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Post by d'James on Apr 22, 2016 16:21:15 GMT
I'd like to see Cate Blanchett do it. Not sure if she can sing at all though. Is that a prerequisite? It'd be nice if she could convincingly sing the songs - even though Glenn struggled on Tuesday, she was mostly in tune and acted well at the same time. Cate has a lovely tone to her voice when speaking so I'd love to hear her sing. |
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Post by bramble on Apr 22, 2016 16:29:04 GMT
I sawRia last night. She sang it superbly. It is the way Gradelitten the producers are dealing with it that annoys. They should have been prepared for an elderly performer not to cope with 8 shows. They should have made it quite clear there would be no exchange or refund. And the Collisseum could have done more front of house to let people know. But Ria let no one down.
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Post by n1david on Apr 22, 2016 16:29:53 GMT
ENO's Twitter feed says "We hope to announce [Glenn's] return tomorrow"
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 22, 2016 16:37:12 GMT
ENO's Twitter feed says "We hope to announce [Glenn's] return tomorrow" That means she WILL be back tomorrow. Foolish to say it otherwise. Shes probably pretty much much ok now, but they're going for belt and braces and an extra night off in the hope the problem won't return. |
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Post by theatre-turtle on Apr 22, 2016 16:39:43 GMT
Maybe Patti Lupone sabotaged her when she was at the Colleseum two nights ago
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Post by anthony40 on Apr 22, 2016 16:42:51 GMT
Maybe Patti Lupone sabotaged her when she was at the Colleseum two nights ago Lol! With One Look n' all |
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Post by foxa on Apr 22, 2016 16:45:19 GMT
Yeah, it is tricky if you've booked hoping to see someone in particular. I did a rare top price booking to see The Producers and had bought four tickets for all us to go as a big treat. And Nathan Lane was off. And someone we'd never heard of - Cory English - was on. But, you know, we went and had a great time and my only regret is that I was sulky and graceless for about a half hour when I found out. (Oh and also I blow a raspberry whenever I see Nathan Lane on the screen. I sort of regret that too. I should stop. ;-)
I was glad to see Ria Jones got a positive mention in the Standard for going on - it's a hell of a gig.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 22, 2016 16:46:34 GMT
Maybe Patti Lupone sabotaged her when she was at the Colleseum two nights ago Patti morphs into the Phantom of the Opera, putting something in the diva's drink to make her croak  |
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Post by chris on Apr 22, 2016 16:51:50 GMT
I have to say that, in some respects, I am not neutral in this debate. I love the show and I am happy to see “Sunset Boulevard”, regardless of who is playing Norma. In a way, I enjoyed last night more because I was getting to see the debut performance of a ‘new’ Norma, something I find fascinating. I saw the first nights of Elaine Paige, Petula Clark, Jill Martin and Rita Moreno as Norma, so it was a real joy to get to see another first show. I have seen the show with Glenn Close earlier in the run and I suspect I may have been more disappointed if I hadn’t.
I thought the ENO handled the situation as well as they could have done in the circumstances. I understand the decision was made at lunchtime that Glenn would be unable to perform. There were notices in the foyer and programme insets, too. I think that some people’s behaviour was unacceptable. It is not reasonable to shout at programme sellers about Miss Close’s absence. Bravo to the friend of Ria Jones who I heard telling an unhappy customer that they would really enjoy the show. The ENO staff all stuck firmly to the line to email the address on the tickets and they would pass correspondence onto the producers. At the start of the show a member of staff came on to the stage to announce that Glenn Close was unable to perform. I think it was awful that a large number of people booed and shouted ‘can we have our money back’ at this point. It must have been distressing for any member of cast who heard that. When he announced that we were in for a treat with Ria Jones’ performance, there was a large cheer. Again, during the interval there were groups of the audience being rude to ENO staff who all seemed to remain polite, calm and professional. I am not sure what people expected: to drag Glenn Close off her sick bed for her to give a sub-par performance (which she would probably have not been happy with) or to put on a well-rehearsed understudy who is a West End star in her own right and who gave a great performance. I'd imagine that Glenn Close would not have wanted to be absent if it could have been avoided.
