@kewlbean That's because she's the only woman who has ever sung this entire score in the original keys. With One Look was revised with a transposition downward on the last chorus when Patti left, so other actresses could sing it...but making it sort of anticlimactic. It's the Glenn Close revised score that every production uses. If you want the original score, I suggest the World Premier Recording with Patti. She's the only person to sing the entire show as written.
I think Glenn Close's performance in Sunset Blvd. was very convincing. But IMO, she wasn't convincing as a 50-year-old woman who's acting 20, and ends up going nuts at the end of the show.
Instead, she was convincing as an elderly lunatic, who'[s a cross between the Wicked Witch of the West and a deranged bag lady, She seemed like she'd gone completely nuts decades ago. An impressive transformation, sure...but I don't know what on earth she transformed into. It certainly wasn't Norma Desmond.
I love Patti, but for this role, I really do think Glenn Close was much better. Yes, Glenn does not have Patti's pipes, but Glenn really captured the many layers of Norma and acted it out brilliantly. For the role of Norma, I don't think being the best singer is as important as showing her character. Remember, Norma is not a young woman in Sunset and somehow, Glenn's voice suited that character more.
@EZYCHEESY Such a delusional fag. Hurry up and die of AIDS already, every time you open your vile herpes infested mouth, you set the gay rights movement back another 20 years.
PS - Did Patti send you that autographed restraining order yet? :)
@EZYCHEESY i loved patti and saw her may times in london, but i have also seen kathryn evans who did the revival a couple of years ago, and she outsang all of them, i hear it may be trabsferring to broadway if so go and see her she is amazing
I think Glenn Close was excellent in the role, but Patti was superb too. More importantly, she had a contract, and ALW screwed her. That is the tragedy of the whole thing
Okay I am so fucking sick of going to a video of Patti performing in Sunset Boulevard and having to read all these nasty comments. If you don't like her performance than WATCH SOMETHING ELSE! I mean seriously. If you don't like Patti then don't click on the video!!
by the way....if she was so terrible then why did she receive standing ovations and and Olivier Award nomination?
so finally graduate from Juilliard, win 2 Tony awards, an Olivier Award, and a Drama Desk award and then you can bash
I am really disappointed that Andrew Lloyd Webber possibly has burned his bridges with Patti LuPone forever with the way he treated her in this production. If they come out with a film for this show, I'd prefer to see Patti. :-(
@oneworldguy I know he treated her badly,it was embarrassing really.We had to endure the dull and over -hyped Sarah Brightman in Phantom just because at the time she was his wife.So it goes to show that it is often the case that its not your talent that counts but who you and that means in the biblical sense.
@EZYCHEESY I saw Patti in "Evita" at 16. She was amazing. Her Momma Rose brilliant textured. Wonderful. Her Norma leaves me cold. I saw Betty Buckley and Glenn Close. Very different but the bested her in my opinion. "utter belt" isn't really a performance.
For all of the queens praising LuPone, just why was she replaced?
The truth was that LuPone received scathing reviews in London. Between the New York Times and The Wal St. Journal there were 16...yes 16..paragraphs ripping her to shreds. I actually think this is her best work but that' relative. She's a screeching cow who is hard on the eyes and often so vulgar she makes me ill but this performance was a turning point.
@roccoh21 show us your pic.....bet ur not easy on anyone's eyes you stupid moron!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the way....lets compare your salary to the DIVA patti's...BAHAHA...I'm sure there's no comparison...after all.....u r the moron listening on You Tube and she's the one being listened to............BAHAHA YOU ARE STUPID
@roccoh21 Vulgar? Screeching cow?!?! I agree that she is awesome and the best but she is FAR from vulgar and she is NOT a screeching cow! Bet she looks a hell of a lot better than you :) Plus the woman is now in her early 60s! Leave her alone! She looks better than you will in your 60s she looks far from it. She is not screeching she has a naturally loud voice, why even give her a mic? Never is...well she is not a vulgar person every one has there moments but she gives me chills all the time
@roccoh21 Yes she got bad reviews but Patti LuPone always gets bad reviews xD (minus Gypsy). I think the audience is always right since they're the ones paid to see the show. It was a long while AFTER those reviews came out with the audience screaming like this every night in the meantime when Andrew Lloyd Weber decided to replace her. It was idiotic to listen to the reviews over the audience who pay for the show and keeps food on Lloyd Weber's plate. Good reviews or not the audience wanted HER.
