The Perfect Year from Sunset Blvd by Patti LuPone

[MsMimi49]

i saw this show on Broadway. with Kevin and Betty Buckley,, i thought it was magic,,,,

[theman8398]

kevin anderson looks very in a little night music



[Rheesoman]

ooo I have this recording, there both really amazing in it.

[garrychelsea]

it may be coming to broadway again, the new version that was in london in 2008 is rumoured to be transferring along with kathryn evans who played norma, she was simply amazing, there are some clips on youtube, its a small actor/musician production, the cast sing and play instruments as well, its very well done

[hollywoody5000]

This is so beautiful - I loooved Sunset Blvd, The Musical. I wish they would bring it back...!!

[smoker954]

the best...fuck webber

[Doylefromhell]

Paige is best imho.

[chocolatesouljah]

Still she was miscast. Let's remember that Lloyd Webber made her famous.

[AngelorPhantom1359]

@chocolatesouljah Then why did she get standing ovations every single night? My best friends mother worked in the Adelphi when Patti was doing Sunset and she said that every single night Patti was getting standing ovations. And if she was miscast......why was she nominated for an Olivier Award?

What Andrew Lloyd Webber did came strictly from his greed and megalomania. He only fired Patti because he thought Glenn would sell more tickets.

[tearmann]

saw this when it first opened in london, patti lupone and kevin anderson were the perfect pair.

[siankane]

LuPone is magic in this role. I've seen two different women do this on stage, Betty Buckley (Broadway) and Petula Clark (London), but this is how it would have looked and sounded if Gloria Swanson was also a great singer. Not since Swanson has Norma Desmond been so lifted and activated. Absolutely beautiful.

[carwyncymru]

i'm sorry, just read some bizare comments about the original home and star of sunset. well lets put it right. sunset opened in london with patti lupone as norma. it closed then reopened with betty buckley as norma, in the us, it opened in LA first with glen close as norma, later transfering to broadway. it closed in LA when the proudcers and lloyd webber decided faye dunaway wasn't up tp singing the role of norma.

please respond if u disagree xxxxx

[fellatio24]

Another lack lustre performance from LuPone. No wonder she was sacked !!!! x

[KaraokeKid22]

i dont know if its just me being a fellow Sicilian, but I think she is absolutely gorgeous, dragon lady my ass, and she can sing incredibly. anyone would be lucky to have half of the gifts God has given her

[PeterJRip]

I saw Patty and Glenn and Betty... all had their own beauty in this role... but I must say that Patty brought the most VOICE to it... she acted it the only way she can do... Patty LuPone, hands down, was my favorite in this particular musical... and it was the first at ALW's theater in London...

[KaraokeKid22]

Patti, and i completely agree with u

[walsh581]

Let's put this one to bed - LuPone can actually sing and I am afraid that Close is not in the same league.

[timesage61889]

I'm a huge fan of Sunset, LuPone, and Close. Personally, I think Lupone was a miscast for this musical. I just never felt the presence of Norma through LuPone. I felt it more with Close's performance. Close just has the presence, the acting that is needed for this part. I do know that Close does not have the best voice when it comes to singing, but she is still pretty good. I adore LuPone in almost everything else I've heard, but this role belongs to Glenn Close.

[emlodik]

There's a mob of angry gay men gathering outside your door with torches and a lynch rope as we speak!

[josephgminer]

GLEN CLOSE?..ARE YOU KIDDING ME!..BOW WOW!..comparoing her to the LUPONE in an insult !

[emlodik]

Yes, and insult to GLENN CLOSE... Bitch! :-P

[davidlysander]

@josephgminer Couldn't agree with you more. Close is a ridiculous living clown in the role . The Role will always belong to Ms LuPone...Period!

[BrennanKingsland]

Excuse me, I meant Norma Desmond, not Gloria Swanson. Ms. Swanson played the role originally with William Holden in the original movie this musical is based on.

