"With One Look" original lyrics from 1992 Sydmonton Festival

Not sure how many people are familiar with this, but here is Patti LuPone singing the original lyrics to 'With One Look' at Sydmonton in 1992. I don't know why they decided to change some of the lyrics - I think the original is much more powerful and emotional.

Does anyone know the reason for the change and when it was done ? (I'm curious if it's one of the changes Streisand asked for in March, 1993 and they liked it so much they kept it in the show.)

What do you think of these original lyrics ? Should they have kept them in the show ?



https://youtu.be/jejUMxyUOIE

Something happened when they moved away from Amy Powers with the lyrics for Sunset for sure, and I have a feeling that specific phrase you mention may have been hers or close enough to warrant legal credit more than the fine print she receives in the final version. I actually prefer it to the final version, but I'm not a fan of many of the tweaks made over the years that took away some bite.

I also think there was this constant shift throughout the entire development and run of the original production(s) and the many Normas to make the character less of an unrelatable, unsympathetic diva and more into a sympathetic misguided woman with mental illness. And this is why so many portrayals of the role are divisive. Many people straight up claim Patti was unsympathetic and this made her portrayal difficult to swallow compared to Glenn. Glenn went super serious but kept a fragility that was more successful (combined with her star power) for a larger audience. Petula was too sympathetic and rightfully earned the title "Granny Desmond" from many, playing that nice older woman next door. I personally loved Betty - she was fun and sexy, but even I'll admit her Norma was mentally unstable from the first moment she hit the stairs, but I loved that sense of danger she brought. I've seen other valid takes as well and it's a great role that really offers a chance for lots of exploration and depth. Can't wait to see Stephanie J. Block this February in DC tackle it!

greensgreens said: "Something happened when they moved away from Amy Powers with the lyrics for Sunset for sure, and I have a feeling that specific phrase you mention may have been hers or close enough to warrant legal credit more than the fine print she receives in the final version. I actually prefer it to the final version, but I'm not a fan of many of the tweaks made over the years that took away some bite. "

I forgot the Amy Powers situation. Thanks for this info !

The last episode on the "Sunset Project" podcast about Sunset Boulevard is an interview with Amy Powers where she is quite explicit about how terribly they treated her and the whole experience. She mentions that she was prohibited to have a lawyer read her contract and it estipulated her contribution was to be counted by the exact number of words put by her on the final version, not concepts, meaning, titles, rhyme schemes, syntax etc, hence why many small changes to say the exact same thing, to avoid paying her.

Updated On: 6/3/22 at 01:11 PM

I’d love a listen too.


i think Amy was naive from what I’ve read.


I like the final lyrics.

Yes, by searching The Sunset Project podcast on google you get multiple results. I'm adding the spotify link, probably the most useful along with the link on the previous message.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/20OFeCPYC3Iprw8B2lFHjv?si=8cea7a0d6a3147da

Wow! Thank you guys for mentioning this Amy Powers interview. It was beyond fantastic. Delicious seeing her SUNSET BLVD hiccup is just a fun anecdote in her life now as she’s gone on to bigger things. Heck, her husband has his own thing going and one of her kids is a multi-Grammy Award winning songwriter and producer (at age 23!). I love how this SUNSET BLVD period is such a joke to her in retrospect.

CATSNYrevival said: "It’s a podcast. I assume it can be found anywhere you download your podcasts.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sunset-project/id1546127361"

Thank you for this! It’s a very good podcast though most of the info so far (first six episodes) is read from newspapers, Lupones memoir and Diahann Carroll memoir. Nothing new at all, but still nice to hear everything recapped 30 years later.