SUNSET BOULEVARD Reviews- Page 4

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 2/10/17 at 9:46pm

Zamedy154 said: "Could we see a Close vs. Midler for Best Actress in a Musicak this year?"

Unfortunately, Close is not eligible for a Tony this year as she has already been nominated (and, of course, won) for this same role.

[Zamedy154]

Posted: 2/10/17 at 9:53pm

Ahhh! Thanks BC :) 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 2/10/17 at 9:58pm

Zamedy154 said: "Ahhh! Thanks BC :)"

For sure! It would be quite a race, though, especially with LuPone and Ebersole in the mix (among plenty others!).

[binau]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 4:39pm

I have to agree with some others that the musical is awful, but it has its moments and even Brantley acknowledges it has "one great song" in his review (a song I love). This revival has certainly gained a lot of steam very quickly in terms of buzz, sales and critical praise. I am so much more excited to see it now - hope that Glenn manages to be resilient in the show because I can just feel if there is any show that is at risk for attendance issues it's this one (based on difficulty of score, Glenn's age, Glenn's attendance in London).

Updated On: 2/11/17 at 04:39 PM

[Jimbob2]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 5:37pm

Qolbinau!  Save your hard earned money, you'll have a rotten time if you go in knowing it's an awful musical.  A star turn and only one good song can't save that.  

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 5:57pm

Saw the matinee today, and my god, the material is weak, but Close is absolutely magnificent and chilling.  It's worth seeing for her performance. I also thought Xavier did a nice job. Close's singing was serviceable and I was shocked by the power she used for the last note of "With One Look" and the finale version. 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 8:38pm

ljay889 said: "Saw the matinee today, and my god, the material is weak, but Close is absolutely magnificent and chilling.  It's worth seeing for her performance. I also thought Xavier did a nice job. Close's singing was serviceable and I was shocked by the power she used for the last note of "With One Look" and the finale version. 

What is exactly "weak" about it?

 

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 10:03pm

Interesting - read Brantley's review from 1994 when Glenn first stared in Sunset Boulevard when he called ALW's score:

Mr. Lloyd Webber's score is full of rich and swelling melodies, although the charge brought against the composer in years past holds true: when he latches onto an insinuating musical theme, there seems to be no such thing as one reprise too many.

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/18/theater/theater-review-sunset-boulevard-boulevard-of-broken-dreams.html?pagewanted=all

[3NU]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 10:28pm

I was also at today's matinee.  I was not familiar with the musical at all before the show and was left thoroughly underwhelmed by it.  However, as others have posted here, Glenn Close is quite magnificent.  I at first wasn't sure about her character, but Close really embodied Norma Desmond without going over the top.  Close's performance, along with the wonderful sound of a full orchestra, arguably made it worth the $42 rush ticket price.  Not sure I'd pay full price to see, it though.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/11/17 at 11:32pm

I went with a group of 7, and even one person from this board, and we all paid between 135-199 plus ticketmaster fees and we all loved it and we thought it was worth every penny. If this is a show that is not worth paying full price...I have no clue what you'd pay full price for? 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 12:07am

Muscle, judging from your avatar, you are a fan of the show. Personally, I enjoy some of it and I have nothing against Lloyd Webber (I love "Evita", "Jesus Christ Superstar", and moments from 'Phantom". I find parts of "Sunset" thrilling. I say without embarrassment that I have watched all the major Normas sing each of their numbers thanks to wonderful footage from "that site", including Miss Close's press reels from 1994 (her final sequence is wonderful). But I have to agree with Brantley that when Norma doesn't occupy the stage,the show is... boring. The title song and "Greatest Star of All" are good songs, but the group numbers are bland and the character of Betty is just plain dull (to me, and obviously to others as well, you are entitled to your opinion and I'm sure many agree with you). That said, I haven't seen this yet, but with a 42-piece orchestra and the glowing review for Close, I'll probably stop by. Of course, my favorite Norma is Patti, and her final performance is the one I always hear - her acting comes through in such power. As great as Close is, I can't imagine a better performance of this:

Patti's Final "With One Look"

 

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 1:00am

Sally - as one who saw Sunset 8 times on broadway, 2 times on tour - I will happily eat my words of concern about Glenn Close being cast in the revival.  While she doesn't have the powerful vocals of Patti, Glenn is without question the definitive Norma... And listening to Patti just now - yes she can belt the hell out of it - but it seems so out of character after seeing Glenn.