@roccoh21 - she was bucketed by the same moron critics who panned Les Mis before the public ignored them and went on to make Les Mis one of the most successful shows ever. The fact that they were so stupid and inept they thought nothing of bucketing Patti means nothing. Anyone who knows anything about great musical stars of the last forty years knows Patti's name is up there right alongside the best of them.
I saw her in the role about three weeks after it opened. I've never seen anyone else do a song so well in a musical - she was electrifying! Thanks for putting this up.
Where is this clip taken from? A preview performance vid? The only vid that I know of with Patti so far is the black and white one from the house camera, but there must be others...
There really is no question that she is vocally undefeated. However I never found her to be that compelling of an actress, especially in this part. Watch Betty Buckley in this and you'll see what I mean.
Are there any other Normas who can do the last section without the key change? I just think it's so much more dramatic when she stays in the same key and soars at the end!!
so first of it's PATTI and GLENN and they are not even on this same level. There is no way to EVEN begin comparing them. Patti is an amazing, talented performer and Glenn is just... ugh!
I have seen both live so I can compare ty. I think Patty is a great talent but What I am saying is the role on film would call for a more crazed norma aka Gloria Swanson version which Glen nailed and won awards for cough cough. Again I am not trying to diss Patty cause I love her to but in this role clearly glen pwns it!
I love Patti too, but I feel that I have to defend Glenn a little because I am a fan of her too. Glenn isn't a great singer, but she's a GREAT actress, I think. She's excellent in "The World According to Garp", "Sarah Plain and Tall", "Fatal Attraction" among others. When I saw her Norma, I thought she acted it well. I felt sorry for Norma--but yes, she's NO singer. It's kind of like when Rex Harrison did "My Fair Lady." He's not really a singer either, but he played the part well, I thought.
no, it isNOT like Rex Harrison, his songs were written especially for him, an actor with a "sprechstimme" vocal range...on the other hand Sunset Boulevard's songs were obviously written for a BIG voice..I saw Patti in London in this show and she is the only one who did it "straight"..after that they all went for rather broad caricature, laughs less of a voice...Patti often touched raw nerves whereas later productions made her a mix of Cruella DeVile, Tallulah Bankhead and Mrs. Lovett....
I HATE the way every comment on Youtube turns into a war...I think that my comment about Rex Harrison and Glenn Close is appropriate in sense that they are both non-singers who starred in musicals. It doesn't matter that those songs were written for Rex. I'm sure that the producers of SB figured out the limits of Glenn's vocal range and adjusted the music to fit her. They would have had no choice but to do so--given that she couldn't sing like Patti.
Really? I thought it was the other way around? Poor Linda Balgord is the same way... Meanwhile, that hack Susan H. Schulman and Petula Clark keep getting a free ride... Well, NOT ON MY WATCH!!!!
@positivityforever, perhaps so... but it would appear that the audience who saw this particular performance would staunchly disagree with your assessment, wouldn't you agree?
Always a vocal powerhouse, she is. I've always preferred the ending of this number in the lower key, but she still sounds great and is lucky to be able to belt those high notes.
Oh dear sweet Jesus, that last note is heaven!
kewlbean 7 months ago
@kewlbean That's because she's the only woman who has ever sung this entire score in the original keys. With One Look was revised with a transposition downward on the last chorus when Patti left, so other actresses could sing it...but making it sort of anticlimactic. It's the Glenn Close revised score that every production uses. If you want the original score, I suggest the World Premier Recording with Patti. She's the only person to sing the entire show as written.
lcowles 2 months ago
I think Glenn Close's performance in Sunset Blvd. was very convincing. But IMO, she wasn't convincing as a 50-year-old woman who's acting 20, and ends up going nuts at the end of the show.
Instead, she was convincing as an elderly lunatic, who'[s a cross between the Wicked Witch of the West and a deranged bag lady, She seemed like she'd gone completely nuts decades ago. An impressive transformation, sure...but I don't know what on earth she transformed into. It certainly wasn't Norma Desmond.
fidelio1980 7 months ago
I love Patti, but for this role, I really do think Glenn Close was much better. Yes, Glenn does not have Patti's pipes, but Glenn really captured the many layers of Norma and acted it out brilliantly. For the role of Norma, I don't think being the best singer is as important as showing her character. Remember, Norma is not a young woman in Sunset and somehow, Glenn's voice suited that character more.
lovesspicychicken 7 months ago 3
This has been flagged as spam show
@EZYCHEESY Such a delusional fag. Hurry up and die of AIDS already, every time you open your vile herpes infested mouth, you set the gay rights movement back another 20 years.