In terms of the show itself, the cast were clearly aware of the need to be on top form in the absence of Glenn Close. I can find something I like in all of the actresses I have seen play Norma. Glenn is sharp, feisty, funny and struts around every inch the silent movie star. She may not be the best singer in the world (I rarely listen to the LA cast recording), but she lives the songs as Norma. Ria got a warm applause when she made her entrance and I enjoyed hearing the songs being sung by a singer. She has certainly rehearsed the role and understands the character, I don’t think you would have known it was her first performance if you hadn’t been told. Her Norma was still ‘big’ in her own mind and some of her characterisation was not dissimilar to Glenn’s; she wasn’t fragile like Betty or playing it for laughs Like Elaine. I though her performance in the final scene was amazing. Rather than becoming mad, she was almost child-like in this scene. Her accent was a bit odd, at times, she certainly didn’t sound particularly American to me, not that that is an issue. Max could have discovered her in Europe and taken her to America.
I think what was most impressive was that Ria clearly won over the members of the audience prepared to give her a chance. She has a complete set of Norma costumes, including a turban for her first scene, although I do wonder if she was actually wearing Glenn’s costumes. She gave a barnstorming performance of “With One Look’ and this received an ecstatic reaction from the audience. At the end I think she slipped out of character for a moment, she seemed overwhelmed by the response and gave a smile to the audience. I think the reaction she received seemed to settle her and she appeared to relax into the role from that point. She gave a poignant, moving performance of “As If We Never Said Goodbye”.
It was lovely to see the cast being so supportive of Ria; they clearly wanted her to do well in what must have been incredibly difficult circumstances for her. I loved it how Michael Xavier pushed her forward to take a final curtain call on her own and dropped to his knees in mock salute. He clearly enjoyed his performance opposite her.
I think the difficulty with “Sunset Boulevard’ is that, in many respects, it is a star show. The way that this has been marketed as Glenn Close in “Sunset Boulevard” and the picture of Glenn Close rather than of Glenn Close as Norma on the billboards don’t help. However, given the limited nature of the run, I don’t suppose it would have been practical to offer exchanges to everybody that wanted one. As others have said, the producers may well have made an unwise call in relying on Glenn doing all performances. Didn’t Karen Mason end up going on for Glenn very early in the LA run because she fell sick? Many of the seasoned theatre stars to play Norma ended up ceding a show a week to an alternate, so having Ria as an alternate with a planned schedule might have avoided a situation like last night, depending on why Glenn was off.
I know there will be disappointed people at the theatre again tonight; I hope that they will show respect to the ENO staff and to Ria Jones who, I know, will give a great performance as Norma. Whilst she may not have the stage presence of Glenn Close, her performance compensates in other ways.
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Post by danb on Apr 22, 2016 17:01:44 GMT
In summary (which I think it's about time we started doing...summarising), this is a highly expected turn of events which we are all getting caught up in the drama of. Glenn Close seems like a lovely woman from all of the press I've seen and read, who I'm sure is gutted to have let people down. As someone said earlier, would they rather have an appalling Glenn Close vocal or a fantastic u/s one? Let the woman get well and play out the rest of the shows without any drama. Yes there should have been a break in her schedule; be that Weds matinees or Thursday nights at a time of year when people drop like flies with Spring colds and 24 hour vomitty bugs. I still hope to go again (and hope Sue from Glos gets to go tomorrow too!). And relax......
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Post by theatremadness on Apr 22, 2016 17:06:22 GMT
A lovely post, chris. I understand that idea that many posters have suggested about having Ria as a scheduled alternative, but I think the problem with that, is that if people are complaining so much now about not seeing Glenn, no-one would've consciously booked to see a performance that Glenn Close wasn't going to be in! Not enough to fill the Coliseum for 1 or 2 shows a week for 5 weeks, anyhow. I really think they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. If she is back tomorrow, it's a bit of a risk having 2 nights off straight back into a 2-show day.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 22, 2016 17:11:33 GMT
According to The Stage she has flu.