It's a shame Glenn can't get nominated for the same role that she originated... this is such a completely different approach and interpretation.  

as for the rest of the cast/show - I never agreed with that characterization that it was boring or not interesting (this is one of the few scores that I listen to from beginning to end without skipping).  That being said, Lonny Price's direction makes the most of the ensemble pieces... The 2 and a half hours flew

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 1:01am

Quick question for those of you in the know....  Whatever happened to the NY Post review?  I was surprised not to see it online or in print

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 4:01am

Sally Durant Plummer said: "Muscle, judging from your avatar, you are a fan of the show. Personally, I enjoy some of it and I have nothing against Lloyd Webber (I love "Evita", "Jesus Christ Superstar", and moments from 'Phantom". I find parts of "Sunset" thrilling. I say without embarrassment that I have watched all the major Normas sing each of their numbers thanks to wonderful footage from "that site", including Miss Close's press reels from 1994 (her final sequence is wonderful). But I have to agree with Brantley that when Norma doesn't occupy the stage,the show is... boring. The title song and "Greatest Star of All" are good songs, but the group numbers are bland and the character of Betty is just plain dull (to me, and obviously to others as well, you are entitled to your opinion and I'm sure many agree with you). That said, I haven't seen this yet, but with a 42-piece orchestra and the glowing review for Close, I'll probably stop by. Of course, my favorite Norma is Patti, and her final performance is the one I always hear - her acting comes through in such power. As great as Close is, I can't imagine a better performance of this:

Patti's Final "With One Look"
 

I actually kinda agree with you, the role of Betty can be a bit boring...and Siobhan Dillon was my only semi-disappointment of this production actually, although she is much better than Alice Ripley, she is much worse than Judy Kuhn on the recording and her line delivery is not nearly as good or sassy (Alice Ripley's delivery was even worse than Dillon's)
But I find the scenes at the back stage of Betty and Joe thrilling and I love the company number "Every Movie is a Circus" and its reprises. Also a bunch of scenes with just Joe Gillis alone are great. 

Regarding Patti, I have never seen her live in this...but I have seen her in other shows, and I prefer Glenn over her, because although I think she has a great instrument, I don't think she is a good actress and I don't believe her as an actress. She is always playing the lunatic Patti Lupone that she is and screams the lines and as cherjam said she's somehow out of character. I felt the same way about her Evita. I listen to the Madonna recording much more than to the OBCR. I think Madonna's voice although weaker, is much more pleasant. And both Glenn and Madonna are worldwide known stars. So who could blame ALW for picking a huge movie star over a woman that he, himself made famous in his own musical and that was pretty much all she was known for? One hit musical doesn't equal a screen goddess with 6 Oscar nominations.

If you see how Glenn and Andrew look at each other at the end of the opening night. You can see how much they admire one another. He always says she was and will be the best Norma ever. But they are also good people. That's the feeling I get. Glenn is always grateful to be in this production. Patti HAS a career because of ALW. She should be a bit more understanding that her reviews in London were very negative and producers simply didn't want to invest in a show with a Broadway star that got panned in this show. I have a very close friend that has worked with ALW and Patti (not with Glenn actually) but let's just say I have a lot of dirt. When it comes to Patti, I have heard the worst things, but then again, it's on recordings, how nasty she was to the an audience member (even if the audience member was out of line for taking pix, I feel she was verbally abusive and classless) and then you can read her bio and see her sense of entitlement and delusional personality. But I am aware that I am supposed to be talking about her work on stage and not her personality. With that said, I am sure I am somehow biased because of the stories I have heard from a close friend and read of her.