[emlodik]

Yeaaah... That ship has sailed, dumb-dumb!

[BrennanKingsland]

Patty Lupone is a tremendous actress and portrays the over-the-hill Gloria Swanson perfectly. This young man is supposed to be a gigolo so she is luring him into a position as a "kept man" and her "lap dog". She is perfectly sinister in the role, as it is meant to be.

[Aisoku69]

O_O

Look, I (more or less) see the merit, but she's [A] way too young, and [B] dreadfully unattractive. The only part of this that's halfway decent is the voice.

Glenn Close. Those are the only two words I have to say.

[Messylin]

Hopelessly miscast. A DREADFUL, unattractive actress. Good pipes, though.

[curlyman217]

i'd like to see you get 1/4 the career that this 'dreadful, unattractive actress' has, dumbass.

[1618hp]

Thank you! People can be so shallow. Patti Lupone has incredible talent, and even if someone disputes that the fact is she's had an extraordinary career. And whether you care for her as an actress or not, she seems like a genuine and compassionate human being, not to mention extremely intelligent, which should count for more than appearances any day. Besides, she's not even unattractive. I don't usualy make comments like this but I can't stand such superficiality.

[emlodik]

LOL, you discard every other actress to play the role of Norma Desmond and you call US shallow?!?!

[1618hp]

@emlodik This wasn't directed at you or at the other actresses, but at the person who said Patti was too ugly to play the role.

[emlodik]

@1618hp That guy obviously hasn't seen Petula Clark or Judi Connelli in the role... WOOF!

[emlodik]

You know, you gays may "love" Patti LuPone, but would you queens PUT OUT for her?

[smoker954]

purchased the cd of this...luv these two

[DaveNRT]

They are both great. He has such a handsome accent.

[HouseOnSunset]

And Patti has such a handsome mug! :-P

[joeocho88]

Patti Lupone is a famous Braodway actress. I think she was the original Evita in the musical about Eva Peron and she has debuted a lot of starring roles in musicals but for some reason she always seems to get over looked in the film roles. In this scene, this guy is a toy boy that she hired to write her comeback film and he is taken aback with her. She was a silent film star. She wants a romantic relationship with him and there is at least a 40 year age difference... but you havta see the film.

[machinegunvibrato]

not exactly, but pretty close. i don't want people to think she's a pedophile! in the movie she was 50 and he's about 25.

=]

sorry, i'm a perfectionist.

and yes, she was the VERY original eva peron!

[zram2008]

Well not to over perfect your perfectionism, the truly original Eva Peron was played by the extremely talented Elaine Page, in the London premiere of EVITA, which debuted a year before the Broadway cast, lol.

Anyway, I think that Patti is often overlooked for films because she is not the typical hollywood beauty, infact, I doubt she would be popular at all if it were not for the unique brassieness of her voice.

[machinegunvibrato]

i think so too. though, she is quite beautiful IMO. at least, in her younger days. her features were so striking, you could see them from row Z! i guess you can say i'm a bit of a fan (hence my username--machine gun vibrato is from a forbidden broadway spoof on patti). but thanks for the clarification!

[KaraokeKid22]

uuuuuuu patti was the original london evita too, she was the original evita elaine did eventually play the role, but did not originate it. s

[zram2008]

Um no she was not, after Julie Covington (the girl who sang on the first concept album of Evita) declined the role, Elaine Paige was cast as Evita....

[aavauxhall]

No. Paige was the first in London, where it originally opened. Lupone later opened New York and and after she left the broadway production opened Australia. Paige won the SWET award that year (later renamed the Olivier) which at that time was only eligible to original cast members. Lupone won the Tony in NYC.

[lkofron]

@aavauxhall

I don't think so. I saw Patti Lu Pone in London just after it opened. She was unjustly sacked from the role.

[RastloseJahre]

@aavauxhall I do hope you are joking.

