What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)? - Page 2
What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
#25What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 1:12pmI am in the camp of really loving the show-and the production. I saw Glenn on Broadway and also, I think, the tour.
“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.”
``oscar wilde``
PattiLover
Stand-by Joined: 2/20/04
#26What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 1:13pmI recently saw a regional production of SB at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster. They cut the chorus, so they just zipped through "Let's Have Lunch" and "Every Movie's a Circus." There really is no need for a chorus - SB can be a surprisingly intimate show. Yah, parts are awful (Can't stand the overblown yawner "Too Much in Love to Care") but "As If We Never Said Goodbye" is as perfect a song in as perfect a moment as Rose's Turn.
#27What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 1:17pm
If you cut the chorus, you'd have to lose more than "Let's Have Lunch" and "Every Movie;" you'd also lose "The Lady's Paying," "This Time Next Year" (the party scene), "Eternal Youth", and the crowds surrounding Norma in "As If" and the Finale.
Sounds more like a way to do a production on the cheap than a "new way" to tell the story.
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#28What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 1:23pm
This clip always give me goosebumps. A magnificent performance by Betty Buckley. If you don't watch the whole thing at least skip to the 8 minute mark. Her "I've come hooooooooooooooome at last" is thrilling!
Sunset Blvd - Buckely-As if we never said goodbye
goodoneinlou2
Stand-by Joined: 5/29/09
#29What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 1:32pm
Thanks for posting that clip of the 1st Natl Tour...
I actually saw the 1st Natl - in Cincinnati - with this cast. Linda Balgord (Final Grizzabella in Bway Cats), Ron Bohmer (A former Phantom), Lauren Kennedy etc.
It was completely full scale - like Bway - with all sets intact (albeit shrunk a bit from the mammoth set at the Minskoff.) It ran there for like 4 or 5 weeks because the transition times for the set were so incredibly labor intensive.
I was working "in the business" and living in Cincinnati at the time and would go on lunch breaks to the Aronoff and watch them assemble the set. It took probably 5 days to load in - a normal load in is like 1-2 days. There was no jump set, and it required lots of electronic tweaking to get all the set components synched with the computers.
By the 3rd week of the run, they were only running 1/2 houses. It just wasn't filling seats. The people that saw it loved it, but tickets were expensive and there was no "name" in it.
Originally there were many cities lined up. But after Cincy's run (August-Sept) the decision was immediately made to cut 3/4 of the cities from the tour, and close in Chicago (around the holidays - Dec/Jan I believe???) The dates for an extended run in Louisville were sacrificed for Chicago.
Also worth noting - the tour set also used those hydraulics to lift the mansion, and the theatres in which it played had to met special requirements/specs in order to adhere to structural/weight standards/needs. The permanent stage decks at the theatres were ripped out and hydraulics installed underneath into foundations. It required weeks of preventive and thorough construction work prior to the load-in and hours of repair work after the run.
I would suspect the tour probably lost $10-$15 million alone. Balgord and Bohmer went on to other ALW shows - Cats and Phantom respectively - no doubt in part due to their stints in Sunset being cut extremely short.
Updated On: 6/14/12 at 01:32 PM
#30What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 2:22pm
I am in the camp of really loving the show-and the production.
Well, you picked the right word in "camp". Although traditionally camp is supposed to be intentional.
My take on the whole ALW/Patti LuPone kerfluffle is that (based on the recording) LuPone made the mistake of taking the show and the role seriously. She sings her heart out and the banality of the libretto comes through loud and clear. (No, I'm not a LuPone fanatic.)
(See newintown's account of the lyrics above and add "repetitive." "I can play any role." "I can play any part." Yeah, 'cause that would be completely different.)
I saw Close twice in LA and she played Norma as if she were already rehearsing to play Cruella DeVille. It was cheesy, but it did serve the purpose of hiding some of the worst aspects of the material.
***
The set has to go down as one of the worst design decisions ever made. Yes, it was impressive when the house rose. For two seconds. Then it also utterly destroyed the illusion that you were looking at a "pink palazzo" made of marble, stone and tile.
And unlike THE WIZARD OF OZ, the flying house had nothing to do with the story. It was a triumph of form over content.
***
Ultimately (and IMO, of course), SB was what Sondheim (quoting Mary Rodgers) calls a "Why?" show. Why turn SUNSET BOULEVARD into a musical if you are basically going to follow the screenplay page by page? By the time they got to the point of actually showing the chase scene from the film, I knew there was no imagination or originality being applied.