PS - Did Patti send you that autographed restraining order yet? :)
emlodik 10 months ago
@emlodik that was a wicked thing to say. may god forgive you.
loggats 10 months ago
@loggats Oh, cry cry, bitch bitch. That HIV-positive buttslut deserves everything he gets.
emlodik 10 months ago
@EZYCHEESY i loved patti and saw her may times in london, but i have also seen kathryn evans who did the revival a couple of years ago, and she outsang all of them, i hear it may be trabsferring to broadway if so go and see her she is amazing
garrychelsea 1 year ago
@garrychelsea Kathryn Evans definitely did not out-sing Patti, she was probably at best on a par with Glenn.
chrisclegg84 1 year ago
I think Glenn Close was excellent in the role, but Patti was superb too. More importantly, she had a contract, and ALW screwed her. That is the tragedy of the whole thing
hpd929 1 year ago
Okay I am so fucking sick of going to a video of Patti performing in Sunset Boulevard and having to read all these nasty comments. If you don't like her performance than WATCH SOMETHING ELSE! I mean seriously. If you don't like Patti then don't click on the video!!
by the way....if she was so terrible then why did she receive standing ovations and and Olivier Award nomination?
so finally graduate from Juilliard, win 2 Tony awards, an Olivier Award, and a Drama Desk award and then you can bash
AngelorPhantom1359 1 year ago 2
I am really disappointed that Andrew Lloyd Webber possibly has burned his bridges with Patti LuPone forever with the way he treated her in this production. If they come out with a film for this show, I'd prefer to see Patti. :-(
oneworldguy 1 year ago
@oneworldguy I know he treated her badly,it was embarrassing really.We had to endure the dull and over -hyped Sarah Brightman in Phantom just because at the time she was his wife.So it goes to show that it is often the case that its not your talent that counts but who you and that means in the biblical sense.
TZEITEL10 1 year ago
She is my favourite Norma
MrPoto00 1 year ago
@EZYCHEESY I saw Patti in "Evita" at 16. She was amazing. Her Momma Rose brilliant textured. Wonderful. Her Norma leaves me cold. I saw Betty Buckley and Glenn Close. Very different but the bested her in my opinion. "utter belt" isn't really a performance.
chocolatesouljah 1 year ago
@EZYCHEESY And yet, at the end of the day, Patti still sucks ass in this role. When she hits the high notes, it sounds as if her head might explode.
emlodik 1 year ago
For all of the queens praising LuPone, just why was she replaced?
The truth was that LuPone received scathing reviews in London. Between the New York Times and The Wal St. Journal there were 16...yes 16..paragraphs ripping her to shreds. I actually think this is her best work but that' relative. She's a screeching cow who is hard on the eyes and often so vulgar she makes me ill but this performance was a turning point.
roccoh21 1 year ago
@roccoh21 show us your pic.....bet ur not easy on anyone's eyes you stupid moron!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the way....lets compare your salary to the DIVA patti's...BAHAHA...I'm sure there's no comparison...after all.....u r the moron listening on You Tube and she's the one being listened to............BAHAHA YOU ARE STUPID
intomybrain12345 1 year ago
@roccoh21 Vulgar? Screeching cow?!?! I agree that she is awesome and the best but she is FAR from vulgar and she is NOT a screeching cow! Bet she looks a hell of a lot better than you :) Plus the woman is now in her early 60s! Leave her alone! She looks better than you will in your 60s she looks far from it. She is not screeching she has a naturally loud voice, why even give her a mic? Never is...well she is not a vulgar person every one has there moments but she gives me chills all the time
broadwayloverny10 1 year ago
@roccoh21 Yes she got bad reviews but Patti LuPone always gets bad reviews xD (minus Gypsy). I think the audience is always right since they're the ones paid to see the show. It was a long while AFTER those reviews came out with the audience screaming like this every night in the meantime when Andrew Lloyd Weber decided to replace her. It was idiotic to listen to the reviews over the audience who pay for the show and keeps food on Lloyd Weber's plate. Good reviews or not the audience wanted HER.
