Is SUNSET BOULEVARD Broadway-Bound? Glenn Close-Led Production May Play the Palace in 2017

Will Glenn Close be ready for her close up on the Great White Way in 2017? According to a new report in the New York Post, 'BEAUTIFUL' producers Paul Blake and Mike Bosner plan to bring the highly-acclaimed British revival of SUNSET BOULEVARD, starring Ms. Close, to Broadway's Palace Theatre for a limited 20-week run beginning in January.

The production hails from London's English National Opera where it opened last spring to rave reviews. A Broadway run of the iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical would require a full orchestra, including at least fifty musicians. If the show arrives on Broadway, it will be the fourth show currently running for the famed composer, joining SCHOOL OF ROCK, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and the revival of CATS, which opened just last weekend.

"We just flipped over it," Bosner told the Post's Michael Riedel of the London production. "It gives you new respect for Andrew's music. And Glenn was sensational. I turned to Paul and said, 'I feel like I'm seeing Ethel Merman for the first time.' "

Close portrayed the lead role of Norma Desmond in the 1995 production of the show and picked up a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. Lloyd Webber also received a Tony for Best Score, while "Sunset Boulevard" won Best Musical. Despite the accolades however, the show never recouped its initial $20 million capitalization.

This time around however, the producers believe the timing is just right to bring the show back to Broadway. Explained Blake, "Glenn wants to do it, Andrew wants to do it, and we want to do it. It's like the old Judy Garland movie - we have a barn and we want to put on a show. But the chapter missing in the Judy Garland movie is how to make the numbers work."

Photo Credit: Richard Hubert Smith