 

"

 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 4:03am

And to be honest, If someone gave me the opportunity of a lifetime being a complete unknown and gave me a career in the arts that is extremely well paid. And then gave me a million bucks for a lawsuit, I'd have a little more discretion and class. Things that she knows nothing about obviously.

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 4:12am

muscle23ftl said: "I went with a group of 7, and even one person from this board, and we all paid between 135-199 plus ticketmaster fees and we all loved it and we thought it was worth every penny. If this is a show that is not worth paying full price...I have no clue what you'd pay full price for? "

Agreed. I was also at Saturday's matinee, after scooping up center aisle in Row N of the orchestra for $169 (after they released them after holding them as potential premium spillover seats), and it was exquisite.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 4:21am

It was heaven to me...

This is a master class, look how she delivers the lines...her singing is divine too:

(from the original production)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTY4F1klw9s

 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 4:24am

haterobics said: "muscle23ftl said: "I went with a group of 7, and even one person from this board, and we all paid between 135-199 plus ticketmaster fees and we all loved it and we thought it was worth every penny. If this is a show that is not worth paying full price...I have no clue what you'd pay full price for? "

Agreed. I was also at Saturday's matinee, after scooping up center aisle in Row N of the orchestra for $169 (after they released them after holding them as potential premium spillover seats), and it was exquisite.

Makes me happy to hear...those seats are great...I was on row M orchestra right...and I enjoyed it much more than when I saw it from the rear mezz.

"

 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 4:28am

I should add that I saw the 1995 production in 1996 with Betty Buckley and I didn't really like Betty or Alice Ripley, and the show, I didn't care for it. I'm not a fan of Betty Buckley obviously and I kept wishing I had seen it with Glenn...so I'm thrilled to see her in this and to see her acting and singing so well! I also find this new production with the screen and with the 42 piece orchestra extremely effective. I remember Betty Buckley was not good at all in the final scene. Glenn's final scene is shockingly well crafted and acted, without being completely grotesque. She is the greatest star of all.

[BroadwayBeebe]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 10:46am

Also saw the matinee yesterday and went into the show completely blind, aside from knowing the basics of the plot. I went with my girlfriend who had previously played Betty in a production so she really wanted to see Close in the role. Seeing Close in this role makes the entire experience worth it. I had chills in both her big numbers and the moment where the light hits her in the second act at the studio has to be seen to be believed. The orchestra was absolutely incredible and it was a privilege to hear an orchestra this large play a Broadway Score live. I really liked the overall scenic design but the body was definitely the joke of intermission in my seating section. Some of the projections were a bit much and the car chase was only slightly effective. I was not a huge fan of Joe and would have liked to have seen someone different in that role as well as Betty. His rendition of the title song was definitely his high point. Was the show exceptional? No. Must you see Close in this Role? Absolutely. Between Close and the Orchestra it was a ticket that I'm glad I spent money on. 

Updated On: 2/12/17 at 10:46 AM

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 12:56pm

HuffPo a sort of review/sort of report:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/regina-weinreich/-glenn-close-in-sunset-bo_b_14691900.html

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 1:44pm

BroadwayBeebe said: "Also saw the matinee yesterday and went into the show completely blind, aside from knowing the basics of the plot. I went with my girlfriend who had previously played Betty in a production so she really wanted to see Close in the role. Seeing Close in this role makes the entire experience worth it. I had chills in both her big numbers and the moment where the light hits her in the second act at the studio has to be seen to be believed. The orchestra was absolutely incredible and it was a privilege to hear an orchestra this large play a Broadway Score live. I really liked the overall scenic design but the body was definitely the joke of intermission in my seating section. Some of the projections were a bit much and the car chase was only slightly effective. I was not a huge fan of Joe and would have liked to have seen someone different in that role as well as Betty. His rendition of the title song was definitely his high point. Was the show exceptional? No. Must you see Close in this Role? Absolutely. Between Close and the Orchestra it was a ticket that I'm glad I spent money on. 

