by Nathaniel R
She's baaaa-aaack. It's AS IF WE NEVER SAID GOODBYE
You may have heard that plans are afoot (again) to bring Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard musical to the big screen. It will be a Paramount Pictures production. For giggles, I was attempting to find an old article from the last time rumors spread that Glenn Close was going to transfer her Tony success to the big screen and republish it nearly intact "As If We Never Said Goodbye" to this rumor (haha. I'm here all week.) Alas, the article hid itself though I remember writing it. But what year to even search for such a thing? This rumor is perennial...
Sunset Blvd famously began its cultural life as an original noir from Billy Wilder in 1950 -- only one of the greatest movies of all time, no biggie. Fortyish years later it was musicalized by then hit-maker Andrew Lloyd Webber. Within its first three years or productions the musical was beset by all sort of offstage drama regarding its leading lady (Ria Jones played the role in its first abridged showcase in 1991 and when it went to traditional theaters Patti Lupone took over. Glenn Close replaced her for the Broadway run sparking a lawsuit from LuPone! Since then the role of Norma Desmond, which will forever belong to Gloria Swanson from the 1950 film, has gone through other actresses (including Diahann Carroll and Betty Buckley) but came back round to Broadway again with Glenn Close reprising her role more than twenty years later.
Gloria Swanson was 51 years old when Sunset Blvd hit theaters in 1950 and Glenn Close was 48 years old when she won the Tony for the same role on Broadway. Rumors have been blooming and dying ever since that she'll reprise the role on screen. Glenn Close is now 70 years old but the beauty of Norma Desmond is that she is, in an ironic sort of way, ageless. The actress playing her need only be a 'woman of a certain age' who prefers living within her more glamorous past and ignoring the reality of the now.
Stage Joe Gillis's Kevin Anderson (early 90s), John Barrowman & Hugh Jackman (mid 90s), Michael Xavier (Broadway revival)
[CAST THIS TANGENT: As for who might direct or play the male co-lead Joe Gillis, there is only speculation and no actual news. Michael Xavier played the role in the Broadway revival but it's worth noting that a bonafide movie star Hugh Jackman also played this role on stage (albeit before the bonafide movie stardom). Who would you cast for a 2018 film version to follow in his footsteps or would you just go with Jackman since if Norma has aged up maybe her younger man can get older, too? /TANGENT]
I may not have much personal affection for this stage musical (like most of Webber's musicals the ratio of good songs to filler is agonizing) but let's hope it comes to film anyway. There's always a chance it could be improved with nips and tucks ...and a new song or two? As for whether or not Glenn Close could ever win that long elusive Oscar for it? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. It bears repeating that Gloria Swanson lost and wouldn't it be strange for someone else to win Hollywood's greatest honor by revamping her signature role?
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