[broadwayloverny10]

@aavauxhall That was Evita smartie. Not Sunset. In Sunset BLVD ALW fired her without her knowledge, she learned from the Liz Smith column in the American newspaper. So she WAS fired unjustly, before you comment its wise to know what your talking about. This such a wonderful scene and she looks so in love, ahhhhh ALW is such a Jackass!!!

[chazzjazz]

Patti from Life goes on or something?? is she also the sister in Roseanne?

[HouseOnSunset]

You got the first one right, but Laurie Metcalf was on "Roseanne."

[joeocho88]

She reminds me of a ghost from the silent films and he reminds me of a toy boy about to be DEVOURED which is what happens to him...caught in a spider web of decadence, insanity and...you got to see the film. I WISH I COULD BUY A COPY OF THIS VIDEO! LOVE IT WITH PATTI LUPONE STARRING IN IT. SHE OWNS THIS ROLE! But I am A FAN!

[HouseOnSunset]

You can easily find the press reel for the original UK production and/or a video recording of the show on the web if you know where to look. ;-)

[joeocho88]

Perfect period piece for the 1920s which is when Norma Desmond was at her prime!Silent films were Huge. The composer and the arranger of the music did his/her research.. Tango was hot because of Rudolph Valentino and waltzes are big in any Broadway show.

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE ENTIRE PRODUCTION WITH PATTI LUPONE OR GLEN CLOSE.

[TomBurgos]

Man, that songs is sad...the desperation in Norma's eyes...her pathetic clinging to youth, to love, to life...it's just tragic and sad...

[gabsylv]

wait and see if you cling to youth at that age--and if you think yourself as pathetic lol

[Selendomono]

really? People hated the lyrics? i havent seen any comments about them. Oh well if people hate them they are entitled to their opinion. I agree about Glen close being psycho...

[emlodik]

Yes, that's the number one thing people tend to bitch about. The scansion's bad, they're predictable, etc. Same type of bull.

[Selendomono]

I love the music but the lyrics to this score were rpobably the best thing about it. I love patti and kevin though i personally think that patti looked too young they should have olded her up some but other than that it is kool.

[emlodik]

You like lyrics? Funny... Most people hate them! I agree, Patti barely looked forty, even though she was 44 at the time, technically the right age. But she just came off as Margo Channing rather than Norma Desmond.

[Skypeace89]

The undertone white noise really ruined it for me.

[uglalice]

the only reason people think glenn close acted the best is because she really is a psycho. look at fatal attraction.

[texas12375]

@uglalice Or a damn fine actor.

[agnesmoorhead]

Ms. Lupone and Mr. Anderson are sublime.

[drewqq]

She really does look like an old-time movie actress in this. It's such a tough call--LuPone sung this the best, but I really do think Close acted it the best. I only got to see Close live, but despite not such a fantastic voice, she was riveting as Norma

[dexterville]

wow this video sort of looks like a silent movie...with Errr sound.

[cwecub]

a beautiful song..like everything sir Andy does!

[bcanton]

Lupone is perfect, as always. Kevin Anderson strikes me as a stick in the mud. he looked so conservative dancing, and I get a feeling its because he can't.

[celestialsam]

I love Patti!:D

[DavidHuxley]

I love Patti. I don't think any of the performers of the part in the musical was particularly fitting to the part, but Patti was definitely the best of them!

[AvisWrentmore]

Kevin Anderson is superb - amazing (what a lovely voice) in every way. He is a man of many talents. I hope one day to work with him.

Avis Wrentmore

[aosjrmd]

Patti was the perfet Norma,unfortunate that she was replaced by Glenn who could bring the $ for Broadway. Glenn was good but overplayed the part and did not have the vocals for it.

[cwecub]

the part didn't call for a great vocalist..to be true to the role, norma was 50 year old actress.not a singer!

[Hannah7876]

Any time you write a musical part, you require a singer.

Glenn was definitely the hammier actress, though. Guess weber wasn't looking for subtlty or someone to do his music justice on Broadway.

