Sydmonton Festival 1992, first full performance of the musical Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton Musical Director David Caddick, Directed by Andrew MacBean SYDMONTON FESTIVAL, Summer 1992
She is so brilliant here, it's frightening. Her voice is thrilling, her acting brilliant, the vocal quality stunning, and she just kills it. Really amazing
This is a classic example of how our girl is an actress who sings. The vocals are flawless but the character is almost realized - and this is a reading. God, I love her.
Her singing fully expresses Norma’s passion and madness. These two characters go back and forth through out the song and the line that divides the two becomes blurry. Her ability to switch from one to another makes you feel compassionate for Norma.
I've watched videos of each of the Great actresses who have performed this (Barbara Glen and Patti, and yes I do want a show called that) listened when I couldn't, and I have to say I love each of their interpretations Glen's was cartoonish yet graceful and heartbreaking with a ethos that is yet unrivaled in any female performer I've seen live, Barbara's natural charm and beautiful voice where a treasure to behold, and Patty plays it with a Grace (different from Glen's) and realism that makes me think this is what this woman would be like if I actually met her. And I'd say that all of them, in keeping with the theme of the song did something beyond words.
Danny Eyheralde there have been so many albums. There’s the London with Patti and the US with Glenn Close. Then there was the Petula Clark and Diahann Carole ones; I think Diahann was the Canadian one.
Patti LuPone is sublime. What gorgeous tone she has. Love Glenn and she'd be great for a movie musical adaption but when it comes to the stage musical - Patti will always be my Norma.
@@ryan010able Betty Buckley was terrific. Out of all the Norma's I've seen, Patti Lupone is right up there with the worst - Petula Clark, who was embarrassing.
Patti was the original and by far the best Norma. She’s mesmerising. I saw her in the original London production. She has perfect diction and enunciation. Every word is crystal clear. She’s a phenomenally talented actress. She becomes whatever character she’s playing. What an amazing voice. Even now in 2023 at age 74, her voice hasn’t dimmed. Thank you for uploading this.
I came across the soundtrack at a local thrift store, after I heard it I looked for the original movie with gloria Swanson. I feel that Patti does a great job in the role of normal desmond
With one look I can break your heart With one look I play every part I can make your sad heart sing With one look you'll know all you need to know With one smile I'm the girl next door Or the love that you've hungered for When I speak it's with my soul I can play any role No words can tell the stories my eyes tell Watch me when I frown, you can't write that down You know I'm right, it's there in black and white When I look your way, you'll hear what I say Yes, with one look I put words to shame Just one look sets the screen aflame Silent music starts to play One tear in my eye makes the whole world cry With one look they'll forgive the past They'll rejoice I've returned at last To my people in the dark Still out there in the dark... Silent music starts to play With one look you'll know all you need to know With one look I'll ignite a blaze I'll return to my glory days They'll say, "Norma's back at last!" This time I am staying, I'm staying for good I'll be back to where I was born to be With one look I'll be me!
I usually don't like Patti Lupone, I tend to find her overbearing, but I have to say here, she is perfect. This could have been so over the top, but it's really perfectly nuanced. Great performance.
In an interview while writing the show, ALW said about this tune that it will need a combination of "Sarah Brightman, Kira Te Kanawa and Liza Minella." Clearly - that is Patti Lupone.
All the comments about key changes are because the drama is in the music. Close could not sing this song as written which is to build Norma's delusion to a crescendo of false hopes vanity and pathos. Patti could do it and the character and drama is in the voice- it's a musical, not a play, so she wins this one and too bad some other like Buckley and Paige did not revert to these keys.
To make it big on broadway in a musical you must have either a great voice. If you only have a good or maybe even a adequate voice, you can still make it big only if you are a very talented and excellent actor. This is how Glenn Close made this role her very own. She acted out each and every word when she sang with great, mesmerizing not to mention overwhelming results. Patty is a great actress, singer and performer but Glenn Close with her acting is even better . It is not fair to compare all Normas because each and everyone has their great moments.
Thanks! And we have to remember, she was the FIRST to sing this song in what was by then, the actual musical that people have come to know and love. So there was really no road map.. and of course she did the extraordinary key change at the end, which others simply can't reach. I don't think it's right to compare all the Normas.. each was good in there own way. Yes, maybe Patti was a bit young.. but the score demanded her voice - at least it did at first. Cheers!
