Glenn Close To Reprise Role in ENO's "Sunset Boulevard"?

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/9/15 at 10:55pm

There are rumors that Glenn Close might reprise the role of Norma Desmond in a English National Opera's production of "Sunset Boulevard".  https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Glenn-Close-to-Reprise-Role-in-SUNSET-BOULEVARD-at-English-National-Opera-20150709

Updated On: 7/9/15 at 10:55 PM

[gypsy101]

Posted: 7/9/15 at 11:31pm

Isn't she a little...mature to be playing this role again?

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/9/15 at 11:50pm

I don't recall anyone acclaiming Norma Desmond as a spring chicken.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 7/9/15 at 11:51pm

"Isn't she a little...mature to be playing this role again?"

 I suppose that that depends on how old Norma was at the peak of her career. If she was 25 in 1910 and had a career until roughly 1931 she would be roughly 46 at the end of her career. If we agree that the musical takes place in 1950, which is the year that the film version came out then she would be 65. Glenn Close is currently 68, so I would say no, she is not necessarily too mature for the role. It seems perfectly reasonable.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 7/9/15 at 11:53pm

She's the perfect Norma Desmond...please let it happen! Now if Judy Khun could reprise the role of Betty Schaeffer...I highly doubt it...but it'd be heaven. Otherwise I think Sierra Boggess can hit the notes easily just like Judy was able to.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 12:01am

It'd be great if they would decide to film it. Does the ENO ever film their productions?

[gypsy101]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 12:30am

I think Judy Kuhn could be a terrific Norma, to be honest. I suppose now that I think about it 68 isn't too old to be a retired actress, but for one to be trying to make a comeback at that age is truly delusional and in that regard I guess Glenn Close could make it work. However I've never liked her voice. But good for her if she does it!

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 12:44am

""Isn't she a little...mature to be playing this role again?"
 I suppose that that depends on how old Norma was at the peak of her career. If she was 25 in 1910 and had a career until roughly 1931 she would be roughly 46 at the end of her career. If we agree that the musical takes place in 1950, which is the year that the film version came out then she would be 65. Glenn Close is currently 68, so I would say no, she is not necessarily too mature for the role. It seems perfectly reasonable."

 The time line is fairly well-set in the text of the musical. It does indeed take place over 1949-1950, as the party-goers at Artie's New Year's Eve party sing "1950 will be my start." We know Norma was very young when she started her career, as Max, her first director, sings "When we met she was a child, barely sixteen." Joe also tells her "Nothing's wrong with being fifty, unless you're acting twenty." Since Norma was meant to be a contemporary of the great silent film stars of the 20s it is safe to assume that she was born right around 1900. 

So Glenn Close may be too old to still play the role on film, but on stage, especially a large house like the London Coliseum (around 2,500 seats) that won't matter as much. It's also safe to assume she'll be wearing some fairly heavy, gothic makeup, similar to what she wore on Broadway, which will also help to blend some of those years away.

"Now if Judy Khun could reprise the role of Betty Schaeffer...I highly doubt it...but it'd be heaven."

Now that would be stretching beyond a mere suspension of disbelief. Judy is extremely talented, but hearing a woman who is nearing 60 tell the leading man that she is 22 would be just comical. And, quite frankly, I've never really cared for her on the recording. She never seems to capture the innocence and freshness that I always got from Meredith Braun on the London recording.

[Tag]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 12:50am

Her age has nothing to do with this.  Her casting is for nostalgia's sake.
ie. Ellen Greene's performance last week in Little Shop

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 12:53am

Swanson was 50 or 51 when she did the original film and was an actual silent film star so it would make sense she's meant to be that age.

I always thought a big part of it was that she wasn't thaaaaaaat old but at the time in the film industry especially with silent films out of style she might as well have been 100. She was just a has been clinging to her youth.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 12:53am

Yes it would definitely be for "nostalgias sake", because Norma isn't supposed to be 105 years old. You really have to suspend belief...

Updated On: 7/10/15 at 12:53 AM

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 1:28am

"Swanson was 50 or 51 when she did the original film and was an actual silent film star so it would make sense she's meant to be that age.
I always thought a big part of it was that she wasn't thaaaaaaat old but at the time in the film industry especially with silent films out of style she might as well have been 100. She was just a has been clinging to her youth."

 

 

What you say of Swanson is true, but that does not have to be true of Norma in the musical. Besides, being in your 60s isn't thaaaaaaat old. Furthermore, the stage isn't the screen. Despite the final line of the show, there are no closeups; so, sitting 30+ feet away Glenn Close may still read as 50s.

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 1:32am

I would love to see her live in this role. She is my favorite Norma. 

[A Director]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 1:35am

Haven't we suffered enough hearing Ms Close attempt to sing the score? There are other women who can sing it. There is no reason to bring this piece of crap back.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 2:36am

You sound like Glenn Close came over to your house and made you "suffer" and listen to her "attempt" to sing the score over and over.

