What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
#0What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 2:50pm
To fire Patti Lupone and replace her with Close? Listening to the London recording of Sunset, I find Lupone to be miles better than Close, not only vocally but acting too. Close's Norma is just so over the top, and well, sung oddly. But Lupone gives a crisp, detailed, and electrifying performance.
At least she got a swimming pool out of the deal.
#1re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 2:54pm
crisp...detailed
Are you sure you're talking about Lupone?
David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail
-Into the Fire
Scarlet Pimpernel
#2re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 2:57pm
Yes, I am. I adore Patti, and I think she gets too much flack. Yes, I find her Norma to be all those things, and then some.
I'll keep my thoughts on Close to myself.
#3re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 3:00pmBobby I agree with you about Close and I never heard Lupone as Norma. All I know is that, until recently, she has never really been famous for being crisp and detailed (she might be on this recording though, I should check it out)
David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail
-Into the Fire
Scarlet Pimpernel
#4re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 3:08pm
I agree! Patti's Norma was the best and Webber should have simply said "No Patti, No Sunset", Just as he had in Phantom with "No Sarah, No Phantom. Apparently he lost his balls at that time though. Close was awful!
"It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance." -
Elizabeth Taylor
Updated On: 1/6/06 at 03:08 PM
#5re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 3:16pm
You want crisp and clean? Listen to Betty Buckley sing the material on her "Betty Buckley's Broadway" cd.
Fantastic!!!
http://preppylife.tumblr.com/
#6re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 3:20pm
Bobby, Did you get to see them both perform live in the show? I saw Glenn in LA and she was incredible!
Plus, the character of Norma is kinda odd to begin with...I think Glenn's voice matches Norma's personality.
Updated On: 1/6/06 at 03:20 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#7re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 3:31pm
I thought Glenn was wonderful. I felt her vocal limits actually helped define the character. Norma was a fading star, struggling to regain her former glory. Glenn's voice was pretty, but her lack of power helped in conveying Norma's loss of 'star wattage' she might once have had.
Glenn's acting was excellent too.
IMHO
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#8re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 3:57pmYou have to understand the decision in context. Webber (or somebody) got the bright idea that they were going to snub Broadway and premiere the show in LA. (You will notice the cast recording is not dubbed Broadway Cast Recording, but LA Cast Recording). With this decision, they also decided they wanted a "movie star" to play Norma. LuPone was not a Hollywood name. I think ALW really wanted Barbra Streisand because he allowed her the first American recording of the songs. But Close finally bagged the role (obviously at some point Faye Dunaway was being considered as she was announced as Close's replacement).
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Isabella2
Broadway Star Joined: 10/6/05
#9re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 4:07pm
was this before or after Evita? apparently, she hated being in Evita so maybe she wasn't fired but quit.
Updated On: 1/6/06 at 04:07 PM
#10re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 4:13pm
WAAAAAAAY after Evita (Evita was 1978 and Sunset Boulevard 1993)!!!!
I heard a rumor that the way Patti "found out" that she might not be doing Broadway is that she called the production office in NY or something and they (as usual) had songs from Sunset Boulevard as the hold music . . . but it was no longer her renditions of the songs . . . they were playing Barbra Streisands versions.
". . . POP . . ."
Updated On: 1/6/06 at 04:13 PM
#11re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 4:14pm
This was many, many years after Evita.
She did not quit. She was promised the Broadway run after London, and was replaced by Close. She sued Webber and received a large settlement.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#12re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 4:15pm
"was this before or after Evita? apparently, she hated being in Evita so maybe she wasn't fired but quit."
It was after Evita. LuPone didn't quit. It was in her contract to do the American version and would have been her triumphant return to Broadway. She wanted it bad!! ALW had to pay her $$$$$ to honor her contract.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#13re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 6:27pm
Ya know, Bobby -- where Patti is concerned, I usually have my Diva-tinted glasses on. She can pretty much do no wrong. BUT, having *ahem* seen both Patti and Glenn in the role, I do have to say that I prefer Glenn. Yes, Patti sings the hell out of it, but Glenn's take on the character (and therefore the "whole package") was preferable.
*falls to knees* I'M SORRY PATTI! I STILL LUV YOU!
#14re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 6:37pm
I saw Close in Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles as well and 10 years later the performance is still fresh in my mind. Despite the fact that she has many ALW ballads to belt, Norma is primarily an actor's role, not a singer's role like Christine in Phantom.