 

"

I have to agree when it comes to the girl playing Betty...she lacks pizzazz with her line delivery. Her singing is good enough though. She is no Judy Kuhn, but she is ok. I was expecting to be disappointed by Michael Xavier...but he won me over. I think he did great.

 

[A Director]

Posted: 2/12/17 at 4:53pm

This 1994 New York Times review is similar to most of the 2017 reviews.

November 18, 1994

THEATER REVIEW: SUNSET BOULEVARD

THEATER REVIEW: SUNSET BOULEVARD; Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

By DAVID RICHARDS

THE mansion has landed. 

Although the advance hype has been deafening and the backstage machinations have frequently threatened to eclipse those onstage, "Sunset Boulevard," Andrew Lloyd Webber's lurid new musical and extravaganza, officially took over the Minskoff Theater last night. 

When it is good, it is outlandishly good. When it isn't, it is big. Both observations may be of secondary importance, however, since the musical allows Glenn Close to give one of those legendary performances people will be talking about years from now. As the film star Norma Desmond, a turbaned relic who considers herself the idol of millions, the actress takes breathtaking risks, venturing so far out on a limb at times that you fear it will snap. It doesn't. 

The portrayal, as stylized in its way as the demon in a Kabuki play, is shrewd and hugely manipulative. Norma Desmond was not a luminary of the silent screen for nothing, and Ms. Close is not one of our finest actresses on instinct alone. They are a transfixing pair. 

Whenever Ms. Close is offstage, in fact, "Sunset Boulevard" loses much of the macabre originality that makes it a companion piece to "The Phantom of the Opera." Mr. Lloyd Webber and the director, Trevor Nunn, are no fools, though. The mundane patches are never permitted to last too long before a surge of melody or a stunning stage effect lifts the musical out of the commonplace and sets it back on its fateful course through the palm-fringed Hollywood night. 

It is, after all, a dark and venomous tale that Don Black and Christopher Hampton are telling. Closely modeled on Billy Wilder's 1950 film, "Sunset Boulevard" charts the relationship between Joe Gillis (Alan Campbell), an out-of-work screenwriter looking to rustle up a buck or two, and the forgotten star who sees him rejuvenating not only her career, but also her love life. If she's a spider, he's a leech. Both are opportunists and thrive on blood. 

There's no surprise in how this garish mating dance ends, since the very first of the amazing sights engineered by Mr. Nunn, John Napier, the set designer, and Andrew Bridge, the lighting designer, is that of Gillis's dead body floating face down in a murky swimming pool. What makes it amazing is that we're looking up at the corpse, viewing the splayed and waterlogged limbs from the vantage point of the drain. That, it turns out, is the perspective of the musical as a whole: the underbelly of Hollywood is to be poked, prodded and exposed. 

Even Norma Desmond's palazzo, the second take-your-breath-away sight of the evening, is a nightmarish monument to claustrophobia and gilt. Its most prominent feature, if you exclude the forbidding pipe organ, is a majestic staircase that Ms. Close is constantly ascending and descending. Ever since Ziegfeld, stars and staircases have gone together, of course, but Ms. Close brilliantly uses each sweeping entrance and imperious exit to illuminate a deluded psyche. At the end, when Norma slithers down the stairs as Salome, posturing grotesquely in what is meant to be a sinuous dance of seduction, the transformation is complete. Ms. Close is by this point quite literally out of this world -- a supremely ridiculous, unbearably pathetic monster. 

Mr. Lloyd Webber's score is full of rich and swelling melodies, although the charge brought against the composer in years past holds true: when he latches onto an insinuating musical theme, there seems to be no such thing as one reprise too many. Norma's arrogant boast, "We gave the world/ New ways to dream," pops up all over the place. "Too Much in Love to Care," however, proves a glorious duet for Joe and Betty Schaefer (Alice Ripley), the pretty young screenwriter who awakens Norma's jealousy and what's left of Joe's integrity. 

