Which Sunset Blvd Cast Recording Do You Prefer?

American. I prefer practically everything about it.

I like the tempos better, I like the orchestra better, and I like all of the supporting cast better. Especially George Hearn over Daniel Benzali. The former's voice is SO much more beautiful, in fact, with the exception of Ms. LuPone, everyone on the London recording is more "pop" in singing style.

when it comes to Normas, it's close, but I enjoy Ms. Close better. Ms. LuPone is fantastic, but I think Close gets into her performance more on record. It's still REALLY close though. Close's "With One Look" is better but LuPone's "As If We Never Said Goodbye" is better. But, if I had to choose, I'd go with the American cast.

Orchestra -- US cast

Norma - hard as this is, I do like Patti more for vocals (although Betty Buckley supercedes both)

Joe - Kevin Anderson wins hands down

The rest of the cast - US Cast wins...

Ok. Generally I enjoy listening to women that belt really loud and high...fair enough?

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i mean, i really love the american recording. but patti is norma.

Give the German recording a try. Helen Schneider is fantastic, as is Uwe Kroeger as Joe. And the lyrics sound better in German, especially that stupid title song.

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Betty Buckley was the worst Norma...she sounds like a cat being killed...i guess that's why she got the role of Grizabella in "Cats".

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Ug. Don't get me started. I bought the Broadway version, and then picked up the London and wanted to stab the CD player to death (like, literally, blow it up and make it catch on fire LOL). The London Cast is abominable; like walking through fire

Joe annoys the crap out of me... every single line he says makes my ears want to explode. Patti slurs all over the place like she's drunk, or yawning, and there's really no conviction in any of her performances (save with the exception of Never Said Goodbye which I really liked). I just can't imagine anyone but George Hearn playing Max... which is (I suppose) *sad*

I hated the London Cast. It's the only cast recording I've ever truly hated... and I mean *hate* hate* hate* and I don't hate anything *at all* save (probably) Dance of the Vampires on Bway (and even then the Previews version was stellar: it was the eventual that sucked)

It's the Glenn recording all the way with me: she doesn't sing it the best way.. but the emotion and the way she plays the character is spine-chilling. I sat there, stunned, terrified, even scared for my life, everytime she got angry. I hope she gets the part in the movie.

As for the LuPone incident... here's my understanding of it. Patti was to play the role on Broadway, but Andrew chose a star-name over Patti: which was Glenn Close: and Patti royally cracked it and sued ALW. Apparently the set collapsed on Lu Pone's last night in London (not sure?) or there was a malfunction that pissed her off even more. There was also Faye Dunaway, who was supposed to take over Glenn in the L.A. production, but she didn't make it to opening night and later sued Andrew. She is on terms with him now

That's all I know... and these are my opinions

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I actually prefer the Canadian one even though it is just a Highlights one

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Glen would be my choice... although she may not have the grandest of voices; it was her interpretation that was right on. It seems she understood the role of Norma the best... I will never forget the final staircase scene... you could be in the last row of the cavernous Minskoff and still feel the emotion exploding from that stage. She is a true dramatic actress... and that is exactly what the role demanded!

I was fortunate enough to catch Patti in London, Glen in LA and NY, Betty in NY, Elaine in NY and Petula on the road… Glen is still my choice!!!

FYI… it seems on http://www.closeup.co.uk/blvd/homepage.htm they have Glen Close as capturing the movie role… who knows???

"Alan Campbell totally outshines Kevin Anderson."

I disagree. He "barks" alot of his lines.

Actually, Betty Buckley's live recordings of Sunset songs from her concerts are the best renditions I've heard.

In fairness, the London cast recording was a rush job. In fact, they used some of the orchestrations from Lloyd Webber's Sydmonton workshop production. They were still doing revisions to the show, but I suppose they wanted to get the music out since there had been a huge demand for it.

The American Premiere Recording had something like an 80 piece orchestra. It was such a huge undertaking that I remember Billboard did a whole huge piece on it (I have it - will have to look for it)