Review: Glenn Close Is Luminous As The Faded Star of SUNSET BOULEVARD

With all due respect to the world class singers and dancers who trod Broadway's boards every season, watching Glenn Close completely enthrall and mesmerize an audience with her two dramatic solos in the new concert revival of Sunset Boulevard is a reminder that musical theatre is at its most thrilling when musical moments are enhanced by incisive acting.

High-belted money notes are great, but what evoked cheers from the Palace Theatre attendees at last night's preview performance was the combination of heartbreaking fragility and the gritty determination to overcome it Close brings to the role of a proud, accomplished actor who dominated the screen during the silent picture era, only to see her career collapse with the introduction of talkies.

SUNSET BOULEVARD is, of course, based on Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir classic about faded film star Norma Desmond, living in seclusion in her Beverly Hills mansion with her devoted servant, Max. The delusional Desmond envisions a grand return to the screen with an epic film where she plays the 16-year-old Salome.

A chance visit from the young and handsome down-on-his-luck screenwriter Joe Gillis results in her putting him on salary to serve as a live-in script doctor for the overwritten screenplay she's penned. But, as is often the case in such ventures, Joe gets more than he bargained for.

The musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, premiered on the West End in 1993 with Patti LuPone in the starring role, but it was Close who opened it on Broadway the next year. New musicals were sparse that 1994-95 Broadway season, with Sunset Boulevard being the only entry with an original book and score, making the show's wins in those categories, not to mention its win as the season's best musical, seem more of an obligation than an achievement.

But there was no doubt that Close's Tony-winning turn was the season's most commanding musical dramatic performance. With over two more decades of seasoning, her expertise in director Lonny Price's concert staging, originally mounted for the English National Opera, helps overcome the flawed material.

Conductor Kristen Blodgette leads the on-stage, Hollywood-worthy 40 piece orchestra. Webber's music, orchestrated by the composer and David Cullen, effectively imitates the splendor of classic film soundtracks when interpreting the world of Norma Desmond, switching to muscular jazz in Gillis' "real world" Los Angeles.

Black and Hampton's lyrics, however, rarely rise above perfunctory imagery and rhyming, getting downright clunky during some of the dialogue-driven recitative. The exceptions are Desmond's spotlight moments. In the first act's "With One Look" she recalls the romance and artistry of communicating with audiences through wordless expressions. In act two, she visits Cecil B. DeMille's studio and, when an old pal shines a klieg light on her, the decades wash away and her confidence returns as she finds herself back in her element. Close responds with a performance of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" that's an extraordinary display of star power for both herself and the character.

But while Desmond is the glamorous role, Gillis carries the bulk of the stage time as the narrating protagonist. Michael Xavier, who played the role for ENO, is a charming host with a smooth voice and a cynical sense of humor. Also transferring from Britain to Broadway are Fred Johanson, creepily authoritative as Max, and Siobhan Dillon, pleasantly eager as the aspiring writer who falls for Joe.

Aside from Close's performance, the original production of Sunset Boulevard was famous for designer John Napier's spectacular interior of the Desmond mansion, featuring a long and elegant staircase. For this production, James Noone's stairs are the industrial kind, part of the dark scaffolding built around the stage. Tracy Christensen's fine period costumes are augmented by the memorable Anthony Powell designs Close wore in '94.

Price's staging makes fun use of period film clips, but also includes some oddball moments like a dead body being lifted by wires into the air and a car chase being simulated by black-clad actors racing around in the dark with hand-held headlights.

Nevertheless, Glenn Close is the reason to rush to the Palace these days. She may be playing a faded star, but her intelligent and skillful performance is luminous.