If you don't like her, don't listen to her.

She didn't attempt to sing the score, she sang it and acted the hell out of it and she won a Tony for it. Sunset BLVD is far from being a piece of crap.

No one is forcing you to listen to it. If you actually paid to see the show back in 1995, then you have the right to say you didn't enjoy it on B'way and now just don't see it again. Problem solved!

[CindersGolightly]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 2:39am

Man, first Phone Hell and now this? Patti must be having a horrible week.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 3:31am

I really wish this show weren't so painfully illiterate and bloated. It's a great character and she's a great actress. She makes the show come off as well as it possibly could on the album 

[homeimp]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 4:42pm

I saw the revised minimalist/actors playing instruments production of SB that was highly praised in London. It didn't seem bloated at all. I also enjoyed the Broadway production. I can't imagine a musical based on one of the all time classic films being described as illiterate. A large proportion of the dialogue came right from the Billy Wilder movie, simply one of the greatest films of all time.

The worst thing about these boards is that anonymous people without visible credentials can post negative comments without offering any rationale for their opinions. Why do they even bother?

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 4:45pm

"Haven't we suffered enough hearing Ms Close attempt to sing the score?"

 

I had to sit through her opening night performance here in Los Angeles, and her singing was painful.

 

[DAME]

Posted: 7/10/15 at 5:14pm

""Haven't we suffered enough hearing Ms Close attempt to sing the score?"
 
I had to sit through her opening night performance here in Los Angeles, and her singing was painful.
 "

 But you loved it and went twice.

[Actriz2]

Posted: 7/11/15 at 2:36pm

IMO Norma Desmond can be believably played by an actress ranging from 50 to late 60's, maybe even 70.

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 7/11/15 at 7:04pm

""Haven't we suffered enough hearing Ms Close attempt to sing the score?" 
 
I had to sit through her opening night performance here in Los Angeles, and her singing was painful.
 "

Was someone pointing a gun at you forcing you to see it?

I saw Glenn, Betty, Karen, Elaine, Maureen, Diahann, Petula, Alisa (understudy), Susan Dawn Caraon (undertusy), Rita Moreno, Linda Balgord, Patti, a tour understudy who's name escapes me

...I'm only listing people from the original production. 

 

Glenn was one of the best. 

[lovebwy]

Posted: 7/11/15 at 7:32pm

I twice saw Glenn Close in the role. First in December of 1993 when she first opened in the role in Los Angeles. She singing was whatever, but she acted the role very well. It was part drama part tragic camp.

I saw it again in June of 1994 and she was absolutely awful. The performance had descended into ALL camp, and she still couldn't sing the part properly. She was wringing every last laugh out of it that she could. It was more like Carol Burnett's Nora Desmond than Norma Desmond.

I assume by the time Close got back to Broadway they had reigned her in a bit.

I miss the days in Los Angeles when a show would open and have a 7 month run. That was always fun.

 

 

 

[GroupAGroup1]

Posted: 7/11/15 at 9:06pm

Um... would she even be ABLE to sing that score anymore??

Forget whether you think Glenn Close can sing well enough for a musical: the main thing is, it's an Andrew Lloyd Webber score! with all the term implies! Frank Rich made a good point when the show premiered in London, that the score is written so much for a "belter" - for a pop voice - that it cuts off older actresses (like Angela Lansbury, perhaps) who might otherwise act the hell out of the role.

Personally, going from the L.A. cast album, I think Glenn Close was GREAT and played the role just as well as I can imagine - but her voice WAS slightly rough even at the time (though not unpleasant). I'd guess she'd be too old to do that score now - but really, I think almost ANY actress in her 60's wouldn't be able to handle it.

Updated On: 7/11/15 at 09:06 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/11/15 at 9:33pm

Count me in the pro-Glenn department, and I'm not otherwise always in her court.  I saw the show early in LA, and then the first preview in NYC.  I also saw several other Normas, the only one who came close was Elaine Paige.  To my thinking, the role doesn't work without the size, without that outre element. A kind of self-applied mask. It's a performance that must stand out against the house, that Napier set. When Buckley tried to create a mere human, "womanly" as John Simon dubbed it, the show collapsed into the climate of self-pity, brilliant singing aside.  The character is about ego, narcissism and a created image, sustained until it cracks. What Close created was something that crumbled when exposed to light and air. She was a walking zombie Norma, and managed to take Swanson's creation and enlarge it.  I thought it masterful. She sang it well enough, and managed to act her second act songs with such pathos it brought the house down.  I agree with all of the posters who don't cling to a timeline: Norma is too old for a comeback in the ageist Hollywood, and too far gone in her delusions, and that's all that matters.  Let Close have another crack at this role; I bet she nails it again.