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Sunset Boulevard (2017), Broadway Revival of the 1991 Andrew Lloyd Webber Musical Based on Billy Wilder's Classic 1950 Film - Starring Glenn Close at the Palace Theater


genericeric

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I'm not sure how much Glenn Close is getting paid to star in this revival of Sunset Boulevard 26 years after the original, but she is worth every cent - even considering an imperfect vocal performance.  

This production was called 'partially staged' in London - when it moved to New York they must have fleshed out the staging a bit, but it is still much lighter than the original.  After all, you need the space to hold the 40-piece orchestra on the stage which provides rich sound without being distracting behind the actors.  The actor playing Joe Gillis (male lead) was fine, but gave a very by-the-book performance with very by-the-book vocals.  The night we saw the performance, the woman playing his young love interest (Betty) was an understudy - she was also fine but gave a very by-the-book performance with somewhat thin vocals.  

This all leads to the production being a bit of a bore until Close takes the stage - it is hard to imagine anyone else in this role (though I'm sure the other actresses involved in the 1991 casting drama feel differently).  Even with her breaking BOTH of the two most dramatic notes of the production (With One Look in the 1st act, and the final note of the show in the second), her overall performance carries the show.  At the curtain call, Close's behavior was somewhat... eccentric - her small dog coming on stage for a back-and-forth dialogue to raise money for the theatre fund left several patrons wondering how far off Close really was from her character, Norma Desmond.

This production is on stage through early June - if you're in the city before then, it is worth the ticket to see this performance.

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Interesting.  The original Bdway production was one of the few shows that my wife (an ex-Broadway Stage Manager) actually hated.  I didn't go with her to see it (a friend did) and her after the show remark was "if they had her go down that damn staircase posturing one more time, I was going to scream... we get it!"  She will absolutely not reconsider her resolve not to see this new version.  So... was there an overused staircase?

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22 hours ago, Steve R. said:

Interesting.  The original Bdway production was one of the few shows that my wife (an ex-Broadway Stage Manager) actually hated.  I didn't go with her to see it (a friend did) and her after the show remark was "if they had her go down that damn staircase posturing one more time, I was going to scream... we get it!"  She will absolutely not reconsider her resolve not to see this new version.  So... was there an overused staircase?

Yep!  The staircase framed the entire 'set' (such as it was) and thus was pretty central to the show.  If your wife didn't like the first, I'm afraid this one is headed in the wrong direction for her

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