Andrew MacBean I think it’s more accurate to say that Glenn Close couldn’t hit it; therefore all replacements on Broadway were constrained to that orchestration.
we also think of Norma as older than she was. Patti was only 5 years younger here than Gloria when she did the movie. she's also just 2 years younger than Glenn. all three were in their 40s when originally playing the role.
My heart breaks a little, knowing that I managed to watch 3 performances of Sunset Boulevard (one with Close and the other with Lupone!) and yet... my wife and children will NEVER be able to enjoy this beautiful production. It almost mirrors the sad theme of the show - the passing of an age. I'd pay $1000 each ticket to bring my family to watch this.
It's to my understanding that during the early run or maybe previews of the show, Patti was replaced by Glenn Close without any word from the crew or Lloyd Webber himself. I think she found out through a gossip column or something. So she sued him, won, bought a pool, and named it the AndrewLloyd Webber Memorial Pool.
Completely wrong. Patti played the part in London. When the show opened in the USA, they opened in Los Angeles with Glenn. The original plan was to open on Broadway with Patti while Glenn still performed in LA. The decision was made to close LA and move that production to Broadway and they kept Glenn in the part, ousting Patti.
No... actually she had been performing in the role for quite some time. It was after Los Angeles opened (and there were now two companies) that the "choice" was made to open Sunset in New York with Glenn. Not pretty.
This was written with Patti in mind, end of story. The percussive melody, high belting, ALL Patti. Why ALW decided to go the route he did was stupid on his part and I don't understand.
That has nothing to do with why the transfer to New York didn't go to her. She was doing London... Glenn was meanwhile playing LA. LA was going to finish (ticket sales not good in advance), and now they had a free-Norma with a choice of who would go to NYC. It was very complicated.
Sorry, I will forever live and breathe for Glenn Close in the role. Nobody did it like her. I love Patti Lupone though. especially when she did Mama Rose in Gypsy.
I love the tempo of this. Others sing it too fast. Also, it's great to hear it without the awful key change they put in for Glenn Close. I love the lyric 'Take one look and you'll see, why the world watches me'. I wonder why they cut that line out of the final version.
Patti Lupone is an astounding talent. My favorite musical theatre actress hands down. There are so so so many others I admire and are truly wonderful and spectacular in their own right, but when Patti sings there's no doubt in my mind. She's my favorite,
I think that all performances of these musicals should be filmed so that future generations can see the wonderful creations that they were and how incredible the performers were.
I couldn’t agree more William. At the time, people (even the actors) protest about filming as if it ruins the magic of the sacred moment… but then just a few decades later thousands upon thousands of fans are crying because we have squandered opportunities to capture lost performances from the greats. You can probably tell, I am a HUGE fan and believer in bootlegs. So many incredible opportunities wasted. Like you say, every musical should be recorded for posterity.
Andrew you did it again! I've seen the Sydmonton video in full before - but this is the cleanest video I've seen. Thanks so much!!! I loved "Too Much In Love To Care" with the softer ending that was in this production. If you can, would love to see that
Ms. Lapone is perfectly matched to the role. The role requires a certain level of camp, vulnerability, and power. I fear Ms. Lapone was blamed for the problems associated with the script and the rest of the music (outside of the other big number “As If We Never Said Goodye” there are no songs worthy of memory). Luckily her performance was memorialized on the Original London Cast album. I appreciate the work Ms. Close has done with the role but to me this role will always be Patti’s role, just like Evita. “Now, go!”
Patti has said that she was directed to not play camp, to stay away from the movie, and be more real. She said she gave the performance her directed wanted. The blame is clearly with the director and the show itself. As soon as ALW started producing his own shows, he never had a hit. A real producer would have gotten rid of Trevor Nunn and insisted on changes to the set and score. It's not an accident that after Patti they were all more camp and flamboyant.