And doing badly what the film does well only made things worse.
dreaming
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/24/09
#31What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 2:32pm
I saw Betty Buckley in the role and she was fantastic. She acted and sang the role exquisitely. I'll never forget her entrance (she received a great deal of entrance applause-much deserved after seeing her performance).
I'd love to see a revival-there are so many talented actresses who could be really amazing in that role. (And so many actors for Joe.)
#32What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 2:32pm
"Shut up, I'm rich! Not some platinum blonde bitch! I own so many apartments, I've forgotten which is which!" (Just vulgar and stupid.)
Ugh. I always hated those new lyrics. Totally out of character. But for the most part, I loved the show and consider it one of Lloyd Webber's best scores. He really packed the score with some gorgeous melodies, most of which perfectly evoked the setting and period. I saw it with Betty on Broadway and it was a tour de force performance. She was absolutely riveting from the moment she descended the staircase to the finale. Betty's Norma was fragile, unpredictable and frightening. The ending really didn't bug me that much but I agree it was unnecessary. Just the final frenzied refrains of music coupled with the HUGE projection of a young Norma's silent film close-up was breathtaking and chilling. I will never forget the thrill I had seeing that production.
I later saw the tour with Petula Clark and it was a massive disappointment. There was no floating mansion. Just some cheap pieces that rolled on and I believe some curtains that flew in.
An opening number that makes you want to see the show.
Eh. I can't stand that song, so opening the Tonys with the unimaginative "On Broadway" didn't make me want to see anything. Was that the year the Tonys ended so abruptly, Nathan and Glenn looked bored and a bit embarrassed when they ended the broadcast? I just remember a year the broadcast seemed so bad, Nathan just blurted out a goodbye and it was super awkward. Of course, with only two new musicals and three musical revivals (one of them massively flopping and being completely shut out) opening that season, it was going to be a rather unusual show.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#33What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 2:35pmThat's a perfect mini-analysis, Gaveston, of what makes Sunset Boulevard (the musical) total dreck. It takes truly great source material and reduces it to a limping mediocrity.
#35What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 2:45pm
Does anyone know whatever happened to the girl who wrote the original lyrics to Norma's two hit songs? IIRC, She was a college sophomore or something and Webber fired her with an agreement purchasing the rights to those two lyrics ("With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Good-bye") without giving her credit.
Has she done anything else? I apologize for not remembering her name.
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#36What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 2:47pm
I saw Glenn on Broadway and also, I think, the tour.
Nope -- Glenn only played the role in the original (pre-Broadway) Los Angeles production and then on Broadway. She never toured. Linda Balgord starred in the 1st US National Tour.
It still amuses me how I keep meeting people who claim they saw Glenn Close in the 1st US National Tour of SUNSET BLVD at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale back in 1996. 
#37What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 3:24pm
The phrase 'Lets Do Lunch' didnt exist back when the show is set, hence why its 'Lets Have Lunch'.
But Joe does sing this line: "if it didn't come up roses I'd be covering funerals back in Dayton, Ohio." I am under the impression (perhaps erroneous?) that the phrase "come up roses" didn't exist before Sondheim coined it in 1959. If the lyricists were willing to use that, they might as well have used "let's do lunch." :)
Updated On: 6/14/12 at 03:24 PM
#38What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 3:52pm
Loved this show, the LA cast with Gleen, Alan and Judy Kuhn was the best cast IMO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FCn0KGN5TQ&feature=related
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
#39What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 6:11pm
I get why people find fault with the show, and I admit I don't listen to it much, but I loved seeing it live. I saw the Canadian production when I was 15 in Vancouver, after Show Boat (I think) it was one of the first productions in Livent's newly built Ford Theatre in Vancouver--with the Toronto cast for four or fivew months.
I'd had a crush on Rex Smith since I was a kid obsessed with Pirates of Penzance, and since we went with my theatre class we got to meet him and have a behind the scenes tour after the show (he was funny and very friendly), but really Diahann Carroll was the star. I thougth she was perfect as Norma, and as the Canadian cast album shows, she sings the role surprisingly well (better than Close certainly), and had amazing stage presence. Anita Louise Combe was a good, if not exceptional, Betty (it's a bit of a thankless role)--I believe she came from the London production, and Walter Charles was *great* as Max.
The Canadian cast album is out of print, but even though it's a highlights CD it's my favorite version to listen to--great voices, and really I don't miss any of the music cut to fit it on one CD (ALW also pumped up the orchestra to over 85 members for the recording so it is lusher than the other recordings).