I agree, what Close lacked in musical talent she made up for in acting ability. Her performance was truly heart-wrenching, shocking, chilling, and tragic. Also, I think having a film star play a silent-film era star who's past her prime made Close identify with the character more than a typical Broadway actor could. There was a believability and reality to the performance, as if Close knew her career could follow Norma's within a couple years (though I pray that never happens). It would have been really fun to see Fay Dunnoway--who as we all know was to replace Close in LA but was fired days before her premiere--as Norma because Fay Dunnoway IS past her prime as well.
I have both the World Premiere and the Los Angeles recordings, and while I agree LuPone is more pleasant to listen to, but Close is more raw and reall and flat-out crazy in all the right moments, exactly as the character should be and very close to how Gloria Swanson played it in the original film.
#15re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 7:13pmI'd have traded my ticket for Glenn in a quick new york minute to watch Faye Dunaway go on...and on...and on, lol.
"It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance." -
Elizabeth Taylor
#16re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 8:30pmI never saw either performer live so I don't think I have much input in the discussion. However, I've heard both recordings and I've seen the Sunset Blvd. original film. To whoever said that Glenn Close's performance is too over the top, then she's right on, Norma Desmond is over the top, she's larger than life, she believes herself to be someone as relevant as Salome. On recording, Close captures that essence, her weakness as a singer creates a vulnerability hidden behind Norma's greatness. Her As If We Never Said Goodbye is orgasmic, and I hate Lloyd Webber, but this song as performed by Close is pure brilliance. Petula Clark's version is very unique as well. On an interview that's on playbill.com Lloyd Webber argues that the show works better with a movie star than with a theater diva (he mentions Elaine Page, not LuPone). I think what he did to LuPone was very low though.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
BwayBaby18
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/19/05
#17re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 8:34pmWhat is this swimming pool story? I've heard it on forrbidden Broadway but have never cared to look into it!
#18re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 8:37pmI believe Lupone said that she paid for her swimming pool with the settlement money she got from Webber.
#19re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 8:46pm
I never saw either performer, but I have listened to both and much prefer Glenn Close. Though Lupone is good, she just wasn't right for the role of Norma Desmond. She doesn't put much passion into the songs, and not for a moment do you believe you are not listening to Patti Lupone. Close acted the role so well, and though her voice wasn't amazing, it was well fit for the show, because you really felt like you were hearing Norma Desmond, because of how much Close put into the role. Lupone just didn't do that.
And don't blame ALW too much for getting rid of Lupone. From what I have read, Paramount, one of the major backers of the show, put a lot of pressure on ALW to cancel Lupone's contract. From what I've heard, he initially refused but then caved into the pressure from Paramount. So even if you are a Lupone fan, it was Paramount that was smoking the crack.
Keep your morals, I don't have time. Keep your lovers, I'm changing mine!
-The Likes of Us
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#20re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 8:51pm
Lupone jokes about it saying she has the ALW swimming pool
I hear Elaine Page was the best Norma. We saw it with Close who resembled a cigar store indian when made up. Lupone would have been better
Poster Emeritus
#21re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/6/06 at 9:38pmHe was smokin the "White Afghanistan Widow" at the time I believe.
"It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance." -
Elizabeth Taylor
zelda
Stand-by Joined: 6/20/05
#22re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/7/06 at 12:14am
ok. first. the title line is a bit rude. come one guys. be a little less..obvious. dont ask what he was smoking. ask why he was smoking it in the first place.
patti and betty rocked. firing patti and hiring that frumpy, listless, tired...Close. nough said.
oi.
rockfenris2005
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#23re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/7/06 at 2:57am
This is one of those times where I'm gonna be extremely rude but: anyone who likes that world premiere recording needs to seriously get their ears checked. They're not even acting. Hell, they're not even singing! It's just a bunch of whining
Who can explain it, who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons, wise men never try
-South Pacific
#24re: What Crack Was Webber Smoking?
Posted: 1/7/06 at 3:43am
rockfenris2005, what are you talking about?
I've been a dyed-in-the-wool Patti fan since the moment I discovered musical theater, but I have learned over the years that many people do not like her. I can live with that. But, come on...
Kevin Anderson and Meredith Braun were amazing on that recording. The L.A. cast was good, but don't dismiss the ENTIRE London album. They were anything but whining.
And no one grew into anything new, we just became the worst of what we were."
Videos