They don’t want me anymore They all say I’m through Well it’s time they knew. With one look I can break your heart With one look I play every part I can make your sad heart sing With one look you'll know all you need to know. With one smile, I'm the girl next door Or the love that you've hungered for When I speak it's with my soul I can play any role. No words can tell the stories my eyes tell Watch me when I frown, you can't write that down You know I'm right, it's there in black and white When I look your way, you'll hear what I say. Yes, with one look I put words to shame Just one look sets the screen aflame Silent music starts to play One tear from my eye makes the whole world cry. With one look they'll forgive the past They'll rejoice I've returned at last To my people in the dark Still out there in the dark. (bridge) Silent music starts to play With one look you'll know all you need to know. With one look I'll ignite a blaze I'll return to my glory days They'll say, "Norma's back at last!". This time I’m staying, I'm staying for good I'll be back to where I was born to be With one look I'll be me. NOTES: From the 1993 musical ‘Sunset Boulevard’. The musical opened first officially in London in July of 1993. Webber had previewed it publicly earlier in 1991. The Broadway opening was Nov 1994. London Director: Trevor Nunn Opening night Leads: Patti LuPone / Kevin Anderson The musical was based on Director Billy Wilder’s 1950 B & W film of the same name. Leads: William Holden / Gloria Swanson The film won a host of awards including 3 Oscars for Music, Art Direction and Writing. (Transcribed by David Story - November 2013)
I'm glad they changed the intro before With One Look. "There was a time in this buisness you wouldnt remember....." to "Once upon a time not long along the head of every studio knew how and when to place their aces, now they put some talentless unkown beneath their sacred microphone, we didnt need words...we had faces.."
I've just been to see the run of Sunset in London, I highly recommend listening to MAZZ MURRAY as norma singing with one look ❤ PHENOMENAL SHOW 😭😭😭😭😍😍😍
This breaks my heart - it doesn't feel like it was the right time for her to have the role, or the right role for her at the time. I believe she is capable of being an absolutely incredible Norma. But sadly all the drama over her not moving to the Broadway production has probably ensured we never see her play the part again.
this was amazing starts off with this slightly creepy lady hunched over then with her name remembered we are transformed from the moment she sings with one look behold norma desmonde most desirable woman in the world brilliant acting and singing
I feel sure that when alw (who has always been a big Judy garland fan) wrote most of the songs was probably inspired by Judy garland and her big,beautiful, soulful hypnotic eyes. I believe that other than from her dancing, acting and with the greatest singing voice ever (sent from god ) her beautiful and captivating eyes were another main reason why she was and is still endured and loved 50 years after her death. Yes, with only ( with one look look ) and this says it all about Judy Garland and her legendary magic 🤔❤️
First, video above is of a WORKSHOP. That’s why it’s in a small room and Patti’s stuck with her own hair (and after minimal rehearsal). Okay. So, who was better Norma, Patti or Glenn (both wonderful)? First, Patti: A Juilliard Acting School graduate who toured for years in the classics. She appeared, even when on Broadway, in mostly straight plays. After her touring days, she wasn’t even considering musicals until her friend, Kevin Kline, a classmate and ex-lover, and who’d just auditioned for “Che” in “Evita”, suggested to Patti that she audition (he’d heard her singing voice, of course). So, Patti, almost grudgingly, auditioned. Numerous times. Surprised with each call-back. When she was actually CAST in the PART of Eva Peron, she vomited, then told her agent to turn it down. Lloyd Webber kept insisting. He pointed out to her, in one of many wooing sessions, that rehearsals didn’t even start for six months and recommended a good voice teacher. He ALSO promised her that he had another actress/singer “waiting in the wings” who if, after six months, Patti still believed that she couldn’t sing the role, would play the role. Thank god, Patti surprised herself, and us, winning the Tony. She is a stage actress who just happens to have one of the most glorious voices of all time. Glenn? A wonderful actress who graduated from the College of William and Mary. As a singer? Kind of a “fake it till you make it” type. She HAD to chew the scenery in order to put over the songs; something Patti COULD do with her voice, alone. But, Patti, being a meticulously trained and accomplished actress, and eventually aided by costumes, make-up and room to prowl, acted the HELL out of the abysmally written role. Glen? For me she always, in this role, came off a bit too desperate (Glenn, not Norma), which ain’t a BAD thing, but much of the tension she created playing Norma was the legitimate question of whether or not she could hit the notes. And, indeed, she couldn’t. She ACTED them. BUT, SO DID PATTI. Winner? Patti!
Keith Curran, what an amazing reply. Well thought out. At least your opinion has some historical credibility. Bravo. Whenever I am asked "who was better", having worked with all of them, I don't dodge the issue... I genuinely feel that each brought their own version to the role, and made it work. And each had to figure out a way, as they would say to me "to come off as a bit crazy" without it seeming amateur. And I remind everyone... Patti performed the FIRST version of Sunset. Then we closed it down, and Glenn performed the New-Improved Sunset, which had more underscore, and action and many other improvements.
