REVIEW: SUNSET BOULEVARD Showcases Australian Talent But Brightman Doesn't Quite Get The Return Her Norma Wanted

Saturday 31st August 2024, 7:30pm Joan Sutherland Theatre Sydney Opera House

Andew Lloyd Webber (Music), Don Black (Book & Lyrics) and Christopher Hampton’s (Book & Lyrics) SUNSET BOULEVARD is given a reworking for Opera Australia and GWB Entertainment by director Paul Warwick Griffin.  For this production, life imitates art as the musical theatre adaptation of Billy Wilder’s multi–Academy Award Winning film noir black comedy about a faded star seeking to revive their career is used to attempt to put Lloyd Webber’s former muse and leading lady back into the spotlight after 3 decades away from the musical theatre stage. 

In 1950 Paramount Pictures released Billy Wilder’s dark tragedy about a faded and forgotten star of the silent movies, the fictional Norma Desmond.  Ranked among the greatest movies ever made and deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the US Library of Congress, many are familiar with Gloria Swanson and William Holden’s captivating celluloid story.  Set as a flashback, narrated by unemployed screenwriter Joe Gillis, SUNSET BOULEVARD charts the events leading up to a Hollywood murder by “an old time movie star”, “maybe the biggest star of all”, the delusional and reclusive Norma Desmond.  Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Christopher Hampton’s musical adaptation, which premiered on the West End in 1993, stayed faithful to Wilder’s original and original director Trevor Nunn honored the work’s cinematic origins throughout and designer John Napier sought to recreate the Hollywood imagery, from the opulent mansion modelled on the houses on Sunset to the very real Schwab’s Pharmacy that used to occupy 8024 Sunset Boulevard. 

The current Australian production’s director Paul Warwick Griffin echoes Nunn and Napier’s original, delivering a visual feast and seeking to create more realistic settings, ensuring that it is separated from the pared back modern aesthetic adopted by Jamie Lloyd for his 2023 West End production that will soon transfer to Broadway.  Griffin, with the support of Morgan Large (Set and Costume Designer) retains elements that tie the stage show to its cinema origins with the use of lace edged sheers on which to project scenes like Joe’s drive from Paramount to Sunset Boulevard where he breaks down in Norma’s driveway, but Projection Designer George Reeve has opted to use cartoonish animation rather than real footage which further brings the work down into a caricature rather than honoring the styles of cinema that were prevalent in 1950.  Contemporary budgets, even when underpinned by Opera Australia, also have Large rationalizing the sets with Griffin opting to stage Artie’s New Years Eve party on the same stage as Norma’s mansion with the cross scenes playing out with Norma and Max moving through the collection of Hollywood hopefuls that are supposed to be partying in a much simpler apartment.  Large’s costume designs seek to echo Napier’s design which paid tribute to Edith Head’s costumes, but for some of Norma’s gowns, they lack the detail and gravitas of both Head and Napier’s works, failing to assist in elevating Norma’s image as being still quite wealthy and staying up to date with the fashions but also retaining a link to the more classic lines of earlier eras. 

The standout performance comes from Tim Draxl as Joe Gillis.  Draxl gives the cynical screenwriter a charm and likeability while exposing the callous nature of the industry and it’s players that will “do whatever pays the wages”.  Billy Wilder had said that William Holden, who played the role in the movie, was “a complex guy…every woman was in love with him”, and Draxl embodies these same qualities (with a fair portion of the male population probably also in love with him) which were essential in capturing Joe Gillis as he gets trapped between protecting his meal ticket and luxury life and going after the girl he’s fallen for, his best friend’s fiancé, young ambitious writer Betty Schaefer (Ashleigh Rubenach).  Draxl has a wonderful ability to infuse emotion and energy into his works, delivering songs with texture and understanding so every word has purpose.  His dramatic style is intuitive, expressing emotion, conflict and anger with raw honesty that never feels contrived.  He is a performer that even when he’s not the center of the story, you simply can’t take your eyes off as he has the star quality that sadly the star of the show lacks.

As the bright young thing still yet to be chewed up and spat out by Hollywood, Ashleigh Rubenach is delightful as Betty.  Rubenach has a beautiful voice, a charming dramatic style and a clean graceful physicality that suits perfectly to the ‘old world’ style created in this work set in late 1949, early 1950.  She ensures that Betty is seen as more than a young woman waiting to become a housewife yet is conflicted with knowing that it is somewhat expected, particularly given she has already accepted Artie’s (Jarrod Draper) proposal. 

Robert Grubb takes on the role of Norma’s manservant Max Von Meyerling with quiet looming presence, ensuring that there is an undertone of mystery around the devoted employee.  The silent expressions from the sidelines speak volumes, coming together in the moving reprise of New Ways to Dream which round out Max’s tragic image. 

The weight of SUNSET BOULEVARD, however, really relies on the casting of Norma Desmond and sadly Sarah Brightman is not the right fit for the role.  Written for a Mezzo-Soprano, lyric soprano Brightman struggles to capture the depth and strength of the songs, often resorting to obvious physical expressions of reaching for the required support in the form of waving arms and awkward knee bends that are incongruous with the premise that Norma is so stoic and confident that she’s still loved and adored by her fans that once filled the darkened cinemas.  While some songs like As If We Never Said Goodbye are musically strong if you close your eyes, others lack passion and connection and therefore lose the power of the piece.  While most of Norma’s songs are a representation of the delusions in her mind, Griffin has allowed Norma’s songs to be delivered in a style more suited to a concert rather than as part of the storyline which separates the songs too much and proves a distraction and a disservice to the work.  Known for originating the role of Christine in PHANTOM OF THE OPERA nearly 40 years ago, Brightman seems to have stuck with the image of sweet ingénue but Wilder and Charles Brackett (co-writer of the Movie) story and Lloyd Webber’s musical do not work with trying to shift the character leaving the portrayal being significantly wanting, particularly when paired with Brightman’s limited physicality in all forms. 

See SUNSET BOULEVARD to be treated to both Tim Draxl who is yet to put a foot wrong in the eyes of BroadwayWorld Sydney and bright rising star Ashleigh Rubenach.  Experience Lloyd Webber’s wonderful score presented as it should be by a full orchestra by the Opera Australia Orchestra under Paul Christ’s Musical direction.  Develop an understanding of the dark underworld of Hollywood and the monsters it creates when it tells people that they are stars, forgetting to temper it with the reality that stars can fade.  Be challenged by the idea of integrity versus success and at what cost one will make way for the other.  In summary, looking past the misguided casting, this production of SUNSET BOULEVARD still has a lot going for it. 

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard | Sydney Opera House

Photos: Daniel Boud

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