The musical's two big songs, "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye," are Norma's, even if Barbra Streisand has already staked her claim to them. Ms. Close does not sing them so much as cast a spell over them. Her voice is small and unexceptional. The amplification comes from her acting skills: the flashing eyes, the magnanimous stance, the histrionic gestures actually give the notes color and power. 

"As If We Never Said Goodbye" marks Norma's return to the studio where she enjoyed her long-ago triumphs. Separated from lesser mortals by a blinding spotlight, Ms. Close arches her neck and shows us the fabled, larger-than-life goddess Norma used to be. The ferocity of the character's will and the depth of her folly are never more apparent. 

The lyrics by Mr. Hampton and Mr. Black tend to the pedestrian or labored, when Ms. Close is not working her magic on them. "Let's Have Lunch," the opening number delivered by the extras and hopefuls who aspire one day to conquer the mount, Paramount, is a compendium of cliches, not all intentional. So is "This Time Next Year," in which they express their New Year's Eve wishes for success, or at least a walk-on part, in the months to come. "Sunset Boulevard" is very adroit at covering up its weaknesses, though. 

That youthful wish-making is just half of the scene. Norma is also celebrating New Year's in her fashion, alone in the splendor of her mansion, with only a sorry band playing tangos to keep her spirits up. Moreover, that's all we see, at first. Then the mansion slowly rises off the stage to reveal, underneath, a cramped Hollywood apartment bursting with bodies having a raucous good time. The split picture is extraordinary. Helicopters taking off and setting down are beginning to look like child's play these days. 

Mr. Wilder's movie may have been a small-screen black-and-white affair. This is very much a Vista-Vision musical, although Mr. Napier has drawn the line at Technicolor. His designs favor somber shades of gray, green and brown. The costumer, Anthony Powell, keeps his sense of profligacy in check until it comes time for Ms. Close to make an appearance. Then he pulls out the leopard prints, the zebra stripes and bugle beads by the bucketful. Showmanship is very much the guiding principle here, from Bob Avian's aggressive musical staging to the lush orchestrations by Mr. Lloyd Webber and David Cullen. 

"Sunset Boulevard" certainly has no hidden depths, no secrets, no ambiguities. The film can claim a more highly developed sense of irony and a far sharper comic tone. Whether we like it or not, machinery and the voracious public appetite for spectacle are remaking the contemporary musical. (Even Norma's gleaming motor car, a 1931 Isotta Fraschini, earns entrance applause.) What you see on the stage of the Minskoff turns out to be pretty much all you get. But I suspect only the most blase theatergoers will feel shortchanged. 

As Gillis, Mr. Campbell is appealingly boyish, with a shock of blond hair and a suggestion of dimples to indicate that he has not completely relinquished his innocence. Could he afford to be even more of a cad? Probably. Still, he has a strong stage presence and he tears into the title song with its idiotic lyrics ("Sunset Boulevard/ Headline boulevard . . . Sunset Boulevard/ Jackpot boulevard" as if it really were a scathing indictment of movieland. Ms. Ripley may be playing a cliche role, the starry-eyed ingenue with ideals, but the performance is remarkably cliche-free. The third standout, although he spends a lot of time hovering in the shadows and lurking under archways, is George Hearn, who makes Max von Mayerling, Norma's butler, a mixture of menace, mystery and ever-so-discreet gallantry. Mr. Hearn is granted just one song of his own, a paean to Norma entitled "The Greatest Star of All"; you'll wish he had more. 

Make no mistake, though. Ms. Close is the real mesmerizer, and she can probably start clearing a place on her mantle right now for the Tony she's bound to win next June. Her only serious competition in "Sunset Boulevard" comes from her fabulous residence: a hideaway, a lair, a brocade-and-ebony trap.

 

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 10:41pm

A PBS review:  http://peconicpublicbroadcasting.org/post/sunset-boulevard-reviewed-david-richardson-theatre-critic#stream/0

[chernjam]

Posted: 2/13/17 at 10:42pm

Inquirer review:  https://entertainment.inquirer.net/215300/glenn-close-makes-triumphant-return-sunset-boulevard