Our friend from Croatia has his facts a little skewed.  They must have lost something in the translation.

I lived in L.A. at the time, and it was well known Ms. LuPone and Mr. Webber had not gotten along at all well during the London rehearsals of this show.  So much so that, in what I am sure was meant to be a slap in LuPone's face, the telephone "hold" music used for the ticket phones was Barbra Streisand's early recording of Norma's songs, not LuPone's.

As a matter of irrefutable fact, it was none other than Faye Dunaway who was announced for the L.A. run of the show.  It seems she had sold herself quite well to Mr. Webber.  Only problem was, reportedly, when rehearsals started in L.A. they found she couldn't even come close to singing the part.  He fired her, she sued, saying (and I'll never forget the quote) of Mr. Webber, "This is another capricious act by a capricious little man".  They settled out of court, La Faye got a couple buckets full of cash, which made her much more favorable to Mr. Webber, Glenn Close continued what is probably still her greatest performance, and La Faye and La LuPone sank into the background.

A curious footnote to all this is that Mr. Webber was apparently so turned off by all this, he never sanctioned a touring company for Sunset Blvd., and it therefore never toured the U.S., regardless of the reports that the touring produciton had been at least partially built and was eventually just written off.

As for this version of the American production, it sucks.  Stick to the original release.  Or, for that matter, give LuPone's version a try.  They're both good performances.  Patti sings the hell out of it, without a great deal of characterization (if you loved her in Evita.......), while Glenn acts the hell out of it, and actually sings it much better than you might suspect.

And if they ever make a movie of it (don't worry, they won't), I just hope they don't get that Rossum girl they used for "Phantom".
Our friend from Croatia has his facts a little skewed. They must have lost something in the translation. I lived in L. A. at the time, and it was well known Ms. LuPone and Mr. Webber had not gotten along at all well during the London rehearsals of this show. So much so that, in what I am sure was meant to be a slap in LuPone's face, the telephone "hold" music used for the ticket phones was Barbra Streisand's early recording of Norma's songs, not LuPone's. As a matter of irrefutable fact, it was none other than Faye Dunaway who was announced for the L. A. run of the show. It seems she had sold herself quite well to Mr. Webber. Only problem was, reportedly, when rehearsals started in L. A. they found she couldn't even come close to singing the part. He fired her, she sued, saying (and I'll never forget the quote) of Mr. Webber, "This is another capricious act by a capricious little man". They settled out of court, La Faye got a couple buckets full of cash, which made her much more favorable to Mr. Webber, Glenn Close continued what is probably still her greatest performance, and La Faye and La LuPone sank into the background. A curious footnote to all this is that Mr. Webber was apparently so turned off by all this, he never sanctioned a touring company for Sunset Blvd. , and it therefore never toured the U. S., regardless of the reports that the touring produciton had been at least partially built and was eventually just written off. As for this version of the American production, it sucks. Stick to the original release. Or, for that matter, give LuPone's version a try. They're both good performances. Patti sings the hell out of it, without a great deal of characterization (if you loved her in Evita.... ... ), while Glenn acts the hell out of it, and actually sings it much better than you might suspect. And if they ever make a movie of it (don't worry, they won't), I just hope they don't get that Rossum girl they used for "Phantom".