1,484 posts
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Post by theatrefan62 on May 19, 2023 12:52:40 GMT
The difference is its not just about actual age, its playing age. People these days look younger, and age is part of the story in Sunset, more so than MFL. Did Patti/Betty/Elaine/Glenn all read as too young by anyone when they played their original performances? Out of interest? (they were a very similar age to Nicole now) Or is this all about perception?! Debra Byrne who played the role opposite Hugh Jackman in Melbourne was only about 38 when she was given the role. Are we a bit too age-critical now?! I don't think so, but again in the 90s people looked older than they do now. If you watch TV shows from the time you notice it. It stands out even more with Nicole because she looks young anyway. I think around mid 50s tends to work better for Norma, and it's a great role for an actress of that age. There aren't exactly many good roles for actresses that age. |
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Post by rosscoe on May 19, 2023 13:49:52 GMT
Debra Byrne in the Australian production was miscast. She was a mess. Her understudy Maria Mercedes was stunning and should have been Norma from the start, her singing and acting made for a thrilling night of theatre.
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Post by sph on May 19, 2023 13:54:35 GMT
I don't know - she may be the same age as previous Normas, but she's still strikingly beautiful. If a Norma who looked like Nicole said she was making "a return" you'd believe it! But maybe that's the new concept.
That being said, I'll certainly be seeing this! Although I'm intrigued to find out if there'll be an alternate...
I'm just not keen on the phrases like "reimagined for a new generation". Ok fine, but it's still 1950, they don't need to reinvent the wheel.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on May 19, 2023 13:59:22 GMT
Aspects was described as being reimagined but has it been? I think people are using reimagined when they mean redesigned. The former (to me) means reinterpreted whilst the latter means it’s going to look different.
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Post by anthony40 on May 19, 2023 14:01:32 GMT
Debra Byrne in the Australian production was miscast. She was a mess. Her understudy Maria Mercedes was stunning and should have been Norma from the start, her singing and acting made for a thrilling night of theatre. What you're saying very well have been the case. I did not see it so am not in a position to comment. What I can comment on is the fact that Debra Byrne is a name known throughout Australia. Maria Mercedes is not and a name sells seats. Simple fact. In the lat 70's, early 80's we has nation television show called Young Talent Time (kinda like The Mickey Mouse Club) where a bunch of kids would perform current radio hits in pastel coloured outfits and choreographed routines. As the kids got to a certain age, they left and were replaced by others Debra Byrne was one of the very first (at the time) kids. Tina Arena is a graduate of Young Talent Time. As is Dannii Minogue. At the time Kyle was still Charlene on Neighbours and went on Young Talent Time to perform the Eurythmics classic 'Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves' and the rest is history! |
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Post by Jon on May 19, 2023 14:05:44 GMT
I do wonder why people are so against shows being reimagined. Theatre isn't a museum piece that is the same for all eternity.
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Post by newyorkcityboy on May 19, 2023 14:22:23 GMT
Debra Byrne in the Australian production was miscast. She was a mess. Her understudy Maria Mercedes was stunning and should have been Norma from the start, her singing and acting made for a thrilling night of theatre. Interesting to know. She sounds ok on the CD. Similar to Glenn performance wise, tho with a stronger voice. The last note in particular is great. |
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19,778 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on May 19, 2023 14:30:07 GMT
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118 posts
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Post by rosscoe on May 19, 2023 14:32:40 GMT
Debra Byrne in the Australian production was miscast. She was a mess. Her understudy Maria Mercedes was stunning and should have been Norma from the start, her singing and acting made for a thrilling night of theatre. What you're saying very well have been the case. I did not see it so am not in a position to comment. What I can comment on is the fact that Debra Byrne is a name known throughout Australia. Maria Mercedes is not and a name sells seats. Simple fact. In the lat 70's, early 80's we has nation television show called Young Talent Time (kinda like The Mickey Mouse Club) where a bunch of kids would perform current radio hits in pastel coloured outfits and choreographed routines. As the kids got to a certain age, they left and were replaced by others Debra Byrne was one of the very first (at the time) kids. Tina Arena is a graduate of Young Talent Time. As is Dannii Minogue. At the time Kyle was still Charlene on Neighbours and went on Young Talent Time to perform the Eurythmics classic 'Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves' and the rest is history! Um I’m Australian and saw the production multiple times with both Debra and Maria ( Maria who did the Monday night shows where always sold out, tickets for Debra’s where always available) Worked with Tina Arena on a couple of productions as well, Joseph and Cabaret. Debra in Cats and Les Mis she was stunning, Sunset with her not so. |
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Post by theatrelover97 on May 19, 2023 14:33:41 GMT
I think some remimagining works but others don't. It varies a lot. But I think ultimately more people prefer more traditional adaptions. Conventionally is profitably and popular.
