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Norma Desmond face-off! Patti LuPone and Glenn Close share stage in tribute to Barbara Cook
Never thought I’d see the day.
Watching last night’s telecast of the Kennedy Center Honors on CBS, Glenn Close sang a beautiful ballad as part of a tribute to honoree Barbara Cook and was soon followed by Patti LuPone!
Flash back to the mid-90s when Close got to be Norma Desmond in the very first Broadway production of Sunset Boulevard – at LuPone’s expense.
It was a major triumph for Close who went on to win the Tony Award for lead actress in a musical. For LuPone who was supposed to be the first Norma on Broadway, it was the most disappointing experience of her career.
LuPone debuted the role in London and was contracted to take it to Broadway but Andrew Lloyd Webber very publicly fired her and put Close on Broadway after she triumphed in the LA production.
Patti’s Broadway career recovered with Tony nominations for Sweeney Todd and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and a Tony win (her second) for Gypsy.
But the experience left LuPone not a fan of Webber or Close as we learned in the “two whole raged-filled chapters” she gives the experience in her memoir which came out last year.
Of Close she wrote: “Do I think Glenn Close was complicit in what happened to me? … What I do know is that from the time she was announced, I never heard from her.”
So these former Norma Desmonds are clearly not the best of friends.
But there they were, just feet from each other during the finale of the Cook tribute. You wonder if they spoke during the rehearsal or after the show. Did Patti turn to Glenn and say: “You should have called” or something like that?
Maybe one day we’ll find out!
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
Ggreen says:
Patti likes to make every song her very own. With her lazy phrase singing style and her (sloppy) lack of breath control. Then Patti blames all her problems on everyone else, what a professional.
Kevin says:
What singer doesn’t like to make a song their own? Lack of breath control? She still seems to get hired so some people must think she is professional.
And Greg, Lloyd Webber had to pay LuPone around a Million Dollars as she had a contract for London and NYC.
paul says:
I love Patti and she will probably tell you differently, but she was not the best Norma. I was fortunate to see Buckley in the role and she owned it. If you go to YouTube and watch Buckley, Close, Paige and Patti perform “As If We Never Said Goodbye” I’m sure you’ll see Patti is very weak in her interpretation. One thing about Patti: She does have an EGO.
Nic says:
Still shaking my head at how Lloyd Webber could’ve tapped Close over LuPone. Of course, this is the man who brought us “Love Never Dies”…
jordan says:
There shouldn’t be talk about who was the better Norma between Patti and Glenn because they were in different productions of the show. The London production had to be closed for three weeks after Patti left because the show’s creative staff obviously realized there were things that needed to be improved beyond simply replacing the lead actress.
Lucie says:
Well, I do love Patti, I am not a professional, so I don’t care about possible bad phrasing or what the other people point out, I adore her voice and I like her type of personality…but to see Patti and Glenn as Norma…. I think Glenn is closer to this character, especially as an actress, because let’s face it, Glenn is one of the best actresses of this time. AND Glenn has such a special personal gentility. On contrary, Patti shows a big energy and kind of wildness… I’d die to see Patti in that musical but after all, I do like her in slightly different positions.
Miss Dietrich says:
Patti strings the words together lazily ‘idontwannabealown’ ‘Thatsallinupast’ like a drunk strumpet with a cold. She may be a diva but she doesn’t truly understand the fear and desperation in the role.
Ms Close on the other hand has every small detail intelligently thought out and lives Norma. At the end of the finale she ‘gasps!’ with a mixture of pride, arrogance, fear and relief. Even her diction is clipped and her face overly dramatic, as it would have needed to be in the silent era. Patti just sings another song. Close surrenders herself completely to Norma.
Broaway Baby Boy says:
I was told Glenn Close would only signed on to play Norma Desmond only if she could take the show to Broadway. Seeing that the shew show got mixed reviews (IN LONDON) ALW agreed.
Should be noted that ALW has not had a new hit since “Sunset”. Every A-LIST actress is too afraid to be a scapegoat if his production gets a bad review. ALW never blames himself for his short comings….
The Appleogist says:
Glenn Close owned Norma Desmond. The other actresses who portrayed the role were singing it and acting out; Glenn inhabited the role and used her voice along with the rest of her being.