Review Roundup: Sarah Brightman Stars in SUNSET BOULEVARD in Sydney

Sarah Brightman is making her Sydney Opera House debut in SUNSET BOULEVARD, which opened on Friday, August 29th. The production features 28-piece orchestra, which brings Andrew Lloyd Webber's work to life on the Sydney Opera House stage.

Based on the Paramount Pictures film, this new staging features sets and costumes evoking the glamorous Golden Age of Hollywood. The score features the hits ‘With One Look’, ‘The Perfect Year’, and the anthemic ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’.

SUNSET BOULEVARD has Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Book and Lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, and is based on the Paramount Pictures film. This new production will be Directed by Paul Warwick Griffin with Set and Costume Design by Morgan Large. Choreography by Ashley Wallen with Musical Supervision by Kristen Blodgette.

SUNSET BOULEVARD weaves a magnificent tale of faded glory and unfulfilled ambition. Having been discarded by Hollywood with the advent of “talkies", legendary silent movie star, Norma Desmond, is tortured by her longing for a return to the big screen. When she meets struggling Hollywood screenwriter Joe Gillis in a dramatic chance encounter, their subsequent passionate and volatile relationship leads to an unforeseen and tragic conclusion.

Let's see what the critics have to say...

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Jansson J. Antmann, Limelight: The brand-new production of Sunset Boulevard which opened at the Sydney Opera House last night is nothing short of a triumph and, perhaps most importantly, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s brilliant score comes out on top. Starring Sarah Brightman, Tim Draxl, Robert Grubb and Ashleigh Rubenach, it also boasts arguably the finest interpretations of the musical’s lead roles in this glittering homage to the Golden Age of Broadway.

Chantal Nguyen, Sydney Morning Herald: Unfortunately, the Brightman-Christine persona is light years apart from unhinged Hollywood has-been Norma Desmond, the grotesque, manipulative and ultimately pitiable star of Sunset Boulevard. There’s a fierce magnetism in Norma’s character and songs, which are best sung with a tormented, complex vocal belt. Powerful actresses capable of danger and madness, like Glenn Close, Nicole Scherzinger and Patti LuPone (the original Norma), all sizzled in the role. Brightman doesn’t sizzle so much as sweetly simper. There’s little difference in her acting when Norma is happy, suicidal, sane, mad, loving or murderous. Brightman’s “arrested development” interpretation – that Norma is developmentally stuck in being an ingenue – is simply unsuited to carrying the vocal or theatrical weight of this tragic role.

Check back later for more reviews as they come in!

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