Loving reading and rewatching these posts, so a big thank you Andrew. Not meaning to speak out of turn but do you really think it reopened “improved”? I’d seen the first year 4 or 5 times and I think the preview show was probably my favourite (including Patti’s fantastic Charlie Chaplin impression/quick change in The Lady’s Paying). As with the show’s poster design I much preferred the proscenium in it’s original warm LA sunset tones to the new cinematic monochrome and the reprise of Let’s Have Lunch to it’s replacement. The additional underscoring and line trimming definitely added to the flow (though much of that had already happened in previews and the opening months). One thing the preview didn’t have was Norma’s “With One Look” coda in the finale (and restructured monologue just before). WITHOUT IT the entire audience sat there unsure when/if to applaud for what was probably only a few seconds but felt like an age! WITH IT Patti damn near brought the house down. Such a shame it’s not featured on the cast album for posterity,
Never for a second could you believe that her character was once a great star of silent movies, and once a delicate, great beauty. And this lack of fragility derailed the whole show. You never believed the premise for a heartbeat, from the second she appeared. And worse - you know she knows she's in the wrong show. Glenn Close had no need to worry.
I appreciate the availability of all kinds of actresses' takes on the role of Norma Desmond. For instance, I think Patti and Elaine Paige have the most power behind their vocals in the songs, although Glenn Close is a fabulous actress (not saying Patti or Elaine aren't, but this sets Miss Close apart). I understand the English Singer Petula Clark undertook the role at some point in 1996, I believe. But listening to her sing With One Look; she opted down the octave instead of singing in the original key. Not sure if that was a directorial decision or if she doesn't actually have the range.
That was my thought. She doesn’t sing the notes as written which happens and obviously it was adjusted for her, but I feel like the composition was written the way it was on purpose. All the octave jumping adds to Norma’s mania in this song. Patti is fabulous but I think it misses something done this way
Hahahahaha! You are funny! Stage actresses/actors learn more than "actors" as they perform live all the time, with crew and cast, and most "actors" are mediocre at best, even the praised ones, only praised for looking good or pretty and being mostly white. Musical actors have the advantage on stage all the time.
The Best Sunset recording: The original recording with Patti LuPone. I get it that many follow pop culture (stupidity), what's easier, what's more popular, and so they say and then think Close was better. Just No. No. Patti was diamond and gold in comparison everyone else--silver and fine marble. As a huge bonus, she also had the look. Not just Pattie, but the whole cast was best. And, Pattie is the best Live performance, too.
...Patti Lupone que vi afortunadamenete em Londres no teatro Adelphi foi de longe superiormente a interprete perfeita de Norma Desmond. Um musical vive da representação de voz e Patti é perfeita nas suas notas. Tem o perfil exacto daquela mulher parada no tempo algo déspota, egocêntrica, cruel e manipuladora. A sobriedade com que faz este personagem dada pelo tom do seu canto é perfeito. Sei que estou em desacordo por uma grande maioria que aplaude Gleen Close que é uma grande artista de cinema mas falha em musical a começar pela sua voz com tremidinhos e de falsete pelo que tiveram de alterar a partitura para a poder semi-cantar. Depois a senhora Close mais parece uma animal que estava em cativeiro e cuja porta se abre repentinamenete para sair sem norte num overacting catastrófico exagerado que não corresponde de todo ao perfil de Norma Desmond mais parecendo uma velhinha do Texas assaltada numa diligência...é uma representação péssima mas o nome dela é sonante e certamente de boxoffice. Creio que Elaine Page tem melhor interpretação que a senhora Close...A cena final de Lupone é de antologia pois dá a demência que afecta o personagem numa descida da escadaria perfeita...a senhora Close fica patética nessa cena de exagerada representação...Norma Desmond ficou demente e não louca, pois ha uma diferença...esta é a opinião minha que ja vi muitos musicais em Londres, NY e até Espanha onde vi a mais perfeita Evita desempenhada pela senhora Paloma San Baisilio...tal como muitos escrevem nao concordar com a senhora Lupone não apresentando talvez argumentos sólidos, eu apresento os meus da representação da senhora Close...
OMG, this is the first time I've ever seen this video. Saw the show in L.A. when it first transferred, and Glenn Close was always sick, so we had Karen Mason as our Norma for the evening. Karen is a fantastic singer, but Patti - wow! ALW and his penchant for publicity really screwed up. I have the UK soundtrack, so I'd heard her, but never seen her and I'm so damn sorry. Just about to fly out to London to see her in Company, so at least I get to see her perform again for the first time since Evita.
