Alice Ripley As Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard"

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

This will be amazing.  https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Alice-Ripley-To-Lead-SUNSET-BOULEVARD-A

[Skip23]

And what’s your first thought when you hear this news?

[Valentina3]

Skip23 said: "And what’s your first thought when you hear this news? "

Gay rights.

 

[TotallyEffed]

I hear Aaron Tveit is playing the dead chimp.

[Skip23]

Sally Struthers is doing Betty Schaefer.

[BrodyFosse123]

This will be fabulous. I hope Glenn Close pays a visit as Alice was her Betty Schaefer.

[Jarethan]

Why all the snark.  It is a 2 week engagement in what is essentially a successful extended Summer Stock theatre, not a $15 million Broadway revival.  I think she deserves credit for giving it a try.  And she did appear in the original production with Glenn Close...that must give her incredible insight into the role.  Even if she is miscast (who knows), she deserves credit for giving it a try.

[TotallyEffed]

I wasn’t being snarky, just making a silly joke.

I would see Alice Ripley in anything and she will be amazing as Norma.

The performance she’s currently giving in The Pink Unicorn is nothing short of remarkable.

[kdogg36]

This makes me think back to a question-and-answer session I attended with Alice Ripley at the Kennedy Center about 15 years ago, before a performance of Tell Me On A Sunday. I asked her if there were any other Lloyd Webber leading roles she'd want to play. As I recall, she looked both amused and slightly disgusted at the question, said something along the lines of "not really," and then admitted that she might like to play Evita someday. I guess she's had a change of heart. :)

[Skip23]

Are you kidding?

I would LOVE to see Alice Ripley play Norma.

Acting-wise, she could be phenomenal.

I just worry about her voice.

[CurtainPullDowner]

She's Fierce! 

Why would anyone say she's miscast?

[qolbinau]

If Glenn Close can croak her way through this score and get praised for it why do we suddenly care about whether Ripley has the voice? From what I can hear in any case her voice is in much better state than when it was very damaged at the end of the n2n tour.

[Alessio2]

I saw Alice Ripley last year in a cabaret show with Emily Skinner. I too worried what she would sound like, and she actually sounded amazing.  I think she will be a great Norma, she is just kooky enough and I wish I could see what she will do with the role!

[Jordan Catalano]

Valentina3 said: "Skip23 said: "And what’s your first thought when you hear this news? "

Gay rights.
 

I laughed so hard at this. 

[Kad]

If Glenn Close can get through the score, so can Ripley. 

[qafgenius122]

I have never traveled out of town for a show.. until this was announced. I knew last week that this was coming, but I didn't want to get too excited until it was official. Alice Ripley is probably my favorite theatre performer, and having hard her sing "As If We Never Said Goodbye" a few years ago at her 54 Below show with Emily Skinner, I knew there were two roles she needed to play, Norma and Rose (at her Sondheim solo show she sang Rose's Turn, google it, you won't be disappointed) Now while Boston isn't a long trip from NYC, it still says something about this piece of casting that it would get me to travel anywhere.

Side note: she was brilliant in the recently closed Pink Unicorn, even on a night when i saw it in early previews, where her shirt was buttoned wrong (which she played off hilariously), and her glasses got stuck on her sweater, she handled things flawlessly. (Sure she asked for lines a few times, but it was second preview of a one woman 90 minute show)

[RippedMan]

She sat next to me at “Gary” and she was so kind. I think she’s going to smash this! Sad it’s such a short run!

[BuddyStarr]

I had no desire to see this again....but I will see Alice perform it.  At least she's close to the age of Norma during the period....

[msmp]

BuddyStarr said: "I had no desire to see this again....but I will see Alice perform it. At least she's close to the age of Norma during the period...."

Beyond being a fan of Alice Ripley, this is a major reason I want to see the production. People forget with Sunset that Gloria Swanson was only 50 when she made the original movie; the tragedy of the production is that Norma's heyday really wasn't that long ago, and still she's been abandoned by her fans as technology radically altered the movie business.

[Lot666]

I wish I could see this, but a fourth trip this year just isn't in the cards for me. 

[jdrye222]

I have no opinion about Ripley in the role. But I have ZERO interest in seeing this purported film with Close in it.
The only person I want to see in a film version at this point is LAURA DERN.

[Valentina3]

jdrye222 said: "I have no opinion about Ripley in the role. But I have ZERO interest in seeing this purported film with Close in it.The only person I want to see in a film version at this point is LAURA DERN."

Okay I love Laura Dern but Norma Desmond she ain't. If you want a modern day Norma Desmond, Catherine Zeta Jones would be and should be the top pick. Short of that, Cate Blanchett or Nicole Kidman would probably be most qualified, bankable names. My ideal Norma Desmond would be Catherine O'Hara as Moira Rose.

[noradesmond]

Valentina3 said: "jdrye222 said: "I have no opinion about Ripley in the role. But I have ZERO interest in seeing this purported film with Close in it.The only person I want to see in a film version at this point is LAURA DERN."

Okay I love Laura Dern but Norma Desmond she ain't. If you want a modern day Norma Desmond, Catherine Zeta Jones would be and should be the top pick. Short of that, Cate Blanchett or Nicole Kidman would probably be most qualified, bankable names. My ideal Norma Desmond would be Catherine O'Hara as Moira Rose."

“My ideal Norma Desmond would be Catherine O'Hara as Moira Rose”.   Yes, please!!!

[Here I Am]

I actually think she’ll be quite great in this!

[bryan2]

I saw her in Sunset Blvd as Betty 4 times...the most uninteresting person on the stage...I would get so bored everytime she opened her mouth. I saw it again with Siohban Dillon in the "reboot" in 2017 and found her to be wonderful and not boring. I loved Alice in SideSHow but I find her screeeeehy and over dramatic in just about everything else....(look on you tube for her in Carrie  she is awful) her voice to me is just not pleasant alone(without Emily to tone it down) ..

Having just rewatched her on youtube doing As if we never said Goodbye....I can say she basically screams and scream without any softness at all to her voice...again I am not a fan