"SUNSET BOULEVARD" - 2nd US Tour - Title Song

[carwyncymru]

who cares about his voice!! look at those thighs lol xxx

[becky2shoes]

Ooh la la, Joseph Smith.

[TheStrangerDied]

Does every scene literally open with a scrim rising up?

[HouseOnSunset]

@TheStrangerDied Yes, this production was pretty much "scrim porn."

[onlyalittlewicked]

WOW, never thought I would disagree with you, but I like the costume change, it keeps with the movie when joe is out at the pool and Norma gets the call from Paramount. HE is in a bathing suit and she tells him "let me dry your back" Just my opinion. I still dislike Pet though

[HouseOnSunset]

@onlyalittlewicked But what works on film does not necessarily work on stage, ;)

[onlyalittlewicked]

@HouseOnSunset True. The whole tour was ruined the minute they decided to stunt cast, and I agree Lewis was wrong for the role. The only complete Joe I have seen was Ron Bohmer. I think it would have gone better with a completely different cast, save sarah urite berry, she was alright and I liked the changes in too much in love to care. Susan Emmerson helped out when she was on for Pet, but the staging was just so flawed

[HouseOnSunset]

@onlyalittlewicked I heard RUG originally approached Diahann Carroll to reprise the role for the 2nd tour (which makes sense, since who the hell remembers Petula in the states unless they're 70 year old gay men or 60 year old housewives?), but she basically told them to go have sex with themselves. Pet was the only "star" who was still on good terms with Andrew Lloyd Webber, so she agreed to do it, even though she knew she was the worst Norma out there and openly admits it.

[onlyalittlewicked]

@HouseOnSunset I loved Diahann if you couldn't tell by all the ads I saved, she was great except in the final scene. It just fell flat. He would have been better off to go with an unknown. For example, Linda was amazing, but she was also the one who took the blame for the tours failure even though she was FLAWLESS in the role. I think she is just an amazing talent, and the best Norma second only to Paula Scrofano. I wish you had seen that production, the cast was great.

[HouseOnSunset]

@onlyalittlewicked Yes, Linda was the main reason they went for stunt casting this time around. People don't just appreciate true talent. Did you know that RUG all but DENIES the 1st US Tour ever took place? It's so tragic, they should've promoted and encouraged her perfromance instead of letting the critics ravage and humiliate her and then scapegoat when the tour couldn't make its money back. It's heartbreaking.

[tommyburgos]

Joe Gillis in a speedo is ridiculous and clearly a crass attempt at pandering to gay men, a huge segment of the theattre-loving audience.

[JoshMich1985]

@tommyburgos Who cares? Plenty of pieces of entertainment pander to straight men. Joe is supposed to be an attractive man, and Norma is attracted to him, so why not play that up a bit?

[tommyburgos]

@JoshMich1985 : Because it's absolutely silly, and takes away from the suspension of disbelief of the whole scene. Besides, the whole point of the scene is not "look, I am so hot and in great shape". Plus, Norma's attraction to him is way more (psichologically)complicated than "Ooooh, that young struggling screenwriter is so hot!" This was just a pointless exercise in "artistic license" from the director. Moot point anyway. It's a terrible rendition of the song.

[DELLWOODBARKER]

what a disaster!

[psrpippy]

I saw Sunset 7 times, and have to say this is just about the worst version. This guy is just ruining the part. How the hell did he get the part?? Surely he wasn't the only one who was put up for it.

[tommyburgos]

@psrpippy : Look at his body, lol. Clearly, he must have done some favors to some willing theatre producer, because it was clearly not his "talent" that got him the role...

[Sampiro]

Why did they use Petula Clark? Can Phyllis Diller not sing or was she just not available for the tour?

Evidently the Isotta Fraschini had a flat tire just as it got to the gate.

[HouseOnSunset]

@Sampiro Ugly elderly gay men must've help a picket to get her onboard.....

[pandapal13]

Yea he has a good voice just not for this type of role. The swimsuit however makes up for it.......well sort of. As for her giving him a rubdown that was in the original movie wasnt it?

[HouseOnSunset]

Yes, but it wasn't as campy, abrasive or long. And let's not forget that was GLORIA SWANSON who gave the rubdown. She was fifty, looked thirty and was gorgeous. Petula at 70? No comment.

[pandapal13]

Hahaha good point watching it again it's like creepsville.

[onlyalittlewicked]

@HouseOnSunset Well said

[dcmartin3]

Excellent voice Mr. Cleale! Good focus throughout entire range. Wonderful expression! Great job.

[dcmartin3]

Hearing you sing reminds me of Robert Goulet and Josh Grobin just because of their exceptional voices.

[traod8]

I'd ravish that hunky body of his, but he'd have to duct tape his mouth shut so that horrid noise can't come out!

