Search - Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Caddick, Sunset Orchesta :: Sunset Boulevard [World Premiere Recording]

STILL THE MOST SATISFYING RENDITION OF ALW'S HOLLYWOOD MUSIC

Marijan Bosnar | Croatia | 09/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"`Sunset Boulevard' is certainly one of the best scores Andrew Lloyd Webber has ever written. The composer admitted that it was his wish for a long time to make a musical based on the 1950 classic movie directed by Billy Wilder. After the successful 1991 revival of Joseph and the amazing Technicolor dreamcoat, Webber began working on Sunset together with Don Black, his long-time lyricist on "Tell me on a Sunday" and "Aspects of love" and Trevor Nunn as a director.



The plot concerns Norma Desmond, once a big silent movie star, who, after 20 years of being out of the picture business, still believes to be "the greatest star of all". She accidentally meets a 20 years younger unemployed writer Joe Gillis, who grabs the opportunity to edit the script she wrote for her big comeback to the screen, even though he knows it will never happen. That fact is also evident to Norma's butler, Max, but none of them has the heart to tell her the truth. Eventually Joe becomes Norma's lover and uses all the benefits that a life with an elderly and a rich woman has to offer. In the end, when Norma finds out that Paramount won't shoot her script and that Joe is in love with a young girl, she shoots him. When the police arrive at her house on Sunset Blvd, she is in a world of her own, completely unaware of who or where she is, thinking that she is in the studio making her comeback movie and says to all that she is "ready for her close-up". The plot itself is very beautiful and original, showing what can become of a human being when one can't deal with the rejection or acceptance of the present.



When it became known that Andrew Lloyd Webber is going to make a musical based on this classical film, almost every woman in show business wanted the role of Norma, from Angela Lansbury to Meryl Streep or Liza Minnelli. However, the honour went to Patti LuPone, who became well-known in the musical theatre after she played the lead in the Broadway production of Evita in 1979. She delivered a stunning performance at Webber's Sydmonton festival in 1992, refusing to use the book on the stage, which, together with her amazing vocal abilities, secured her the role. The contract was signed stipulating that LuPone will play Norma in London as well as on Broadway.



The show opened in July 1993 in London. The reviews were mixed, as they usually are, but LuPone was fantastic in the role, as well as was Kevin Anderson who played Joe Gillis and Daniel Benzali in the part of Max. The LA premiere followed in December with Glenn Close playing the lead and Alan Campbell as Joe, with George Hearn in the role of Max. Rumors started that Paramount, who was co-producing the show with Webber, wanted Close to reprise her role on Broadway. Lloyd Webber kept repeating that LuPone will take her Norma to New York, but in the end he yielded to pressures and cancelled LuPone's contract, making Glenn Close her replacement. LuPone sued him and won a hefty out of court settlement.



This original cast recording captures the score at its original form and orchestrations. Despite the fact some of the dialogue is missing, one can easily follow the plot. And even though some changes have been made for the show's transfer to Broadway and a new ensemble song added, this recording still remains the best of the lot. The main reason is the excellent cast. Patti LuPone remains vocally the most equipped Norma and she sang all of the songs in the original key that had to be lowered when the show reached Broadway. The way she sings these songs is the main asset of this recording. Furthermore, she managed to add something really special to this tragic character. Instead of copying Gloria Swanson's movie performance, Ms. LuPone built a somewhat younger and subtler Norma who is deeply hurt inside. The subtle vulnerability was something I found very moving. Emotions are there, but pleasantly delicate and understated. Glenn Close, whose vocal abilities are very limited, chose a somewhat different road: she overacted the dialogue and gave an overblown performance of Swanson's portrayal. And since this is, first and foremost, a musical, a decent singing voice of the main character is something that should be obligatory.



The rest of the cast is also much better than their counterparts on the LA recording. Kevin Anderson plays Joe with a warm and smooth voice, perfectly cast as a nonchalant writer. Daniel Benzali's Max is appropriately dark and has a much needed touch of a foreign accent. Meredith Braun plays Betty Schaefer, and although Judy Kuhn does a fine job in the American version, she sounds a bit too mature for a 22 year-old Betty, while Braun's voice is much gentler.



One must also mention the original orchestrations. They have a much more jazzy sound and are in several tones lusher than in the later revisions.



As far as the score, it is simply beautiful. The rich and lush melodies perfectly bring the old Hollywood alive and jazzy threads work perfectly. The themes tend to repeat themselves, but that is almost a Lloyd Webber standard, and here they form a nice whole in which every theme makes sense.. The two big numbers, "With one look" and "As if we never said goodbye", performed by Norma, are pure gold. Other melodies include "The greatest star of all", sung by Max; "The perfect year", Norma's hail to the New Year; "Sunset Boulevard" in which Joe sings about her new life with Norma; "Too much in love to care", a beautiful duet between Betty and Joe and many more.



This new release of the original cast recording comes packed in a slip case. It features a better libretto with bigger letters and a booklet with the basic information and the production pics. Despite the fact this release states to be digitally remastered, it is very difficult to notice a difference when compared to the original release, since the sound on the latter was quite satisfying.



This version of `Sunset Boulevard' remains the best introduction to this musical. The perfect cast makes all the smaller omissions (the lack of underscoring at some places, the missing dialogue) unimportant. The subsequent LA recording features the missing parts, but the cast interpretation leaves a lot to be desired. It may be fun to compare the two, but if you are looking for a one recording, this is the one to get."