Song:With One Look
Album:Highlights From Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard: American Premier Recording Highlights
Most folks know actress Glenn Close from her long career in films and TV. But you may not know that she started out in Broadway musicals in the mid-70s. She has won three Tony Awards including one for her performance as Norma Desmond in the 1995 production of Sunset Boulevard. She was born Mar. 19, 1947 in Greenwich, CT. Her father was personal physician to the president of Zaire. Her parents joined the religious group Moral Re-Armarment (MRA) in the 50s and in the 60s, Glenn toured with the MRA musical group Up With People. She left MRA and majored in theatre at William & Mary College. She moved to New York and made her Broadway debut in 1974. She made her Broadway musical debut in the 1976 Richard Rodgers show Rex which was about Henry VIII. The show flopped and only ran six weeks. Then she was nominated for a Tony for the 1980 Cy Coleman musical Barnum. She made her film debut in the 1982 film The World According To Garp and concentrated on films and TV until she returned to musicals with Sunset Boulevard in 1993. The star of the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson, turned it into a musical in the 50s but Paramount would not allow it. Then Stephen Sondheim approached Sunset Boulevard writer director Billy Wilder about turning it into a musical. Wilder thought it should be an opera so Sondheim wasn't interested. By the 70s, veteran Broadway producer director Hal Prince owned the theatrical rights to Sunset Boulevard. Andrew Lloyd Webber wanted to write the show but didn't get around to it until 1990. The show premiered in London in 1992 with Patti LuPone playing Norma. After some revisions, the show ran in London's West End for a year. Then the show premiered in Los Angeles in 1993 starring Glenn Close. It ran for a year and then Close was moved to the Broadway production. This budget CD is highlights from the Los Angeles production. Close won a Tony for her Broadway performance. Faye Dunaway replaced Close in the Los Angeles show but was fired and then sued Webber. Patti LuPone was promised the lead in the Broadway production and sued Webber when she didn't get it. Elaine Paige, Betty Buckley and Petula Clark have all played Norma Desmond either in London or on Broadway. The show was a hit but lost money because it was expensive to stage. The last time Sunset Boulevard was revived was in 2008 in London. Glenn Close continues to appear in films and TV and currently stars in the TV series Damages. Her appearance in Sunset Boulevard was controversial because she is not perceived as a singer. But I think she did well. And she did win a Tony. Here's Glenn Close performing With One Look at Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th Birthday Concert at Royal Albert Hall in London 1998.
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