Review: Let SUNSET BLVD Lead You to Broadway At Music Circus

The best part of summer is Broadway at Music Circus and, as we pass the halfway mark in the season, we are treated to the Tony Award-winning noir piece from Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sunset Blvd.

It transports us back in time to a forgotten world of silent films, glamour, and a certain elegance that has been slowly eroded by progress. The allure of old Hollywood is mesmerizing in director Glenn Casale’s triumph of the 2024 season, where he weaves a spellbinding orb of madness, desperation, and ambition.

Sunset Blvd, based on the 1950 movie of the same name, tells the story of aging silent film star, Norma Desmond. Deemed too old at only fifty years old, she has been discarded by both the movie industry and her fans. She spends her days in her decomposing mansion with her odd butler, Max, dreaming of making a comeback and restoring her name to its former glory. When screenwriter Joe Gillis happens upon her decrepit property while outrunning repo men, Norma considers (with the help of her astrologer) it to be kismet. He can help turn her dismal script (“a garbled plot from a scrambled brain”) into the vehicle that transports her back to her rightful position at the top of the marquee; however, her increasing paranoia and jealousy turn Joe’s job into more of a prison sentence. Trapped by Norma’s insecurities and his own financial needs, Joe becomes a kept man. When he finds love with a fellow script writer, Betty Schaefer, will Norma forgo her own happiness to let him pursue his?

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s soaring score is complemented by beautiful projection design by Adam Flemming and opulent costumes by Kate Bergh. An array of big Broadway voices and an endless supply of talent help to capture the mystery of a bygone era. When Ellen Harvey enters the stage as fading star Norma Desmond, the air palpably changes. We know we are about to witness something special, something that alters the way we see theatre from now on. Harvey is a star and exactly what we hope to see as she infuses Norma with passion and calculating desperation. She becomes the hopeless face of the entertainment industry and a pitiful reminder of how aging is devalued in America. At fifty, she is done. At fifty, I feel I am just starting to live. What a different value our professions place on the experience, wisdom, and privilege that comes with getting older. Harvey does a beautiful job of arresting us with her voice while pulling out conflicting emotions. We feel anger for her and pity towards her that war with disgust at Norma’s self-indulgent weaknesses. Jason Gotay also elicits conflicting emotions as Joe Gillis. His powerful performance of “Sunset Boulevard” offers explanations for his ambition and excuses for his continued lapse in judgment. When he sings that the boulevard is “waiting there to swallow the unwary,” we want to go back in time and warn him. Hindsight is always 20/20, and we learn that Max is just as complicit. Max Von Mayerling is played masterfully by William Ryall, who has the butler character down pat. Audiences enjoyed him last season as Lurch in The Addams Family. His movements are similar but his motivations are decidedly different. Julia Udine plays Joe’s love interest, Betty Schaefer. Like last summer’s Marian Paroo, she is believably innocent with an ambitious undercurrent. Her likability comes when she discovers her steely backbone – in the industry and with relationships. She possesses a spirit that ushers in the next generation of independent women and is a stark contrast to the pathetic delusions that make up Norma Desmond. Rounding out the principal cast are Paul Schoeffler as a surprisingly sensitive and compassionate Cecil B. DeMille, and Albert Jennings as lovably optimistic romantic Artie Green.

Sunset Blvd hits all the right notes: it’s deliciously dark and decadent, it oozes with excess, and the rich Webber score beautifully exhibits the eerie madness of the story. It’s done perfectly in the round, with projections filling action in nicely and the multi-level stage creatively used to imagine the important pool scenes. It’s a show that doesn’t come around often; in fact, this is its Broadway at Music Circus premiere, so you don’t want to miss out before it closes on Sunday. Let the “Sunset Boulevard, tempting boulevard” (actually, H Street) lead you to the cool confines of the UC Davis Health Pavilion and lose yourself in a world where nothing is as it seems.

Sunset Blvd plays at Broadway at Music Circus through July 28th. Tickets may be found online at BroadwaySacramento.com, by phone at (916) 557-1999, or in person at the Box Office at 1419 H Street in Sacramento.

Photo Credit: Kevin Graft

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