One of my all-time favorites. IMO - highly underrated, visually stunning and the story worked on-stage. I personally find it to be ALW's 2nd best musical work - behind Phantom.
Many will disagree with me on many levels. But I sat mesmerized by the show from the opening to the end of the 2nd act. I wore out the Glenn Close cast CD's playing them over and over memorizing the entire score. It was an out of body experience for me seeing it live, where I lost track of being in the theatre. That's very rare.
I was terribly dissapointed when it closed. I'd give anything to go back in time and see the house "float" again.
I will say that the production numbers like "Let's have lunch" (which should have been "Let's DO lunch.") and "Every Movie's a Circus" were the yawner parts of the show. On CD I always fast-forwarded through them. Live they were tolerable only because of the staging and sets that surrounded them.
I agree with you, except I really like "Lets Have Lunch" and "Every Movies A Circus" as well. Id say this is one of, if not the, best show ALW has written
The phrase 'Lets Do Lunch' didnt exist back when the show is set, hence why its 'Lets Have Lunch'.
I saw the show in London with Petula Clark, and I too found the show amazing and memorizing. I am constantly confused by the show's harsh critics and bashing.
I loved this show..I saw Glenn/Betty 4x/Karen Mason and Elaine Paige I have to say for very different reason they all were great but to me Betty was Norma...When she opened her mouth to sing the roof went off the theater both here and when i saw it in London...amazing performance. Glenn was great but cartoonish and crazy from the get go- Elaine sang it better than anyone but her height was a problem..when she walked up the stairs she wasnt as tall as the railing LOL. Karen Mason did the impossible ,winning the crowd over when Glenn was out (2 days after a week off..very upset) she nailed it and she made me a huge fan .It is a very underated show and I think today with the advent of stars in/out of shows(chicago) it should have run for years.....
It was stunning. I saw it with Elaine Paige and was blown away with very aspect of it.
To answer the question about the set floating - At certain points the entire mansion set lifted off the ground and action that took place in other locations was played out below it. I've always wondered how they actully managed that!
As with all Lloyd Webber shows, it contains some of the most banal nursery rhyme lyrics ever devised. Anything is thrown in as long as it rhymes, despite the fact that it may be meaningless, stupid, or totally out of character.
One of the many cases of a musical that takes golden source material and turns it into dung.
I didn't see it onstage until that hilarious Petula Clark tour, with her wacky Norma Desmond, but, as someone who's not an ALW fan at all, I quite enjoy it. This and EVITA are his two strongest scores, and this is the better of the two. And as a devotee of the movie, I appreciate its book's faithfulness.
I loved the Broadway production, especially with Betty Buckley --- she was the best Norma imo.
Toronto with Diann Carroll was just 'eh.....', mostly because Rex Smith as Joe was more annoying than diaper rash.
The re-launched tour (with completely new direction and scenery) was dreadful. As with most other ALW shows, without a massive set loaded with special effects, the flaws of the show are front and center. And true to ALW, it was the same melodies, over and over again.
The mansion "floated" because it used hydraulic pistons drilled into the foundation of the theatre.
The mansion was probably the biggest, and most amazing, set piece I've ever seen. It could levitate up and back, dissapearing into the fly space above or back into the darkness of the rear stage.
When the story shifted to the mansion - it would illuminate and then float diagonally from the rear flys to downstage deck level. When the story moved to outside the mansion - it would float up and back - dissapearing. It did all of this silently, and with actors moving on it unsecured.
For scenes such as the New Years party, the mansion floated up and stopped halfway into the flys while an apartment set glided on underneath with dozens of actors. The audience was able to watch both scenes at once.
For the finale - the mansion glided up again, a large staircase glided downstage and met with the edge of the now levitating mansion. Joe (who had been shot) stumbled down the stairs falling into the pool - an illuminated and tiled Orchestra Pit (GENIOUS!)
Many people thought the set was lowered from the flys via metal cabling when actually it was raised via hydrulic arms. The hydraulics ensured safety, and ease of motion. It also allowed the machinery to be located far below the stage deck - ensuring it's silence.
Of course it was all computer controlled - and it definitely had issues at times. But it was extremely high-tech at the time and one of the first sets to be completely computer controlled.
Try and get your hands on the book Sunset Blvd from Screen to Stage (I think thats the title), ive got it and its great. Covers both the movie and transition to the stage
Some of the ones I remember were: "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.)
"When I speak it's with my soul, I can play any role." (A purple poetic thought followed immediately by a clunky prosaic one.)
"Have you got to the scene where she asks for his head? If she can't have him living, She'll take him dead! They bring in his head on a silver tray, She kisses his mouth. It's a great screenplay!" (With the emphasis on the second syllable of "screen-PLAY!")
I'm not a huge fan of the show, but thought the production I saw in London with Betty Buckley and John Barrowman was beautiful, with Buckley being transcendent. The only thing I truly HATE about the show is that the last words of the show are not the spoken 'I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Demille,' but that awful reprise. I nearly flew out of my seat in a rage.
Seeing Jukebox Jackie last week made me want to see Justin Vivan Bond as Norma.
The only thing I truly HATE about the show is that the last words of the show are not the spoken 'I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Demille,' but that awful reprise. I nearly flew out of my seat in a rage.
You mis-quoted the line (Many do.)
The actual line from the movie and stage show is "And now Mr Demille, I'm ready for my close-up."
The most recent production in London, a couple of seasons ago, was a John Doyle-ish actor/musician version that brought things back to basics. And, I have to say, without the distractions of the huge sets and crowded stage and lavish costumes it turned out to be a damn good show.
The weaknesses are in the Hollywood sections, the Joe at the studio stuff, with their endless repetitive riffs and silly words. But everything to do with Norma is wonderful.
For those curious about seeing the Mansion set the original Broadway production "floating" down to the stage, here's a clip...
It's the opening of the 1995 Tony awards - with Smokey Joe's Cafe starting the show. If you skip to 2:40 in the video, you'll see the set begin to float down to stage level. The video cuts off, but you at least see a glimpse (albeit grainy) of it "floating."
BTW, the 1995 Tony awards were held at the Minskoff - the (then) home of Sunset Boulevard. After this video cuts off, Glenn Close comes out onto the set, and glides down the staircase to meet Gregory Hines and Nathan Lane at the base. The three of them hosted the Tony awards that year. Glenn also won the Tony for Sunset that very same night and performed "As if we never said goodbye" during the telecast on the "Samson and Delilah " set from the musical.
I'm with you, Goodone; this is my all-time favorite show. It's the only one that ever left me clamoring to see it as many times as possible. I trekked to Toronto to see Diahann Carroll's take on the role (I loved her performance; very exotic), and even specifically went to see the first national tour in Chicago when I heard it would shutter there. The orchestrations were sublime, the music so brooding.
When I eventually saw the cheaper Petula Clark tour in New Haven (and then eventually again here in Boston), I came to the realization that I just needed to treasure all the times I saw the B'way production - as it'll never be matched.
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Posted: 6/14/12 at 08:12am