All I could find in way of clips from the production was a 3 minute ad that Canadian Airlines (who sponsored it) showed... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvEOYIJHd9o
And one 20 second clip from the press reel of Carroll saying Norma's fave quote http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k1jC7wSUeM
Far from a perfect show, but it was a gorgeous production that I'm glad I got to see--and while I get the argument that the musical doesn't really *add* anything to the movie, I love the movie so much that that wasn't really an issue. I also think it's my favorite of John Napier's designs (I wish someone would release a coffee table book of his designs).
Did anyone else catch the Canadian cast? I think they only played Toronto/Vancouver.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#40What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 6:34pmNobody but Canadians cared about the Canadian cast.
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
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#42What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 6:46pm
Nobody but Canadians cared about the Canadian cast.
Maybe not, but that speaks more poorly of the rest of us than it does of Canadians.
***
Eric, I will admit to a period of listening to the Patti LuPone recording quite obsessively. (We had long commutes in LA.) Once I stopped laughing at the absolutely atrocious lyrics, I was quite moved by her commitment to playing Norma.
#43What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 7:36pm
(Of course, even compared to Livent's other major musical productions of the time like the Canadian Phantom, or Ragtime, Show Boat and Spider Woman, there seemed to be no attempt to cast at even one Canadian in a lead role in their Sunset, which is kinda interesting).
I do like Patti on the recording, and I'm not even particularly a fan. I think the changes made to the show after that recording did strengthen it (even adding Every Movies a Circus despite the song not really *saying* all that much), but Glen, as great as she probablyw as on stage, is a bit hard to listen to. ALW must have really had it in for Patti after all--the Now and Forever ALW box set has a couple of Sunset tracks credited to Glen Close which are actually Patti...
Christopher Hampton has written some great plays and screenplays, but he certainly didn't seem to make Don Black's lyrics any better (I'm not really sure how they collaborated)--in fact I think they're some of Black's worse lyrics, which says something. (And then there's that special "additional lyrical credit" to Amy Powers, whoever she is, who I believe was attached an earlier stage).
For all the flack many critics gave the design and production when it opened--too big, etc--I think the criticisms that it was too literal are unfounded. Nunn and Napier really created a lot of moments of theatrical magic like that opening view of the body in the pool, etc. I think Susan Schulman is a huge talent (I've said how perfect I found the tour of her Secret Garden), but she seemed an odd choice to direct the massively scaled down later tour...
#44What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 7:41pm(I just realized Hampton is doing the English lyrics for Rebecca. I guess that can give some sign of what his lyrics are like without Black, though I'm not expecting much. At least they didn't go to "English musical translation" go-to guy Kretzmer this time I guess).
#45What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 8:02pm
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#46What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 8:10pm
I just realized Hampton is doing the English lyrics for Rebecca. I guess that can give some sign of what his lyrics are like without Black, though I'm not expecting much. At least they didn't go to "English musical translation" go-to guy Kretzmer this time I guess.
I thought Don Black's Bonnie & Clyde lyrics without Christopher Hampton where pretty spectacular considering his past work which leads me to believe that it's Hampton that's been holding him down all these years. I'm kind of afraid of what Hampton will give us for Rebecca without Don Black.
#47What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 8:25pm
Woot for Canada love :P
I've liked some of Black's work. I think he's fine for his pop songs (Bond themes, etc), and I like an awful lot of Tell Me On a Sunday, though less so the revisions. But as awful as much (ok, most) of the sung dialogue is in my top guilty pleasure, Aspects of Love is, I also think the actual songs have decent lyrics--and there he was teamed up with the pretty awful Charles Hart. So we'll see--did Black and Hampton work on anything else together? I wanna say they did Dracula, but like most Wildhorn shows, I know absolutely nothing of the work.
#48What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 9:13pm
Eric, I have to admit that after seeing her twice in the role, I had no desire to shell out additional money to hear Glenn Close sing on the CD. Not that she can't carry a tune, but she simply isn't interesting enough to make it worth the cost when I already had the LuPone recording.
So I don't really remember the new songs you guys are discussing. Maybe I heard them at the Schubert in LA but that would be 20 years ago in a show where I really wasn't playing close attention.
#49What did you think of Sunset Boulevard (1994)?
Posted: 6/14/12 at 9:37pmEYou're not really missing much--Every Movie's a Circus was an ensemble number (I think one that used an existing ALW tune, which is no huge shock) that sets up early in Act I the whole Hollywood industry aspect. Otherwise the changes were more within numbers. I have no doubt Close was pretty great live, but yeah--vocally on CD... not so much.
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