited and waited in the cold with a small group of fans. We were invited backstage, or rather just behind the Minskoff stage door in a lobby/reception area, where Paige held court in her yuge fur coat.

I haven't seen this revival, but with all the talk around it, I listened to the American premiere recording recently and was surprised at how much I remembered. I was also surprised at how newly critical I was of the material and performances!

For BC/EFA fundraising back then, Sunset would raise money by giving backstage tours. Anyone here go on one? Also, Bryan Batt understudied Joe back then and  I'd love to hear any impressions of his performance (if anyone can remember that far back).

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 12:42am

Variety on Sunset's box office:

(here's the quote: “Sunset Boulevard” ($1,142,254) topped the $1 million mark in a seven-performance week that included its heavily comped press night and its opening. That sets “Sunset” up nicely just as the reviews — mostly raves — stand poised to move the needle further. With a limited run of just 16 weeks and only seven shows a week, the production will need to make as much money as it can, as quickly as possible, in order to turn a profit. - for the full article: http://variety.com/2017/legit/news/broadway-sales-glenn-close-jake-gyllenhaal-1201987026/

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 12:46am

Lot666 - if you want a better idea of the Original Produciton and how they staged the prologue, here's a pretty good video of it I found for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMz7Ut83MO0 

 

BTW - wonder if any other Sunset fanatics noticed the change in the Overture that ALW made.  It was only a slight note change, but it's noticeable

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 12:56am

OK - now that I started looking at youtube I'm finding all kinds of stuff... Last one for the evening - again to give people an idea of the glorious set that was in the original.  This is from the German Production (and I love Helen Schneider, even if the score being sung in the German language sounds harsh ) - and honestly the quality of this video is probably the best I've ever seen:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m312wwHP7oM&list=RDNMz7Ut83MO0&index=2

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 3:12am

scripps said: "I saw the original Broadway production three times. I was but a wee lass, so my parents had to sit through it three times with me. We saw Betty Buckley once, and Elaine Paige twice. Naturally, I wanted Paige to sign my window card after a performance one night, so we waited and waited in the cold with a small group of fans. We were invited backstage, or rather just behind the Minskoff stage door in a lobby/reception area, where Paige held court in her yuge fur coat.

I haven't seen this revival, but with all the talk around it, I listened to the American premiere recording recently and was surprised at how much I remembered. I was also surprised at how newly critical I was of the material and performances!

For BC/EFA fundraising back then, Sunset would raise money by giving backstage tours. Anyone here go on one? Also, Bryan Batt understudied Joe back then and  I'd love to hear any impressions of his performance (if anyone can remember that far back).

 

"

Lucky you, now you have a chance to see this show with a real screen goddess, A-list 6x Oscar nominated star. Winner of Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe Awards. Let me know if you re-visit the show. 

 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 9:50am

The 2008 revival at Watermill received excellent reviews and featured one of the all time great Norma Desmond, Kathryn Evans.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3793245/Sunset-Boulevard-leaner-sharper-and-just-as-sparkling-as-ever.html

 

Here is a video of her singing "With One Look"

https://youtu.be/K5zQiDiPy9E

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 10:19am

chernjam said: "Lot666 - if you want a better idea of the Original Produciton and how they staged the prologue, here's a pretty good video of it I found for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMz7Ut83MO0"

Thanks so much for this, chernjam! It all happens very quickly, but this is definitely the only video I've ever seen that shows any of the pool intro. When they grab the body and starting pulling, the clothes seem to move very realistically, as if actually in water, but the lights then start to dim almost immediately and it becomes difficult to see. I would love to know how that "moving in water" effect was accomplished (unless I'm just imagining it due to the power of suggestion).

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 10:20am

chernjam said: "again to give people an idea of the glorious set that was in the original.  This is from the German Production (and I love Helen Schneider, even if the score being sung in the German language sounds harsh ) - and honestly the quality of this video is probably the best I've ever seen:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m312wwHP7oM&list=RDNMz7Ut83MO0&index=2"

It's gorgeous, a work of art.

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/14/17 at 10:23am

QueenAlice said: "The 2008 revival at Watermill received excellent reviews and featured one of the all time great Norma Desmond, Kathryn Evans.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3793245/Sunset-Boulevard-leaner-sharper-and-just-as-sparkling-as-ever.html"

"it provides the composer with another opportunity to do what he does best: create a heart-aching, lushly tuneful musical with more than a hint of madness about it"

What he does best, indeed, and the reason I love so much of his work. It speaks to me.

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/16/17 at 12:44am

Looked at a few clips of the Watermill revival on youtube.  Apart from Karthryn Evans, there's not much I liked about it.  The actors playing the instruments and a small set and orchestra - just didnt feel right to me.  It's interesting the praise for that production was that it was "paired down" so that you could focus on the music and the story.  I think Lonny Price was able to achieve that intimacy with the appropriate lushness of a symphonic orchestra and a sense of grandness