As a side note My Fair Lady wasn't reimiginated but I suspect the colour blind casting made some potential audiences think it was going to be.
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Post by theatreian on May 19, 2023 14:34:50 GMT
Thanks for that. Signed up! |
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Post by westlondon on May 19, 2023 14:35:22 GMT
I do wonder why people are so against shows being reimagined. Theatre isn't a museum piece that is the same for all eternity. Quite. And Sunset is in no way a perfect show. I’ve never quite got over the fact that aside from the title song, the tune of which we hear all through act 1, there are only two new songs in Act 2 (AIWNSG and Too much in Love)…everything else is a reprise. I always feel like the the opening 20 minutes is wonderful and the rest is all a bit lazy. Just my opinion of course. |
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Post by rosscoe on May 19, 2023 14:39:41 GMT
Sorry didn’t mean to go so far off topic
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Post by sph on May 19, 2023 15:20:31 GMT
I do wonder why people are so against shows being reimagined. Theatre isn't a museum piece that is the same for all eternity. No, but often when a show is "reimagined" it loses the intentions of its writers. If a show becomes so reworked that it has lost all sense of its basic plot, why not just write something new altogether? I'm not saying that's what's happening here, but it's why the word "reimagined" in theatre can give many pause for thought. You could "reimagine" Harry Potter so that all the characters are transferred to a regular American high school, but it would lose everything that it was in the process. |
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Post by Jon on May 19, 2023 15:27:25 GMT
I do wonder why people are so against shows being reimagined. Theatre isn't a museum piece that is the same for all eternity. No, but often when a show is "reimagined" it loses the intentions of its writers. If a show becomes so reworked that it has lost all sense of its basic plot, why not just write something new altogether? I'm not saying that's what's happening here, but it's why the word "reimagined" in theatre can give many pause for thought. You could "reimagine" Harry Potter so that all the characters are transferred to a regular American high school, but it would lose everything that it was in the process. The thing about the musical version of Sunset is that it's a carbon copy of the movie but with songs and while some may like that, there is room for reinterpretation, it's been 30 years and surely that allows a new generation to look at it with fresh eyes. Daniel Fish's Oklahoma! was a way of bringing new perpective into a show that is 80 years old as was Cabaret by Rebecca Frecknall. If we stuck so religiously to how it was originally done then we wouldn't have had fresh revivals of plays like A View From the Bridge or A Streetcar Named Desire. |
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Post by newyorkcityboy on May 19, 2023 15:54:38 GMT
No, but often when a show is "reimagined" it loses the intentions of its writers. If a show becomes so reworked that it has lost all sense of its basic plot, why not just write something new altogether? I'm not saying that's what's happening here, but it's why the word "reimagined" in theatre can give many pause for thought. You could "reimagine" Harry Potter so that all the characters are transferred to a regular American high school, but it would lose everything that it was in the process. The thing about the musical version of Sunset is that it's a carbon copy of the movie but with songs and while some may like that, there is room for reinterpretation, it's been 30 years and surely that allows a new generation to look at it with fresh eyes. Daniel Fish's Oklahoma! was a way of bringing new perpective into a show that is 80 years old as was Cabaret by Rebecca Frecknall. If we stuck so religiously to how it was originally done then we wouldn't have had fresh revivals of plays like A View From the Bridge or A Streetcar Named Desire. It depends whether you think the original needs improving on, I guess. I’m liking the idea of a more intimate Sunset; it doesn’t need a big set. With only a few major characters they tend to get a bit lost if the house is too vast. Smaller productions, emphasising the human drama, have been quite successful. Close up, to coin a phrase 😀 |
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Post by ilovewemusicals on May 19, 2023 16:25:59 GMT
Don’t cha wish your pictures were big like me?
