1994: Sunset Blvd. at the Minskoff Theatre

"Sunset Blvd." opened in New York at the Minskoff Theatre on November 17, 1994 and lasted 977 performances. The musical was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Don Black (lyrics), based on the 1950 Billy Wilder film which turned Gloria Swanson into a film icon. The musical was directed by Trevor Nunn. For the Broadway stage, the role of Norma Desmond, the reclusive one-time star of Hollywood, was played by Glenn Close (top right).  Close won a Tony award as Best Actress in a Musical. The show was voted Best Musical, and Lloyd Webber and Black won for Best Score. In all, "Sunset Blvd." took home an impressive six Tony awards out of its eleven nominations.

The story concerns Norma Desmond, an all but forgotten Hollywood screen star who now lives secluded in her dark mansion on Sunset Blvd. With only dusty memories, old film reels and a faithful servant to remind her of glories long past, Norma exists with the fantasy that she is still Hollywood royalty. When Joe Gillis, an out of work writer enters Norma's life, she asks him to polish up her own screenplay. When Norma returns to Paramount studios for, what is essentially a courtesy meeting with Cecil B. DeMille, her screenplay is politely rejected. Norma's failure is a crushing blow, and she recedes deeper and deeper into her own psychosis with tragic consequences.

The 1950 Billy Wilder film won just three technical Oscars that year, but the movie has since achieved cult status among classic film aficionados. In 2005, the final line in the film, spoken by Gloria Swanson (bottom right) was voted by the AFI as the #7 most memorable movie quote of all time: "Alright, Mr. DeMille. I'm ready for my close-up."

The stage role of Norma Desmond was eventually played by a series of notable actresses during the course of its runs in New York, London, and various other national and international productions.

Patti LuPone played the role in London. In addition to LuPone and Glen Close, others who got the chance to play Norma on stage included Betty Buckley, Petula Clark, Elaine Paige, Rita Moreno and Diahann Carroll.
 

You just can't replace the feeling . . .

Barbra Streisand recorded two of the biggest numbers from "Sunset Blvd." The poignant showstoppers "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye" are two of the highlights found on Barbra's 1993 album, "Back to Broadway." In the show, "As If We Never Said Goodbye" was sung by Norma to mark her dramatic return to a Hollywood studio. During Barbra's 1994 concert tour, she opened her performances with the same number (and some rewritten lyrics) to mark the occasion of her own monumental return to the concert stage.

Incidentally, if you called the Adelphi Theatre for tickets to see the London production of "Sunset Blvd." starring Patti LuPone in 1995 (as we did), it was Barbra's studio version of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" that you heard while you were waiting on hold. Reportedly, Ms. LuPone was none too pleased.


Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber is arguably the most commercially successful composer of the past three decades. With hits such as "Phantom of the Opera" and "Cats" to his credit, many Lloyd Webber compositions have been covered by nearly every contemporary recording artist, Barbra among them. Her renditions of Andrew Lloyd Webber ballads have always fit her vocal style perfectly. One of Barbra's particular performances, "Memory" (from "Cats") became her first Lloyd Webber signature song. The original cast notwithstanding, Barbra's "Memory" is perhaps the most recognized version of this "Cats" showstopper.

Other than "Memory" and the two numbers from "Sunset Blvd.", Barbra's only other Lloyd Webber recordings were taken from the smash hit, "The Phantom of The Opera." Barbra's first "Phantom" performance was the love song, "All I Ask of You," recorded for her 1988 "Till I Loved You" album. On 1993's "Back to Broadway", Barbra recorded the powerful duet, "The Music of The Night," with Broadway's original Phantom (and "Hello, Dolly!" costar), Michael Crawford. 

In 2006, Barbra performed her rendition of "The Music of The Night" with Il Divo for audiences during her North American concert tour. In 2007, she reprised the performance, this time with her Broadway vocal backup group during her European tour.