Alone in the dark, with little more than her celluloid memories, Norma Desmond remains what she has always been- the greatest star of all. Now, she has reclaimed the spotlight once more.
Glenn Close returns to Broadway in the tour de force performance that earned her the Tony Award for Best Actress- and a place in Broadway history- in Sunset Boulevard.
Featuring a 40-piece orchestra, the largest in Broadway history, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tony Award-winning masterwork of dreams and desire in the land called Hollywood comes to the Palace Theatre for 16 weeks only following a sold out run in London's West End.
Not so Ms. Close. To be sure, she is 69, much older than the 50-year-old character whom she plays, but that doesn't matter in the least. If anything, her greater age makes Norma's plight all the more pitiable, and Ms. Close's performance, by turns adamantine and childishly needy, is as memorable in its own way as was that of Gloria Swanson in the movie. No, the fundamental problem with turning 'Sunset Boulevard' into a musical is that it is perfect, a fact that is well understood by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, whose book is largely faithful to the Wilder-Charles Brackett script, give or take a sprinkling of superfluous four-letter words (though their lyrics are sing-songy and ill-crafted). The truth is that 'Sunset Boulevard' doesn't need songs, or anything else that it doesn't already have in abundance. Saving Ms. Close's presence, to change anything at all is necessarily to diminish the film's overwhelming effect.
Lucy as Norma Desmond? Actually, Close isn't that subtle. Her Norma Desmond often resembles Carol Burnett's TV parody of an aging silent film star though the latter had far more resemblance to a human being. Like Burnett, Close gives a bravura performance: funny, over-the-top, ridiculous. The only vulnerability Close brings to the role, however, is her singing voice. The actress was never a great singer, but managed to be adequate by Broadway standards. Here, her vocal production changes with nearly every other note, and the resulting tone and pitch is just as variable.
1993 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
1993 | Regional (US) |
Los Angeles Production Regional (US) |
1994 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
1995 | Canada |
Toronto Production Canada |
1996 | US Tour |
1st National Tour US Tour |
1998 | US Tour |
2nd National Tour US Tour |
2004 | London Fringe |
London Concert Revival London Fringe |
2016 | West End |
English National Opera West End Revival West End |
2017 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
2023 | West End |
West End |
2024 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical | Mark Henderson |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Sunset Boulevard |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Sunset Boulevard |
2017 | Theatre World Awards | John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater | Glenn Close |
Videos