Selendomono 1 year ago
@Selendomono *the ones WHO pay to see the show. Slight typo
Selendomono 1 year ago
@roccoh21 - she was bucketed by the same moron critics who panned Les Mis before the public ignored them and went on to make Les Mis one of the most successful shows ever. The fact that they were so stupid and inept they thought nothing of bucketing Patti means nothing. Anyone who knows anything about great musical stars of the last forty years knows Patti's name is up there right alongside the best of them.
puppetoz 1 month ago
And yet Andrrew LLoyd Webber didn't let her do the role on Broadway, bad move, bad freakin' move
victor63 1 year ago
Elaine Paige - The Best ever Norma Desmond on stage
stepea1 1 year ago
Patti is flawless here very powerful - Diahann Carroll however remains the BEST NORMA DESMOND on stage
ramona2400 1 year ago
Diahann Carrol was the BEST NORMA EVER
ramona2400 1 year ago
I saw her in the role about three weeks after it opened. I've never seen anyone else do a song so well in a musical - she was electrifying! Thanks for putting this up.
interalia1 1 year ago
The usual shit we have come to expect from LuPone - pure belting with no attempt to get into character. No wonder she was sacked ! x
fellatio24 2 years ago
Patti is amazing.
MrMusicstone 2 years ago
Actually i changed my mind. ur right she does rely on her belting. But i love her belting!
MrMusicstone 2 years ago
Where is this clip taken from? A preview performance vid? The only vid that I know of with Patti so far is the black and white one from the house camera, but there must be others...
RShah0 2 years ago
@RShah0 It's from a preview.
HouseOnSunset 2 years ago
There really is no question that she is vocally undefeated. However I never found her to be that compelling of an actress, especially in this part. Watch Betty Buckley in this and you'll see what I mean.
Lindow 2 years ago
Are there any other Normas who can do the last section without the key change? I just think it's so much more dramatic when she stays in the same key and soars at the end!!
eyesopenuw 2 years ago
I sort of like the key change. It reflects Norma's mental instability.
RShah0 2 years ago
Linda Balgord did it without the key change as well on the 1st US tour
onlyalittlewicked 2 years ago
@eyesopenuw Linda Balgord and Debra Byrne did not require a key change.
HouseOnSunset 2 years ago
Oh, puh-leeze! There were so many better Normas! Helen Schneider, Simone Kleinsma and Linda Balgord come to mind..
emlodik 2 years ago
the dutch pia douwes and simone kleinsma are mutch better.! but she is really good
knuffelbeer96 2 years ago
Contrary to what the bitchy queens on this site will tell you, A LOT of people were better in the role than Patti.
emlodik 2 years ago
you're one of them, you know...
dsdffdsfdsdsffsd 2 years ago
Gaysian... The worst kind of gay! And you're living proof.
HouseOnSunset 2 years ago
fat.
dsdffdsfdsdsffsd 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
really fat.
dsdffdsfdsdsffsd 2 years ago
Manic depressive 40 year old schizo who should grow the hell up.
HouseOnSunset 2 years ago
you're one to talk, you're doing most of the name-calling here...
dsdffdsfdsdsffsd 2 years ago
At least my name calling is more creative.
HouseOnSunset 2 years ago
i'll give you that, let's call it a day... good night, emlodik
dsdffdsfdsdsffsd 2 years ago
Yeah... I never hid the fact that I'm emlodik. Oh, well, have a goodnight, Mr. Lee.
HouseOnSunset 2 years ago
I am a huge Patti fan but Glenn was unbelievable in that role.....she was sick when she recorded the Cd but on that stage she was ELECTRIC !!