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Post by danb on May 19, 2023 16:43:50 GMT
I do wonder why people are so against shows being reimagined. Theatre isn't a museum piece that is the same for all eternity. Quite. And Sunset is in no way a perfect show. I’ve never quite got over the fact that aside from the title song, the tune of which we hear all through act 1, there are only two new songs in Act 2 (AIWNSG and Too much in Love)…everything else is a reprise. I always feel like the the opening 20 minutes is wonderful and the rest is all a bit lazy. Just my opinion of course. It gets away with it by all the underscoring and ‘incidental’ music being luscious strings and atmospheric swells. Whilst they are mostly variations of the same tune they ain’t half gorgeous. This was my issue with the Watermill version…there wasn’t really enough power to ‘swell’. |
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Post by AddisonMizner on May 19, 2023 16:52:03 GMT
Not a fan of Nicole’s casting. She just seems totally wrong for the role for me, and I’m not entirely convinced she will be able to act it with any nuance. Grizabella and Norma aren’t really comparable at all.
That being said, I am still planning on going to see this as I love SUNSET, and I am interested to see what Jamie Lloyd will do with it. It still smarts that I never got to see his production of EVITA.
I just hope that the orchestra is big, and we don’t end up with a keyboard and tin whistle!
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Post by A.Ham on May 19, 2023 17:43:20 GMT
So having signed up for priority, does anyone know when booking opens? The confirmation email gives barely any information at all!
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19,778 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on May 19, 2023 17:53:17 GMT
Quite. And Sunset is in no way a perfect show. I’ve never quite got over the fact that aside from the title song, the tune of which we hear all through act 1, there are only two new songs in Act 2 (AIWNSG and Too much in Love)…everything else is a reprise. I always feel like the the opening 20 minutes is wonderful and the rest is all a bit lazy. Just my opinion of course. It gets away with it by all the underscoring and ‘incidental’ music being luscious strings and atmospheric swells. Whilst they are mostly variations of the same tune they ain’t half gorgeous. This was my issue with the Watermill version…there wasn’t really enough power to ‘swell’. This is the reason why I love it and it’s probably my favourite. It’s just so lush and cinematic. |
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Post by distantcousin on May 19, 2023 18:18:44 GMT
I do wonder why people are so against shows being reimagined. Theatre isn't a museum piece that is the same for all eternity. Quite. And Sunset is in no way a perfect show. I’ve never quite got over the fact that aside from the title song, the tune of which we hear all through act 1, there are only two new songs in Act 2 (AIWNSG and Too much in Love)…everything else is a reprise. I always feel like the the opening 20 minutes is wonderful and the rest is all a bit lazy. Just my opinion of course.
Much as I love it, I must admit that is its biggest weakness.
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Post by distantcousin on May 19, 2023 18:19:20 GMT
Not a fan of Nicole’s casting. She just seems totally wrong for the role for me, and I’m not entirely convinced she will be able to act it with any nuance. Grizabella and Norma aren’t really comparable at all. That being said, I am still planning on going to see this as I love SUNSET, and I am interested to see what Jamie Lloyd will do with it. It still smarts that I never got to see his production of EVITA. I just hope that the orchestra is big, and we don’t end up with a keyboard and tin whistle!
Completely my stance too.
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Post by jay78uk on May 19, 2023 18:32:54 GMT
Quite. And Sunset is in no way a perfect show. I’ve never quite got over the fact that aside from the title song, the tune of which we hear all through act 1, there are only two new songs in Act 2 (AIWNSG and Too much in Love)…everything else is a reprise. I always feel like the the opening 20 minutes is wonderful and the rest is all a bit lazy. Just my opinion of course. It gets away with it by all the underscoring and ‘incidental’ music being luscious strings and atmospheric swells. Whilst they are mostly variations of the same tune they ain’t half gorgeous. This was my issue with the Watermill version…there wasn’t really enough power to ‘swell’. I agree- I love Sunset but when I saw the cut down version in the west end, boy was th score repetitive... I felt I was being hammered! Which is such a shame as I love the score. It needs something approaching a full orchestra to work. |
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Post by theatremiss on May 19, 2023 18:45:50 GMT
I just don't see how you do this without Joe being like...19 if you've got Nicole as Norma. I don't want it but I can see them casting someone like Jordan Luke Gage I’m hoping to god there’ll be a decent actor playing Joe. If it was Gage that would be another absolute reason for me not to go |
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