|
Sunset Boulevard (Original Canadian Cast Recording) | 
 enlarge | Artists: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, Christopher Hampton
Label: Universal/Polygram
Category: Music
Buy New: $61.99
New (1) Used (7) Collectible (1) from $26.59
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 29451
Format: Import, Cast Recording
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 731452975720
EAN: 0731452975720
ASIN: B000007603
Release Date: January 8, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Tracks:
| • | Overture/I Guess It Was 5 A.M. | | • | Let's Have Lunch | | • | Car Chase | | • | Surrender | | • | With One Look | | • | The Greatest Star of All | | • | Every Movie's a Circus | | • | Girl Meets Boy | | • | New Ways to Dream | | • | The Lady's Paying | | • | The Perfect Year | | • | This Time Next Year | | • | New Year's Eve (Back at the House on Sunset) | | • | Sunset Boulevard | | • | As If We Never Said Goodbye | | • | Eternal Youth Is Worth a Little Suffering | | • | Too Much in Love to Care | | • | New Ways to Dream (Reprise) | | • | The Final Score - Webber, Andrew Lloy |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Album Details
The Canadian Cast Recording of the Popular Andrew Lloyd Webber Musical features the Talents of TV'S First Black Leading Lady Diahann Carroll in the Starring Role as Nora Desmond.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 A Gem August 17, 2006
B. J. Miceli (Boston, MA United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having seen "SB" onstage 4 times, twice with Betty Buckley in London, once with Glenn Close in NY, and once with Petula Clark in London, I certainly qualify as a fan of the show and the score. I have also heard the Patti LuPone and Diahann Carroll cast albums. I am prepared to say that Ms. Carroll and Ms. Buckley are the best Normas I have heard. Sadly, Buckley only recorded the songs on a limited issue CD. Both of those ladies steer a course between mannered overacting combined with undersinging which does not do justice to the almost operatic demands of Norma's numbers (that would be Glenn Close who sounds like a baritone one minute and an almost inaudible high soprano the next with notthing in between) and flat, underacting combined with a powerful, colorful voice which sounds like a woman of 35, not 50plus (that would be Patti LuPone).
On this release, Ms. Carroll's voice is rich and colorful, her acting grand in the old fashioned manner, but never becoming caricarture (Glenn Close). She creates a proud woman, deluded, fearful, craving love, but full of defense mechanisms. That is Norma. She creates sympathy and that is what a great interpreter does even with the most unsympathetic character. I also love the multicultural casting. Diahann has always been a black woman who is an actress, not a black actress. That is the key to her wide appeal, not to mention her beauty and elegance which come across even on record. You really believe that this Norma was once the greatest beauty and star in Hollywood.
Rex Smith is also excellent, singing smoothly and with the virility that Norma lusts after.
This is the best realization of this wonderful score. Listen with fresh ears and you will feel as I do, I am sure.
 THE `MIDDLE' RECORDING August 5, 2005
Marijan Bosnar (Croatia)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Sunset Boulevard is certainly one of the best scores Andrew Lloyd Webber has ever written. The composer admitted that it was his wish for a long time to make a musical based on the 1950 classic movie directed by Billy Wilder. After the successful 1991 revival of Joseph and the amazing Technicolor dreamcoat, Webber began working on Sunset together with Don Black, his long-time lyricist on "Tell me on a Sunday" and "Aspects of love" and Trevor Nunn as a director.
The plot concerns Norma Desmond, once a big silent movie star, who, after 20 years of being out of the picture business, still believes to be "the greatest star of all". She accidentally meets a 20 years younger unemployed writer Joe Gillis, who grabs the opportunity to edit the script she wrote for her big comeback to the screen, even though he knows it will never happen. That fact is also evident to Norma's butler, Max, but none of them has the heart to tell her the truth. Eventually Joe becomes Norma's lover and uses all the benefits that a life with an elderly and a rich woman has to offer. In the end, when Norma finds out that Paramount won't shoot her script and that Joe is in love with a young girl, she shoots him. When the police arrive at her house on Sunset Blvd, she is in a world of her own, completely unaware of who or where she is, thinking that she is in the studio making her comeback movie and says to all that she is "ready for her close-up". The plot itself is very beautiful and original, showing what can become of a human being when one can't deal with the rejection or acceptance of the present.