Showtees 2 years ago
...^bYou can't right that down...was that your voice
oh dera.. must abve deen the bidoeeea!?
waynespeers 2 years ago
Brings a tear to my eye. Seriously WOW
Paul3689 2 years ago
Patty is awesome.Saw her in concert. But I will say I saw Glen in the role on Broadway and I liked Glens performance better. =)
chaksheba 2 years ago
so first of it's PATTI and GLENN and they are not even on this same level. There is no way to EVEN begin comparing them. Patti is an amazing, talented performer and Glenn is just... ugh!
ilovepattilupone 2 years ago
I have seen both live so I can compare ty. I think Patty is a great talent but What I am saying is the role on film would call for a more crazed norma aka Gloria Swanson version which Glen nailed and won awards for cough cough. Again I am not trying to diss Patty cause I love her to but in this role clearly glen pwns it!
chaksheba 2 years ago
you saw both live and you still can't spell their names correctly???? PATTI AND GLENN! =)
ilovepattilupone 2 years ago
I love Patti too, but I feel that I have to defend Glenn a little because I am a fan of her too. Glenn isn't a great singer, but she's a GREAT actress, I think. She's excellent in "The World According to Garp", "Sarah Plain and Tall", "Fatal Attraction" among others. When I saw her Norma, I thought she acted it well. I felt sorry for Norma--but yes, she's NO singer. It's kind of like when Rex Harrison did "My Fair Lady." He's not really a singer either, but he played the part well, I thought.
Scout987a 2 years ago 4
no, it isNOT like Rex Harrison, his songs were written especially for him, an actor with a "sprechstimme" vocal range...on the other hand Sunset Boulevard's songs were obviously written for a BIG voice..I saw Patti in London in this show and she is the only one who did it "straight"..after that they all went for rather broad caricature, laughs less of a voice...Patti often touched raw nerves whereas later productions made her a mix of Cruella DeVile, Tallulah Bankhead and Mrs. Lovett....
Dirkdebruyne 2 years ago
I HATE the way every comment on Youtube turns into a war...I think that my comment about Rex Harrison and Glenn Close is appropriate in sense that they are both non-singers who starred in musicals. It doesn't matter that those songs were written for Rex. I'm sure that the producers of SB figured out the limits of Glenn's vocal range and adjusted the music to fit her. They would have had no choice but to do so--given that she couldn't sing like Patti.
Scout987a 2 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
why does she not even TRY to act ! So overrated, Minimal talent. Grating voice like a blocked dishwasher
fellatio24 3 years ago
ohhhhhh yes
mickau4c 2 years ago
LOL at all the bitchy theatre queers marking down ANYONE who is critical of Patti!
emlodik 3 years ago 5
They also mark down anyone who is critical of Betty Buckley
rogueromulan 3 years ago
Really? I thought it was the other way around? Poor Linda Balgord is the same way... Meanwhile, that hack Susan H. Schulman and Petula Clark keep getting a free ride... Well, NOT ON MY WATCH!!!!
emlodik 3 years ago
betty buckley?... please.
ilovepattilupone 2 years ago
patti awesome
gabsylv 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Oh, puh-leeze! There were so many better Normas! Helen Schneider comes to mind...
HouseOnSunset 3 years ago
cool first illegal live footage ive seen. great going ^_^
Selendomono 3 years ago
Wait, how did you screw up the editing? Looks fine.
HouseOnSunset 3 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Let's be honest, Linda Balgord and Helen Schneider run rings around Patti. No offense to you, Nick, but come on!
HouseOnSunset 3 years ago
Well, I agree about Helen, but Linda's voice is not really my cup of tea. A bit too squeaky for my taste.
AriesModerator 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Squeeky? I find her a lot more melodic and operatic in this song than Patti.
HouseOnSunset 3 years ago
A matter of preference, I suppose. :-)
AriesModerator 3 years ago 9
Maybe so....
HouseOnSunset 3 years ago
@AriesModerator
Simply so because I prefer Glenn Close myself. Yes Patti can sing but when it comes to personifying that chararcter she falls short & far.
positivityforever 1 year ago
@positivityforever, perhaps so... but it would appear that the audience who saw this particular performance would staunchly disagree with your assessment, wouldn't you agree?
oneworldguy 1 year ago
@positivityforever I agree. Powerful voice, but I don't feel anything at all otherwise.
Rosannasfriend 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Agreed
bm237 3 years ago
what are you talking about she ALWAYS does. i was just stating it.
laluponeista88 3 years ago
Always a vocal powerhouse, she is. I've always preferred the ending of this number in the lower key, but she still sounds great and is lucky to be able to belt those high notes.
bm237 3 years ago
you rock my socks.
and so does Patti <333333333
laluponeista88 3 years ago
"and so does Patti <333333333"
When has she not?
crvrslpntddsstrs 3 years ago