What Happened to the Original Broadway Sets (Sunset Blvd)

[Stanton3]

Posted: 2/9/19 at 8:55pm

Just curious. I just hate to think of sets in a landfill.  

Updated On: 2/9/19 at 08:55 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/9/19 at 9:02pm

I read in an interview that Glenn Close not only kept all of her Anthony Powell costumes from SUNSET BLVD but the entire sets and props as well, which she keeps in storage in Connecticut.

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 2/9/19 at 9:29pm

I know the person that has the Glenn Norma bust from the bottom of the staircase.
I have the stained glass windows that were behind the staircase. I purchased them at the Broadway Flea Market right after the show closed.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 2/9/19 at 9:52pm

Tapping23 said: "She only kept the costumes and she had the monkey. She doesnt have the entire set"

And she wore the costumes in the recent revival! (unless they had duplicates made? Her's were the only Anthony Powell designs in that production)

Most sets are trashed after the show closes, as I assume that one was. Sets are occasionally sold to a rental/touring company, but Sunset was too big for a regional house. Financially, it would be silly for ALW (the producer) to pay for warehouse storage for 20+ years just for the sake of keeping it.

Updated On: 2/9/19 at 09:52 PM

[castlestreet]

Posted: 2/9/19 at 10:13pm

I know for a fact that at least one of the five production sets are still in tact (sort of) and in storage.

Remember- London, Broadway, Toronto, 1st US Tour, Germany and Australian productions were all duplicates to scale.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/9/19 at 10:34pm

Were the other productions as massive as the Broadway version? 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 2/9/19 at 10:51pm

I saw wall panels from the original set on eBay for a couple thousand not too long ago, maybe even while the revival was running?

I would love to have a piece of the original Sunset house.

[veronicamae]

Posted: 2/9/19 at 11:24pm

SomethingPeculiar said: "Tapping23 said: "She only kept the costumes and she had the monkey. She doesnt have the entire set"

And she wore the costumes in the recent revival! (unless they had duplicates made? Her's were the only Anthony Powell designs in that production)

Same costumes!

Updated On: 2/11/19 at 11:24 PM

[greensgreens]

Posted: 2/10/19 at 10:15am

I have one of the Norma portraits from Glenn's run! It's one of my most prized possessions and I bought it from a nice seller on here. Love saying goodbye to her every morning on my way to work!

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 2/10/19 at 10:43am

I know a couple of cast members who have pieces of the original Broadway set of Sunset- so prosumably it was discarded after the original run closed.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/10/19 at 10:58am

With all due respect, don't know where this misinformation started but Glenn wore new costume designs by Tracy Christensen for the 2017 revival (check your Playbills, folks!).  Less than a handful were Anthony Powell's original 1994 costume design.  Glenn did provide accessories from her personal collection she's kept from 1994.  One major omission in the 2017 revival were the turbans.  

1994



2017



This gorgeous leopard print gown was never seen in the 2017 revival: 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 2/10/19 at 11:04am

I missed the turbans in the 2017 revival and really disliked the styling of Glenn’s wigs in the revival as well - she looked like Barbara Stanwyk in Stella Dallas.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 2/10/19 at 11:28am

BrodyFosse, I was going by Anthony Powell's title-page credit "GLENN CLOSE COSTUME DESIGNS" (5th name on the first designer line), and he also has a bio. How's that for checkin' my playbill? :) 

Updated On: 2/10/19 at 11:28 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/10/19 at 11:35am

SomethingPeculiar said: "BrodyFosse, I was going by the credit "GLENN CLOSE COSTUME DESIGNS –ANTHONY POWELL" (5th name on the first designer line; he also has a bio)

"

Sadly, only the “With One Look”, “Perfect Year”, “As If We Never Said Goodbye” and the finale’ costume were Anthony Powell’s original costumes.  The credit is/was misleading as Tracy Christensen did adaptations on all the other Norma Desmond costumes.  

 

[David10086]

Posted: 2/10/19 at 7:12pm

Speaking of sets, if I'm not mistaken - wasn't the original Los Angeles set used in the Toronto production? I recall reading that years ago (I think it was an article about Faye Dunaway being fired, and LA closing down) and often wondered why they didn't send it to Broadway, instead ? 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/10/19 at 9:09pm

The Los Angeles set didn't get sent to Broadway because at the time the plan was to keep the LA production running simultaneously with the Broadway production.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/10/19 at 9:17pm

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 2/10/19 at 10:54pm

God, that set was gorgeous.

We would never get a design like that today.

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Posted: 2/11/19 at 2:00am

SomethingPeculiar said: "God, that set was gorgeous.

We wouldneverget a design like that today."

Not lavish on a Sunset Boulevard scale perhaps, but wait until you get a gander at Moulin Rouge.  Should look even better in NYC because the Colonial in Boston is a large house.

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/11/19 at 9:30am

SomethingPeculiar said: "God, that set was gorgeous.

We would never get a design like that today."

"And that, Charlene, is part of what is wrong with this world."
- Suzanne Sugarbaker

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 2/11/19 at 9:43am

David10086 said: "Speaking of sets, if I'm not mistaken - wasn't the original Los Angeles set used in the Toronto production? I recall reading that years ago (I think it was an article about Faye Dunaway being fired, and LA closing down) and often wondered why they didn't send it to Broadway, instead ?"

You are correct. Quote from this article in the Times:

“Lord Lloyd Webber, after buying out Ms. LuPone's Broadway contract for a reported $1 million, hired Faye Dunaway to replace Ms. Close in Los Angeles, then abruptly dismissed her, saying her voice was not up to the role. He closed down the Los Angeles show, sold the scenery to the Toronto production and moved many in the cast to the New York production.”

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 2/11/19 at 10:33am

Lot666 said: "SomethingPeculiar said: "God, that set was gorgeous.

We wouldneverget a design like that today."

"And that, Charlene, is part of what is wrong with this world."
- Suzanne Sugarbaker"

I love anytime someone can reference Designing Women!

But also, why would ALW "sell" the Los Angeles set to Toronto? I know Garth Drabinsky presented the show here, but would it not have been another sit down production?

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 2/11/19 at 11:08am

Sho-Tunes-R-Us said: "Not lavish on a Sunset Boulevard scale perhaps, but wait until you get a gander at Moulin Rouge. Should look even better in NYC because the Colonial in Boston is a large house."

Good point! I think the most appealing thing (to me) about Moulin is that it looks totally different than any other modern show. It's a throwback to more lavish times, in a way.

[MorrisLACat]

Posted: 2/12/19 at 12:50am

 A flashback for the Los Angeles audience:

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-06-24/news/mn-8034_1_glenn-close

[chernjam]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 4:53pm

I'll look through my box of news clippings (seriously, a copy-paper-size box of clippings and articles) but I thought I remembered reading that when NY closed (and it was announced the US Tour and London would as well) in the NY Times that one of the sets was going into storage.  But it would seem bizarre all these years later that it hadn't resurfaced or even been mentioned in light of the London and Bway revivals.  My guess would be that if they kept them, they trashed them somewhere along the way over the last 25 years.

A real shame though...  As much as I love the score and was blown away by the revival - those sets were amazing.  Absolutely stunning.  Hearing the orchestra swell as the set floated onto stage was magical.