The show first opened in July 1993 in London and was later transferred to Broadway. This highlights album contains almost all the principal musical numbers performed by the 1995 Toronto Cast. Overall, the cast in question here is somewhere in the middle, the London one with Patti LuPone being the best, and the Broadway one with Glenn Close being at the bottom. The Toronto show was unique because it had a black Norma, played by Diahann Carroll. Ms. Carroll's Norma tends to be a bit quieter than the others. Her singing is not bad, although she has trouble stretching her voice entirely as the score demands it. Her best rendition is "As if we never said goodbye", because she puts all of her efforts into it. Rex Smith was not the best choice to play Joe, since he tends to be very over the top in his performances. Walter Charles and Anita Louise Combe give strong leads, but their counterparts in the 1993 London Cast recording are better.
As far as the score, it is simply beautiful. The rich and lush melodies perfectly bring the old Hollywood alive, and jazzy threads work perfectly. The themes tend to repeat themselves, but that is almost a Lloyd Webber standard, and here they form a nice whole so you don't notice it much. The two big numbers, "With one look" and "As if we never said goodbye", performed by Norma, are pure gold. Other melodies include "The greatest star of all", sung by Max; "The perfect year", Norma's hail to the New Year; "Sunset Boulevard" in which Joe sings about her new life with Norma; "Too much in love to care", a beautiful duet between Betty and Joe and many more. The orchestrations on this recording are wonderful, but the tempo is somewhat faster.
The CD comes with a booklet containing production pics, snippets from the production reviews and lyrics of the numbers.
Even though this is not such a bad recording of Sunset Blvd, I would recommend to anyone to buy the original 1993 London cast with Patti LuPone instead. It has almost the entire show and the singers are much better. The 1994 Broadway recording is the most complete of the three, however, it was ruined by the fact that Glenn Close cannot sing and she overacts the dialogue altogether. This highlights album makes a good addition for the collectors of the Sunset cast recordings.
Rex Smith shines as Joe Gillis February 20, 2005
Jellicle Cat
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I had the pleasure and the privilege of seeing the Toronto cast perform Sunset Boulevard in Toronto at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts. We had front row seats and immensely enjoyed the musical. I was amazing to see and hear Rex Smith in person. The orchestrations were beautiful!
I was lucky to have recently purchased the CD. I was absolutely blown away! The music quality is superb and the voices are crystal clear. I also enjoy the London cast album, but Rex Smith makes this album stand out. His voice is expressive and magical. I personally prefer Patti LuPone as Norma Desmond. Diahann Carroll gives Norma Desmond a wonderfully dramatic quality. I only wish the full album had been recorded. The music is haunting, touching, and an absolute pleasure to listen to.
Quite fantastic May 28, 2004
R. K. Storey (Cleveland, OH)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I purchased this version of the musical because it WASN'T the Patti Lupone or Glenn Close cast. . . and boy, am I glad I bought it. Rex Smith's fantastic voice and perfectly cynical delivery are a pleasure. His is the best rendition of "Sunset Boulevard" that I have heard yet. Diahann Carroll seems an odd choice, not so much because of her voice, but really because of who starred in silent movies back in the day. But since this is theater and not real life, it's really an inspired choice. Her voice may not be quite as strong as it used to be but she displays passion and vulnerability where appropriate. I also have a recording of the German version and have to say this one is preferrable. The German actress who plays Norma Desmond is much shriller than Ms. Carroll. The net effect is that she seems to be purely a lunatic, so you have a hard time believing that Joe Gillis likes her at all. Ms. Carroll, on the other hand, plays Norma as a lonely eccentric. As a result, her final scene is much more tragic.
The Greatest CD of All May 30, 2003
Stephanie Fry (Fallbrook,CA USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I feel that if you looking for somthing that is one of Andrew Loyd Webbers finest productions then you have come to the right place. This show has spectacular music and just mezmorizing words. This music has become a favorite among many of Webbers fans. This musical being on the heavier side as in the subject matter I feel that this is done well in that it keeps you going even up to the end. The quality of the sound is just wonderful and the people who perform it are just memorable. I will say that since this is not one of Webbers more popular shows but it did run on broadway for many years with astounding reviews when it was there. So if you are looking for something with great quality and style then look not further than Andrew Loyd Webbers "SUNSET BOULEVARD".
|
|
|
Used CDs | |