[xxkewldudexx]

@Hannah7876

La Desmond isn't exactly a subtle character, my friend. And as for the singing, Glenn did her best (which ws pretty damn good, IMHO).

[tenexe]

it is a m-u-s-i-c-a-l....... that means singing.

[cwecub]

yes..but that is secondary to the story, shitface

[espuetblanc]

My Wife and I saw 'Sunset' 3 weeks after it opened in London. Patti Lupone WAS Norma Desmond. She was marvelous, the whole production was superb. I could never understand why it didn't run and run and run but it didn't. But in my mind it was the best modern musical I or my wife have ever seen and we've seen a few, and I've been in a few myself. Ah well I do have the CD and youtube

[emlodik]

I dunno... The original London production was flawed to say the least! The subsequent revised American, Canadian and German productions were MUCH better.

[AvisWrentmore]

I just LOVE Kevin Anderson:)

Avis:)

[spaciireth]

This has always been one of my favourite songs on the SB soundtrack, so it's awesome to see it performed, especially since I'm Aussie and not likely to see it any other way. Thanks for posting. :D

[lupinotuum]

Personally, I thought LuPone was very good for this role.

And as for her physical appearance- 'Dragon Lady'? I think she looks perfect for the role. In the original 1950 film, Sunset Boulevard, Norma had the same dark curly hair, and her features were a little harsh, and she also did everything she could to enhance her eyes, which had been considered her best feature. The makeup was astounding on LuPone and makes her look the part of Norma.

[BadLactose]

I love Kevind Anderson in this role. He has the cynical/boyish thing down pat.

[shinshaw2000]

i think Andersen's voice is better suited for the role than Campbell's more operatic one.

[emlodik]

YIKES! Patti looks like a hardcore Dragon Lady! Perfect for, perhaps, a musical version of "Mommie Deartest," but NOT "Sunset Boulevard!"

[bvgerven]

I liked Glenn as Norma too

[GeorgeVreelandHill]

Excellent.

So nice!!

George Vreeland Hill

[blackpython]

*joygasm* I. Love. Sunset. Boulevard.

[silhuetto]

Kevin Anderson is amazing! :)

[lilithmoon1979]

bad quality video

[joeblow334it]

Jolanda - you probably saw Alan Campbell - he did it in LA and Bway the entire run. Never saw Kevin Anderson live - but I prefer his voice (and the clips I saw I like his performance) better than Campbell.

As for LuPone - there are moments when she's singing Sunset that I like her - but for the most part, I agreed with the US critics - she was miscast as Norma.

[Jolanda27]

I saw Sunset in London. I don't think Alan did any of the London shows..Unfortunately,I also didn't see Kevin live. Does anyone know what he does nowadays? I saw Elaine Paige as Norma in London I wasn't very impressed. When she sang With one look the roof came down...She sings it perfectly but I think Norma is a very dangerous role. A lot of actresses played her so over the top. Like Glen Close...

[Jolanda27]

Has anyone got more footage of Kevin as Joe Gilles? I saw someone else perform this part but I wasn't impressed. I've forgotten his name....Patti told during an interview that she found the show so boring! That's weird, isn't it? Please upload footage!

[Mattbrain]

I have the original broadway cast recording. This is so much better.

[AriesModerator]

Try the 1993 London Cast Recording with Patti and Kevin, it's available on Amazon. I'm sure you'll like it better than the Broadway one.

[kerrsmith2306]

Aw. The memories. I had the fortunate luck to see this live on stage. Thank you for this. Would love to have the clip/copy. In case it's not too much of a hassle for you. Just for memories sake.

[AriesModerator]

They were the best couple in this show. Nobody managed to sing the score better than Patti and Kevin.

[WickedCammy]

How in the world did you get such good quality of this???

it's amazing... she's the best Norma Desmond there ever was!

[vasstheo]

perfect video patti and kevin are fantastic patti is so sexy