Close’s Laryngitis Has ‘Sunset’ Ticket-Holders Scrambling

After missing just four performances out of about 200 since opening last December as Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard,” Glenn Close has been forced to cancel seven performances due to laryngitis within the past week. Her absence has led to some audience frustration and last-minute scrambling to exchange tickets in order to see the star in her final month with the show.

Actually, Close has missed seven-and-a- half performances--last Saturday, Close’s health sidelined her mid-show. At intermission she came onstage to announce that understudy Karen Mason would perform in the second act.

Close’s final performance is scheduled for June 26, and she is slated to open in the Broadway production in November. Mason, who has stepped in for all of Close’s missed performances, will fill in June 28-July 3. Close will be replaced by Faye Dunaway July 5.

While the Shubert is offering patrons exchanges or refunds, show representatives acknowledge that finding good seats for remaining shows by Close is difficult. The actress’s publicist, Catherine Olim, said that Close’s ability to perform can only be predicted “day by day.” “Obviously, she’d like to be up and singing as soon as possible,” Olim said.

While no specific attendance figures are available, “Sunset” spokesman Rick Miramontez said that for the week ending May 29, box-office gross was $867,723--down from $879,085 the previous week, before Close became ill. He estimated there had been 100 to 200 exchanges or cancellations per performance.

Phil Lowe, a contractor from San Jose, and his wife, Melissa, flew to Los Angeles Tuesday, only to find that Mason, not Close, would be onstage. “We thought about getting our money back, but to see it again we would have had to fly home and come back again,” he said by phone from LAX. He liked what he saw, and said Mason received a standing ovation. “I didn’t want to see her at all but . . . we just decided to go with what’s there. I don’t remember the girl’s name, but she looked just like Gloria Swanson, with all the little hand mannerisms. And she had a very strong voice,” he said.

Mason termed her sudden call to duty “a shock to the system,” but said she has been pleased by her reception. “I don’t even listen to the announcement (that she is stepping in for Close)--I don’t like to hear the groaning,” she said. “But after the first number, they seem to think they are in OK hands. They have responded beautifully.”