[00rabbit7]

Yeah...post Ron Bohmer's please :-)

[HouseOnSunset]

I did before bitchy Petula Clark fanboys had most of my 1st US Tour videos deleted! Give me a few days to repost it.

[darkphoenix1312]

I love the way U hate Petula... Cuz Ur Sooooo right to doing it! Hate Her in that role 2

[HouseOnSunset]

And we shall smite the Petula fanqueers and lay waste upon their temples!

[MisterDaskLives]

Holy shit, Petula Clark is horrendous! I can't believe what I'm watching!

[HouseOnSunset]

....But can you believe the nitwtis who consider this the definitive staging of Sunset? And Petula being "da best Norma eva!!!!11!oneone!!!!one!!1!!!1­"

[ArtistM]

What's with the "good and ready" jokes???

By the way... it's not that weird that this actress is older than this actors mother... That's also a big part of the story: "Older woman, very well to do, meets younger man..."

But I agree, this production does not look, apart from our Joe Gillis killer body in speedo, like a disaster!!!

[HouseOnSunset]

Norma is supposed to be OLDER, not Joe's GRANDMOTHER.

[cryan71]

I saw this tour. It was pretty good.

[HouseOnSunset]

No, it wasn't.

[TheStrangerDied]

Stumble much, Joe?

[singforyoursupper]

He has a great operatic voice. Unfortunately that is not what the role calls for. He actually sings TOO well. He also overacts it so much it's ridiculous.

[ashpashley]

Was this seriously a professional production? SO Awful!

Why do they have to keep running around the stage and whats with her dreadful accent?!

[HouseOnSunset]

What really baffles me is why do all gay men over 50 think this is theatrical perfection?

[gavrochemm]

oh i remember seeing this production... i was soo disappointed becaues i had never actually seen the original los angeles production but had the souvnier brochure my parents let me have... and i finally get to see it... and yeah, quite a disappointment. I think the biggest highlight was Sarah Berry as Betty, she did a very cute job.

[bm237]

I'd rather pay Lewis Cleale to screw me than sing to me, personally.

[halsatia]

i might be a minority here but i like joe's skimpier outfit....the singing not so much

[FantineJavert]

*Twitch*

"What...the...hell..." is right. God---the vibrato! And wow, Petula is reeeeaaally, reeeeaaaally annoying. There are actually people who think she's better than Glenn?!

[HouseOnSunset]

Well, what do you expect from a woman who played Maria von Trapp at FIFTY? Well, that she would play a 50 year old Norma at 70...

Sweety, not only that, some people think she is the BEST Norma, which is the most horrifying thing I've ever heard (aside from Petula's performance in the show. She was surprisingly bearable in the 2004 BBC concert production of "Sunset Boulevard," even though she was 70 by that time... If you want, I can send you an audio of that as well. Michael Ball plays Joe.

[FantineJavert]

For Michael Ball as Joe, I think I'd brave Petula... :-P Sure!

Wow...Now I can just bring that up when people say that acting won't support me past forty. It apparently doesn't even have to be that good!

[HouseOnSunset]

And she played Norma the longest! 2,500 performances... Of crap.

[FantineJavert]

Why...? There are whole SHOWS out there that don't even get 2,500 performances. Why, /why/ won't people pay to see something that's actually good?

[HouseOnSunset]

Well, aside from Faith Brown's boobs in the UK tour, she WAS the only person playing the role from 1996 to 2004!

[kidofponymaker]

Well with the Mention of Glenn Close.. I LOVE GLENN CLOSE! Just FYI! Thanks for doing this! WAY WAY COOL!

[HouseOnSunset]

YAY!!! You have an AMAZING taste, Holly! I mean Petula as Norma? YUCK!!! By the way, I'll try posting some clips from Glenn Close in the LA production soon. :-)

[hernenstein]

haha, whatever... just tried to look in the middle, not let me surpass by "fanatism".

[hernenstein]

Nevertheless, i think that, "theatrically", the fact that Gillis wears swimsuit fits perfectly with the situation he´s within (having a grrreat time, by doing nothing, just being "nice" to an old rich lady...). I think this shows him more like a gigolo than that perfect white suit he wears in the usual productions...

[HouseOnSunset]

Yeeeaaah... NO.

[fudgeslice]

Is it a parody or audition, or actualy people paid to see how he is destroying this song? OMG....

[HouseOnSunset]

Many, I know many don't believe this, but it's actually the 2nd US tour, that went on for more than two years, with Petula Clark, Lewis Cleale and Susan H Schulman totally butchering the show throughout.

And you may not believe this either, but this version has its share of foul mouthed, bitchy defenders, who must be blind, deaf, with no taste and most likely mentally retarded. They actually think Petula SANG and acted better than Glenn Close! What are they snorting?

[bm237]

He's nice to look at, I'll say that much....but sadly, not much else.

[HouseOnSunset]

Haha, yeah, if you ignore the sucked in beer gut.