[matonad44]

Who did you like better in the role of Norma Desmond?

(and why)

[PAMIE]

[The Very Angry Woman]

Who's Glen Close?

[Salome]

Glenn hands down. she becomes that role. the depth,the mannerisms,her voice is perfect for it..thats norma singing not glenn.. the role is one of her finest.

LuPone over oes it and sounds like a parody of herself. she isnbt playing Norma she is playing Patti. she is dreadful in the role.

[jcstar]

I vote for Petula Clarke.

Andy.

[matonad44]

[Salome]

[jcstar]

[Natalie]

I am not a big fan of Betty Buckley, but I think that she did a decent job.

The reason I prefer LuPone is that I think she most exemplified the spirit that Gloria Swanson brought to the original film. The character must be OVER THE TOP and Patti LuPone did that exceedingly well. But because Norma Desmond is SO overwhelmingly a "self-caricature" of demented Diva, it's a tough role to play. How can you put a personal stamp on the character without tonining her down?

Ultimately, I vote for Patti.

[Salome]

actually glenn CLose was much closer to the Swanson style than Lupone was. Glenn played an agin silent film queen. Patti played well..Patti overacting.

i saw both.Patti was embarassing in the role.

[matonad44]

[lalala]

She's allowed - just because you don't agree doesn't mean that her point isn't just as valuable as people saying "patti's great" over and over.

I think Glenn Close is a far better Norma as well. The 'face' of Norma is hugely important, both symbolically and in characterisation. Glenn Close's facial expression captures so much - in an instant, she can be tender, beautiful, demented, crazily intense, powerful.. you name it, she can be it. Plus, she can sing, rather well.

[DefyGravityFan]

I saw Patti in London in 1993 and Glenn in LA in 1994. Patti was SO much better! I don't know if it was a director's choice or Glenn's, but Glenn's Norma Desmond seemed like such a troll running around on the stage. Not the regal, but washed-up, actress that Norma was supposed to be.

Patti seemed to portray the character so much more!

[Salome]

[DefyGravityFan]

[Da_Dark_Dude]

[Dvarg]

I don't like the musical at all, it bores me numb after a few songs, but I nevertheless prefer Glenn Close. It isn't so much the two actresses personally, as it is the entire recording working against LuPone. I also think the text is so wooden that it takes much acting to overcome it. I'm sure LuPone sings adequately, but she isn't able to make the text believable. In that matter, Close struggles too, but at least she makes it come through slightly less inane.

[RTTugger1977]

Put me down for a spot on the 'being partial to Diahann Carroll and Betty Buckley' wagon.

Diahann Carroll because I actually saw her as Norma Desmond, and Betty Buckley...well, just because she's Betty Buckley, and the footage I have seen of her as Norma was pretty damn fierce.

[duchessina]

I chose Lupone.
I know she's not the better actress, but she sings better then Glenn.

[santtu]

Glenn Close.

Because great acting can cover not-so-great singing. But great singing doesn't rescue if acting is bad.

[DefyGravityFan]

I had the opportunity to see SB with the original cast in London and then again with Glenn Close when it first came out in LA...

Patti gave a great rendition of Norma Desmond....although washed up, it didn't phase her delusional pride...

On the other hand, Glenn Close ran around the stage hunched over 1/2 the time, giving her Norma this "troll-like" quality. My husband, who loved GC in "Barnum," didn't like her rendition of Norma at all. I don't know if this was a director's choice or Glenn's, but it was a bad choice nonetheless.

For me Patti commanded the stage and exemplified ND to the fullest!

[musictheatre00]

I never saw Sunset Blvd., but I saw each of their renditionsof one of the songs from the show, I would have to watch the two again to place in an opinion but I just thought that this points how interesting theatre iswhen it comes to the really talented people, there really isn't one right or wrong way of doing things, and the best performance sometimes has to do with what a person prefers, however, I think the only true way of knowing who did their job is the actor, who knows internally if they are giving their all and focusing hard on their role.

[Salome]