Threaded Order Chronological Order
| re: Did the Sunset Blvd debacle actually make Lupone a Bway superstar? | |
| Posted by: bway1430 03:14 am EST 02/13/21 | |
| In reply to: Did the Sunset Blvd debacle actually make Lupone a Bway superstar? - Zelgo 09:31 pm EST 02/12/21 | |
|
|
|
| I say this as a huge fan of Patti who saw her in SUNSET twice. Whatever noteriety or potential embarrassment she suffered due to being replaced by Close on Broadway (then Buckley in London) is nothing compared to what she may have suffered should they have brought her in with the show. Vocally she was wondrous but she simply was not a good fit for the role. I think her reviews would have bordered on disastrous and the show would certainly have suffered as a result. She did better having been replaced in the show than she likely would have done had she stayed. |
|
| reply to this message |
| re: Did the Sunset Blvd debacle actually make Lupone a Bway superstar? | |
| Posted by: sf 06:50 am EST 02/13/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Did the Sunset Blvd debacle actually make Lupone a Bway superstar? - bway1430 03:14 am EST 02/13/21 | |
|
|
|
| She was better, oddly, after she was fired - I saw her about three months into her run, and then again a couple of weeks before her last performance, in the period when she was working out the remains of her contract after The Unpleasantness. The difference was like night and day - there was a go-for-broke quality to her performance the second time that had been entirely absent the first time I saw her, and she finally seemed to be *starring* in the show rather than just playing a role in it. If she'd found that performance before the American critics came in to see the show the previous summer, the whole saga might have played out very differently. | |
| reply to this message |
| i think Patti got *very* in her head about being an ACTOR first and singer second | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 12:26 pm EST 02/13/21 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 12:17 pm EST 02/13/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Did the Sunset Blvd debacle actually make Lupone a Bway superstar? - sf 06:50 am EST 02/13/21 | |
|
|
|
| She wasn't even going to audition for Evita, as I recall. And she was getting obsessed, it seems (or is at least very likely) with refocusing her image and career narrative to her as an ACTOR who sings (exceptionally well). So I think this really impacted how she approached playing Sunset Blvd. Coupled with being in the shadow of the iconic and over-the-top legendary performance of Gloria Swanson in the beloved and acclaimed film that her Norma would always be compared against, she really wanted to make it her own and I think actively resisted what the material of the actual musical wants from its star. I think if Patti were playing Norma now, or in the last 15 years, she'd have killed it from day 1. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: That is very interesting.... | |
| Posted by: bway1430 08:33 am EST 02/13/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Did the Sunset Blvd debacle actually make Lupone a Bway superstar? - sf 06:50 am EST 02/13/21 | |
|
|
|
| I caught her early in the run, only a few weeks apart and wish I had seen the performance as you described. There was no tension, no chemistry with Kevin Anderson and no dynamics although I liked most of the score which seemed to be the only thing going for it aside from the very opulent design. I was totally unprepared for how much better the show became with the new leading lady and the revisions in the book and the staging. There was tension the moment the curtain went up and Betty's call from offstage before her first entrance sent a chill down my spine. Her chemistry with John Barrowman was amazing. Whole new show. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: That is very interesting.... | |
| Posted by: huskyital (huskyital@yahoocom) 11:50 am EST 02/13/21 | |
| In reply to: re: That is very interesting.... - bway1430 08:33 am EST 02/13/21 | |
|
|
|
| I didn't see Patti do it.....I saw Glenn Close twice once in the original and again in the revival and despite the fact that she does not have the range some do, she was glorious both times. I saw Elaine Page do it and she couldn't hold a candle to Glenn. Sad that this has been on the drawing boards to go to film for years, and I think it could make a good movie. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: That is very interesting.... | |
| Posted by: Pokernight 12:26 pm EST 02/13/21 | |
| In reply to: re: That is very interesting.... - huskyital 11:50 am EST 02/13/21 | |
|
|
|
| It could happen if they get someone like Tom Hiddleston as her co-star... | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
Time to render: 0.023342 seconds.