To think, by the time you read this, I will already have seen both Sunset Boulevard (St. James Theatre, previews October 20, open ended) starring Nicole Scherzinger and The Roommate (Booth Theatre, through December 15) starring Patti LuPone (and Mia Farrow). When Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard first opened on the West End in 1993, Patti was starring in the Gloria Swanson role of Norma Desmond–with a contract to open on Broadway the following year. I begged my parents to let me spend my Bar Mitzvah money on a trip to see my beloved LuPone in London, but they argued it was a waste since I could see her in New York. In the meantime, I could catch the show with Glenn Close as she was leading the Los Angeles production opening in between. Close was always one of my favorite movie stars and I had even enjoyed her faking her way through “Send in the Clowns” on the PBS Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall, but I was hardly shocked at her cringey croaking of Lloyd Webber’s score, still challenging even in her modified keys. What surprised me was how poorly she acted the role. While drag queens have for decades mined the film’s iconic lines (“I am big; it’s the pictures that got small”) for their camp gold, the stage adaptation requires an emotional investment from the audience – otherwise it’s a long, boring two-plus hours waiting for the next punchline. Glenn was made up like Jack Skellington and bounced around the stage with equal cartoonishness. The audience roared, but I was deeply disappointed.
You can imagine my flabbergast when it was announced that she, and not Patti, would be starring in the show on Broadway – a public humiliation for LuPone, only partly assuaged by time and her settlement payout, rumored to be in the millions. Replacing Patti in London and later Glenn on Broadway was Betty Buckley, who was considered by many to be the ideal musical Norma Desmond, portraying all the pathos of Patti, while still managing to commandeer the mega musical’s mammoth physical production, and of course, singing the shit out of the score. No doubt Patti would have fared equally well had she gotten to tackle the revised and improved script of the American production, but this was not to be.
Over the years, many great ladies of stage and screen would go on to take their turns as Norma, including Petula Clark, Elaine Paige, Rita Moreno, Diahann Carroll, Karen Mason, Maureen Moore, and the late, great Linda Balgord. Even beyond the Patti LuPone of it all, the musical has often been the subject of scandal, like when Faye Dunaway was supposed to replace Close in Los Angeles, but the production was suddenly closed before she began performances, with her weak singing cited as the reason. At a legendary press conference responding to the allegations, Faye called it, “Another capricious act by a capricious man.” Later, during the Broadway run, Andrew Lloyd Webber publicized fake grosses, inflating the box office records to make it look like ticket sales had not suffered while Glenn Close was away on vacation. “I am furious and insulted,” Close wrote in the two-page, single-spaced letter to the press. “It sickens me to be treated with such disregard.”
Broadway legend and TV’s Julia and Dynasty diva Diahann Carroll had her own issues with Lloyd Webber, who seemed to be sabotaging her in the original Toronto production, as described on The Sunset Project podcast. Give it a listen and don’t leave before the episode on the drama down under driving Debra Byrne deep into distress. Australia is also the site of the current production starring the former Mrs. Lloyd Webber, Sarah Brightman, which by all reports is nothing short of a catastrophe.
Yet the show is not completely cursed. Glenn Close returned to Broadway in 2017 in an elegantly slimmed down production directed by Lonny Price and featuring a 40-piece orchestra. This time, she tamped down the camp and even managed to sing better–a little bit. And then Jamie Lloyd’s revisionist revival in London last year blew critics away and had audiences clamoring for tickets, with Americans flying over in droves to catch Nicole Scherzinger’s already legendary Norma Desmond. Will I be there multiple times to see her, as well as her alternate, In the Heights star Mandy Gonzales? This time, I’m staying for good!
In between Sunset Boulevard performances, you can also reach me at the following intriguing, new Broadway offerings:
Speaking of iconic divas, the 20th Century’s most fabulous televangelist is the subject of the new musical Tammy Faye (Palace Theatre, previews October 19). Music is by Elton John, lyrics by Jake Shears, and book by James Graham, with Rupert Goold directing. Two-time Tony winners Christian Borle and Michael Cerveris are Jim Bakker and Jerry Falwell with Katie Brayben recreating her London triumph.
For a musical comedy that promises to be a total scream, look no further than Death Becomes Her (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, previews October 23). Broadway fan favorites Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard and Destiny’s Child’s Michelle Williams star.
Arguably the main event, even in this star-studded season, Audra McDonald in Gypsy (Majestic Theatre, previews December 19) is certainly the show that’s got all us theater queens holding our breath. Of course she’ll be brilliant, but will Broadway’s most heralded soprano break with her past and belt this role originated by Ethel Merman? If she doesn’t, will her acting make it work anyway? Here’s what we do know: it’s being directed by George C. Wolfe, one of the most talented people ever to helm a Broadway show. There’s no one I would trust more to deliver both the drama and the show biz of Gypsy.
And, of course, if you want to see shows where you know for sure the singers are gonna blow the roof off, your best bet is often New York City’s world class cabarets:
Café Carlyle
- Rita Wilson October 8-12
- Rufus Wainwright October 15-19
- John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey October 22-November 2
Joe’s Pub
- Alysha Umphress October 27-28
- Vincent Rodriguez III October 28
- The Bowery Boys October 29-31
- Monét X Change November 19-21
- Ute Lemper November 26
The Green Room 42
- Joel DeCandio October 6
- Natalie Joy Johnnson October 8
- Rep Book Roulette October 9
- Ashley Brown & Ryan Silverman October 18-19
- Christina Bianco October 18
- Rose Levine October 22
- Ginger Minj & Gidget Galore October 22-23
- Joe Posa & Seth Sikes October 24
- Reeve Carney October 25
- I’ve Been Robbed October 26
- Lesli Carrara-Rudolph October 27
- Tislam Swift November 7
- Erin Foley November 9
- Reeve Carney November 17
- Rosemary Loar November 22
- Broadway Goes A Cappella November 24
- Villain DeBlanks November 25
54 Below
- Marilyn Maye October 1-November 25
- Lea DeLaria October 13-December 8
- Linda Eder October 15-24
- Beth Leavel October 25-26
- Sam Harris November 1-2
- Macon Prickett November 1
- John Lloyd Young November 6-9
- David Burtka November 20-23
Last modified: October 30, 2024
