What Do You Think About Sunset Boulevard?

Hello. I am a fan of Sunset Boulevard and particulary, Patti LuPone. Several years ago, I came across a British theatre website that had a complete mpeg of Miss Patti singing "As If We Never Said Goodbye" in her Anthony Powell costume. The clip isn't from the musical itself, but rather from a charity performance, around 1993 or 1994. That British theatre website has since become extinct. That clip is prolly my favorite Sunset item. It was too bad that Miss Patti was prevented from doing "Sunset" on Broadway as originally planned. Well, we know what happened there. Still, I did manage to see three performances of Miss Pet(ula) Clark in the second American tour of "Sunset Boulevard." As far as recordings, I have: the World Premiere, the American Premiere, the First Sunset American Tour CD (Linda Balgord) w/3 tracks, the British Sunset Tour (Faith Brown) recording w/3 tracks, the German Cast recording with Helen Schneider and the Canadian Cast recording with Diahann Carroll. I also have Petula Clark's "Here For You", which includes three Sunset selections. Finally, I also obtained a Sunset "Seleccion", produced in Spain. Any other "Sunset" fans out there... in the dark? from Roman in Austin, Texas... the official Patti LuPone FANatic

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Cool. Which tour was that?: the First American Tour with Linda Balgord or the Second American Tour with Petula Clark? from Roman in Austin, Texas

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First show I saw on Broadway.... Love it!!!!

Never seen it but I love the cast recording. Oh, and I AM an ALW fan. Go Andrew! Woot!

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It was my first show in New York as well, with Betty Buckley in November 1995. I also had the pleasure of seeing both the first national tour with Linda Balgord and Ron Bohmer twice while it was in Cincinnati, and the tour a couple years back here in San Francisco with Petula Clark. I also find it underrated. It really does have a nice score in my opinion.

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I think she was originally supposed to play the Broadway run, but they wanted someone with a name. Correct me if I am wrong!

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While I love Sunset Blvd. I personally would not call it his best (but you are entitled to your opinion). My order is:

1) Jesus Christ Superstar
2) Evita
3) Requiem
4) The Beautiful Game
5) Woman in White
6) Tell Me on a Sunday
7) Whistle Down the Wind
8.) SUNSET BLVD
9) Phantom of the Opera
10) Aspects of Love

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Updated On: 4/14/06 at 08:32 PM

I admit Sunset is the one ALW musical I have seen far too many times. Saw the very first preview in London (which was to have been the last before opening night - but staging problems messed up the schedule) and still remember Patti walking down the staircase at the end with the white peacock feather head dress (which was slightly overkill for Norma meeting the press, if fabulously mad). Then later in the run when Kevin Anderson seemed to be having a running war with the M.D. (you know one night after the curtain he went into the pit and nearly came to blows) - I've a feeling the original company was a stressful place to be.

After that I collected Norma's - Betty Buckley, should have worked, but I felt her Norma would have been busy working on her real estate portfolio; Elaine Paige, really made it work, her 'With One Look' was poignant - just a shame they had to cut the set down so you could see her; managed to be in L.A. when Glen Close was playing, I still feel she got closest to Swanson in the original movie, just the voice wasn't quite right.

Think the best I saw was Petula Clarke - who just surprised me she could do it (only other things I'd seen her on stage was a rather elderly Maria in SofM and her lamentable musical 'Someone Like You'), but her age, experience and ability to invest so much honest emotion in Norma's songs made her the Norma I most felt for and understood.

Also collected Janet Brown on the UK tour (over here an impressionist from the 1970's/80's whose career died off when Margaret Thatcher left the political stage), who played up the camp aspects of the part making Norma into a real monster, changed the tone, but it was good fun.

Have Diahann Carroll's Canadian cd, it sounds OK, but I can't imagine how it worked on stage, she just seems too reasonable to be Norma, but if anyone saw it I'm prepared to be talked through it.

Think it's interesting that of all Lloyd Webber's shows it follows most closely the original source material and the songs really work with the material and with all the Norma's I've seen think 'As If We'd Never Said Goodbye' is one of the great 'arias' of the musical.

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I left the theatre humming the sets.

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I love this show - I think it's one of his best scores, and I'm not afraid to admit that I love it.

I don't think it's his best score, but it's definitely up there. His top ten scores, for me, are:

1. Song and Dance
2. Cats
3. Jesus Christ Superstar
4. Evita
5. Sunset Boulevard

oh wait...I don't like any of his other scores...

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I saw the tour with Linda Balgord. I didn't like her voice, but very much enjoyed the show. It's one of my favorites. I think that a lot of the music is appropriately cinematic.

I loved the show in all its forms and was glad the film was turned into a musical - and why indeed should it not have been?

I saw all of the London Normas and also Glenn Close but I was glad when Patti was replaced - she was a good Norma but I just felt something lacking with her, and the subsequent Normas (with the exception of Petula Clark) were very strong.

Mind you, I have listened to the Petula Clark/Michael Ball version (full show, no dialogue cuts) often since it was aired on BBC radio and she has grown on me - I just found her voice lacking when watching her live.

I love the set. I enjoyed the show. My one complaint was that Act 2 was almost all reprises.