Sunset Boulevard (ENO)

ENO's Twitter feed says "We hope to announce [Glenn's] return tomorrow"

Maybe Patti Lupone sabotaged her when she was at the Colleseum two nights ago

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.

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.

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.

Prince had "flu".

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? 

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?!?!?!?

I think I might pop around and get myself a ticket to see Ria!

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!!!

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!