Sunset Boulevard Revival Broadway Thread- Page 22

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 12:12am

I tried to see it for the 3rd time this past weekend and the entire weekend was basically sold out. They only had a few tickets available in the last row of the balcony. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 8:15am

Updated On: 2/23/17 at 08:15 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 8:23am

chernjam said: "as much as it's done really well so far, the reality is tickets are still readily available"

That's precisely why I don't think it will extend. It's a large space to fill and, with the exception of some weekend dates, there are a lot of unsold seats out there. It also doesn't help that a very wide and deep swath of the orchestra is priced at the $299 "Premium" point. Keep in mind that, despite a very respectable run the first time around, this is a show that became infamous for operating at a loss.

To be clear, Sunset is one of my favorite ALW shows and I couldn't be more thrilled that they brought it back because I was not fortunate enough to see the original run. I would like nothing better than to be wrong about this, but I don't think they could get a more broadly appealing star for the role than Ms. Close, and even with her there is a glut of available seats.

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 1:05pm

I just stumbled upon this piece of nostalgia from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/04/theater/for-sunset-boulevard-it-s-the-end-of-the-road.html

"In spite of the hundreds of thousands of people who saw 'Sunset' since it opened at the Minskoff on Nov. 11, 1994, there were not enough of them, and the show closed without having made back the $13 million it cost to put it on."

This is particularly sad:

"Most of the set, custom built for this production and too large for a road show, is to be taken apart and junked. Norma's mansion, which weighs 17 tons, may look like a livable place, but that's show biz. 'The couch is the most uncomfortable thing you've ever sat on, believe me,' said Jim Woolley, another stage manager. Some of the office equipment has been sold to a production of the musical 'The Scarlet Pimpernel,' due on Broadway next fall; some of the backstage curtains have been donated to a small theater in Florida. The car is to be listed for sale in an antique auto catalogue. The sculptures in the mansion are to be given to some of the stars or returned to the sculptor, Nino Novoleno. Assorted costumes and props are to be stored in Ossining, N.Y."

Updated On: 2/23/17 at 01:05 PM

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 1:26pm

Here's another closing-era piece from the NY Times. It alleges that RUG "provided Variety with inflated figures for the period when Ms. Close was on vacation, apparently in an attempt to minimize Ms. Close's impact on the show", and she then wrote ALW "a two-page, single-spaced letter" in which she said she was "furious and insulted" and that ''if I could leave 'Sunset' tomorrow, I would...I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that my performance turned 'Sunset Boulevard' around. I made it a hit."

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/04/theater/for-sunset-boulevard-it-s-the-end-of-the-road.html

I don't recall hearing any of this before. If Ms. Close was so furious with ALW, why does she now speak of him with such affection and admiration, and why would she even want to do this revival?

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 4:30pm

The follow up to that was that ALW wrote her an apology, she accepted it and they all lived happily ever after :).  That was in April of 1995.  But the time the tonys came and sunset swept and all, this became just another silly drama in a show history that was filled with them....

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 4:33pm

Lot666 said: "I don't recall hearing any of this before. If Ms. Close was so furious with ALW, why does she now speak of him with such affection and admiration, and why would she even want to do this revival?"

 

Because not everyone has the need or desire to hold a grudge for 20 years. Some people are able to have disagreements with their colleagues and still maintain a working, even friendly, relationship.

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 4:48pm

Lot666 said: "I just stumbled upon this piece of nostalgia from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/04/theater/for-sunset-boulevard-it-s-the-end-of-the-road.html

"In spite of the hundreds of thousands of people who saw 'Sunset' since it opened at the Minskoff on Nov. 11, 1994, there were not enough of them, and the show closed without having made back the $13 million it cost to put it on."
 

I would love it if they ever did a whole book/behind the scenes of Sunset from firing Amy Powers after the first Sydmonton tryout to this opening of the revival in New York.  Truly it's provided eequal drama on and off stage 


This is particularly sad:

"Most of the set, custom built for this production and too large for a road show, is to be taken apart and junked. Norma's mansion, which weighs 17 tons, may look like a livable place, but that's show biz. 'The couch is the most uncomfortable thing you've ever sat on, believe me,' said Jim Woolley, another stage manager. Some of the office equipment has been sold to a production of the musical 'The Scarlet Pimpernel,' due on Broadway next fall; some of the backstage curtains have been donated to a small theater in Florida. The car is to be listed for sale in an antique auto catalogue. The sculptures in the mansion are to be given to some of the stars or returned to the sculptor, Nino Novoleno. Assorted costumes and props are to be stored in Ossining, N.Y.""

I had thought I had read they had stored one of the sets but I suppose that is wishful thinking and not practical.  

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 5:17pm

chernjam said: "The follow up to that was that ALW wrote her an apology, she accepted it and they all lived happily ever after :).  That was in April of 1995.  But the time the tonys came and sunset swept and all, this became just another silly drama in a show history that was filled with them...."

Thanks for filling in the missing pieces. If the scenario in that Times article had actually been the way things were left, I just couldn't imagine her having any interest in doing this again. Now I wish he would reconcile things with Ms. LuPone.

 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 5:34pm

Lot666 said: "I'm trying to avoid establishing an opinion of Mr. Xavier as Joe until I actually get to see his performance two weeks from now, but watching the brief clips that have been posted on the internet, there seems to be something a bit "off" about the way he sings/pronounces the phrase "Sunset Boulevard". I can't put my finger on exactly what about it feels odd to me, but I believe it has to do with which syllables he places emphasis on."

A lot of Brits interpret the American accent as having very hard "R's". Everyone can't be Hugh Laurie. I have a hard time listening to a lot of West End actors trying to sing in an American accent. 