You don't get over flu in two days.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 17:16:15 GMT
According to The Stage she has flu. You don't get over flu in two days. Prince had "flu". |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 17:16:26 GMT
According to The Stage she has flu. You don't get over flu in two days. I hope she can get back into it, I really do. I don't think it is fair on her as she is obviously enjoying it, but it is also not fair on the audiences who have paid to see just her. We can argue that people shouldn't pay to see just one person and blah blah blah but this is one of those cases where it has been so heavily made to be her show in promo and press that it is unfair on those who thought they would get to see her. |
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Post by danb on Apr 22, 2016 17:21:04 GMT
A lovely post, chris. I understand that idea that many posters have suggested about having Ria as a scheduled alternative, but I think the problem with that, is that if people are complaining so much now about not seeing Glenn, no-one would've consciously booked to see a performance that Glenn Close wasn't going to be in! Not enough to fill the Coliseum for 1 or 2 shows a week for 5 weeks, anyhow. I really think they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. If she is back tomorrow, it's a bit of a risk having 2 nights off straight back into a 2-show day. I kind of disagree with this, because I think enough people might book to see 'the original' Norma, even if it was just two pre-advertised nights dotted mid way through the run. I wonder if she'll just do the evening tomorrow? |
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Post by d'James on Apr 22, 2016 17:25:54 GMT
A lovely post, chris. I understand that idea that many posters have suggested about having Ria as a scheduled alternative, but I think the problem with that, is that if people are complaining so much now about not seeing Glenn, no-one would've consciously booked to see a performance that Glenn Close wasn't going to be in! Not enough to fill the Coliseum for 1 or 2 shows a week for 5 weeks, anyhow. I really think they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. If she is back tomorrow, it's a bit of a risk having 2 nights off straight back into a 2-show day. I can't agree. Yes, they wouldn't have made as much money on her scheduled 'off' shows, but I think there would've been enough interest just for the show for it to work. Alternatively they should've just gone for fewer shows a week and have Glenn perform at all of them. Again, they wouldn't have made as much money (so maybe I'm answering the question myself), but they *might* have been able to avoid all the hassle it sounds like the staff are getting. |
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Post by Phantom of London on Apr 22, 2016 17:26:10 GMT
I've decided to watch tonight's show. For those of you wondering both versions of mugs and prints are on sale tonight. If they sell out again of the Glenn Close - Sunset Boulevard Mugs, as a consolation can't they just sell the Mark Shenton Mugs instead?!?!?!? |
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Post by wickedgrin on Apr 22, 2016 17:43:28 GMT
I can see the same thing happening with "Audra McDonald is Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill" later in the year. Anyone who has You Tubed this (me) witnesses an amazing performance. Again you are not just paying to see the show......
More unhappy punters at the Coliseum tonight! There were plenty of signs about Glenn Close at the Box Office last night if you were picking up tickets but if you had already got tickets and not bought a programme it would have been easy to actually get into the auditorium without knowing Glenn was off.
I am so relieved I booked to see this early in the run - I did anticipate she would become vocally tired as the run progessed.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 17:44:35 GMT
I think I might pop around and get myself a ticket to see Ria!
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Post by theatremadness on Apr 22, 2016 17:46:06 GMT
Yes I can totally see where you're both coming from danb and james. Actually less shows a week might've been a good idea!!
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Post by theatremadness on Apr 22, 2016 17:47:21 GMT
I've decided to watch tonight's show. For those of you wondering both versions of mugs and prints are on sale tonight. If they sell out again of the Glenn Close - Sunset Boulevard Mugs, as a consolation can't they just sell the Mark Shenton Mugs instead?!?!?!? Just imagine....you spend hundreds of pounds to see Glenn Close, only to find out that she won't be performing. THEN, as a consolation, you get given a mug with Shenton's grinning mug on it - nightmare!!! |
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Post by d'James on Apr 22, 2016 17:54:56 GMT
Yes I can totally see where you're both coming from danb and james. Actually less shows a week might've been a good idea!! It might've worked, especially as these shows aren't completely selling out. |
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Post by wickedgrin on Apr 22, 2016 17:57:48 GMT
I expect the producers expected this to sell out though for a limited 5 week run. It's all about the money and doing 8 shows a week to maximise the revenue. 6 shows cuts into the profits massively!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 17:59:14 GMT
The trouble with Lady Day and Audra... she had no Understudy on Broadway. If she wasn't there, the show didn't happen.
It's the same with Hedwig... the occasion it did happen where JCM was ill, Michael C. Hall step-in fin at literally the last minute, but otherwise, they had no understudies'. If they weren't there, the show didn't happen.
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Post by wickedgrin on Apr 22, 2016 18:04:20 GMT
Ah didn't know that about Audra and Lady Day....
Let's hope Sheridan Smith isn't off in Funny Girl or the whole WE will be in meltdown!
Let's hope that Ria remains fit and well...otherwise the producers may have Elaine Paige on speed dial!!
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