[Valentina3]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 6:39pm

VintageSnarker said: "A lot of Brits interpret the American accent as having very hard "R's". Everyone can't be Hugh Laurie. I have a hard time listening to a lot of West End actors trying to sing in an American accent. "

 

I think you're dead on here, Vintage. That's one of the reasons I was shocked when I found out Cynthia was a Brit. Her southern American accent was so crisp.

 

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 8:13pm

Lot666 said: "chernjam said: "The follow up to that was that ALW wrote her an apology, she accepted it and they all lived happily ever after :).  That was in April of 1995.  But the time the tonys came and sunset swept and all, this became just another silly drama in a show history that was filled with them...."

Thanks for filling in the missing pieces. If the scenario in that Times article had actually been the way things were left, I just couldn't imagine her having any interest in doing this again. Now I wish he would reconcile things with Ms. LuPone.
"

I have a huge box of clippings, articles, magazines of Sunset Blvd coverage from the 1990s.  Didn't know what fascinated me so much about this show -- had never done that before and haven't since --- but I pretty much was fascinated by every aspect of this show, as I said, both on and off stage.  And it's still intriguing to me.  Will have to get that box out to share some more tidbits and memories of it.

I kind of think Michael Riedel misses what an amazing circus that entire first run was on both sides of the Atlantic - that he's hoping for some similar fireworks once again (even asking Glenn about Patti taking over for her here in NY on Opening Night for example)  Hence the speculation he's putting out there.  I was surprised that they extended the initial run from 16 to 20 weeks (although, truth be told, I picked that up in one of Michael Xavier's initial Vlogs that he said he was moving into the dressing room for "the next 6 months"  I'd love for Sunset to stay as an open run, even through the Summer (since I forget when the Palace needs to close for it's renovations) but for now, I'm just glad that it returned as it did.  Not with some small -actors playing instruments production - but a big, in its own right - production...  And hope that for the producers it proves a hit

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 8:35pm

Feature/Review on Sunset from NY Magazine just published: http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/02/glenn-close-is-ready-for-a-second-turn-in-sunset-boulevard.html

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/23/17 at 8:39pm

Village Voice Review: http://www.villagevoice.com/arts/ready-for-another-close-up-sunset-boulevard-comes-back-to-broadway-9695881

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/24/17 at 7:55am

chernjam said: "I pretty much was fascinated by every aspect of this show, as I said, both on and off stage.  And it's still intriguing to me.  Will have to get that box out to share some more tidbits and memories of it."

Please do!

chernjam said: "I'd love for Sunset to stay as an open run, even through the Summer (since I forget when the Palace needs to close for it's renovations) but for now, I'm just glad that it returned as it did."

Same here. I've got tickets for March 8 and 9, and then I'll be back again on April 29. But I'd love for it to run for longer so there'd be more opportunities. This is a score that I can listen to over and over.

 

Updated On: 2/24/17 at 07:55 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/24/17 at 8:06am

chernjam said: "Feature/Review on Sunset from NY Magazine just published: http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/02/glenn-close-is-ready-for-a-second-turn-in-sunset-boulevard.html"

"She even had the monkey mannequin from the original production — Sunset opens with Desmond mourning her deceased simian pal. 'He had a nice refurbishment. He has a penis and little balls and nipples. It’s fabulous.'”

LOL! Why was it that detailed?

 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 2/24/17 at 8:24am

VintageSnarker said: "A lot of Brits interpret the American accent as having very hard "R's". Everyone can't be Hugh Laurie. I have a hard time listening to a lot of West End actors trying to sing in an American accent."

Just to add my nerdy linguist agreement: standard British accents (and some nonstandard American ones) are nonrhotic, which means /r/ is not pronounced when it does not come immediately before a vowel. So it's definitely a challenge for a British actor to remember to pronounce all of them.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 2/24/17 at 2:37pm

Discovered this Omnibus episode on the musical today. Was nice seen the b-roll from original broadway (LA?, I noticed Judy Kuhn in a scene) production.

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/25/17 at 12:43am

Valentina - thanks for sharing... remembered watching that 22 years ago before the NY premiere.  Fascinating seeing that again and hearing those interviews.  Too bad they don't do those types of features/documentaries anymore.  Would love to hear the creatives talking about their impressions of things all these years later.

 

In other news, I saw that Michael Xavier responded to a twitter question about a new recording that there was nothing planned and no discussions of it as far as he knows - which while not surprising (I mean they recorded Glenn with a full 50 piece orchestra with the American Premiere Recording) is still disappointing.  The orchestrations in the new production are really beautiful and the rest of the leads are fantastic.  Would love to get a new, full recording...  

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/25/17 at 1:45am

I'm a huge fan of the show, but I think the recording with Glenn and Judy Kuhn is perfection and there is no need for a new recording. So happy that Judy was able to record this...she will always be the best Betty and Glenn will always be the best Norma. I love Alan Campbell too.

[Princeton2]

Posted: 2/25/17 at 1:59am

If anything id say they are more likely to film it than do a new cast recording. There was talk of London being filmed then Glenn got ill and it never happened

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/25/17 at 2:14am

Princeton I'd settle for that... didn't realize Glenn's illness was what sidelined that recording last year.

[Princeton2]

Posted: 2/25/17 at 2:43am

I dont know if that was the reason but the talk seemed to stop after that 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/25/17 at 3:08am

that's just a rumor...no evidence to any of that...sorry!

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/25/17 at 1:09pm

An FYI the show today has a few more tickets left but almost sold out, and tonight is basically sold out. So if anyone is planning to come see this show, is probably a good idea to get tickets in advance.

Updated On: 2/25/17 at 01:09 PM