Alone in the dark, with little more than her celluloid memories, Norma Desmond remains what she has always been- the greatest star of all. Now, she has reclaimed the spotlight once more.
Glenn Close returns to Broadway in the tour de force performance that earned her the Tony Award for Best Actress- and a place in Broadway history- in Sunset Boulevard.
Featuring a 40-piece orchestra, the largest in Broadway history, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tony Award-winning masterwork of dreams and desire in the land called Hollywood comes to the Palace Theatre for 16 weeks only following a sold out run in London's West End.
There aren't many circumstances in which I'd use the phrase 'bare bones' to characterize a musical that boasts, among other big gestures, a 40-piece orchestra-incidentally, it's said to be the largest to play on Broadway in 80 years. Yet 'stripped down' and 'spare' are the words that come to mind when considering 'Sunset Boulevard,' the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that this month returns powerhouse star Glenn Close to Broadway as silent-screen recluse Norma Desmond, a role that earned her a Tony 22 years ago. This revival, directed by Lonny Price and now open at the Palace Theatre, was staged last year in London by the English National Opera. The entire West End cast has made the journey to New York, and be assured: aside from the enormous orchestra-and perhaps a bulbous chandelier that makes the one from 'Phantom' seem like a toddler's night light-there's little here to distract from Close's mesmerizing Norma, or Lloyd Webber's pop friendly score.
Glenn Close first played Norma Desmond in the U.S. debut of Sunset Boulevard when it opened in December 1993 at the Shubert Theatre in Century City before bringing the show to Broadway a year later. She's returned in a version that's both stripped down - the scenery is closer in style to an Encores! concert at City Center than John Napier's over-the-top sets back then - and beefed-up, with a 40-piece onstage orchestra at the Palace Theatre that allows Andrew Lloyd Webber's music to take its place as Close's true co-star.
1993 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
1993 | Regional (US) |
Los Angeles Production Regional (US) |
1994 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
1995 | Canada |
Toronto Production Canada |
1996 | US Tour |
1st National Tour US Tour |
1998 | US Tour |
2nd National Tour US Tour |
2004 | London Fringe |
London Concert Revival London Fringe |
2016 | West End |
English National Opera West End Revival West End |
2017 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
2023 | West End |
West End |
2024 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical | Mark Henderson |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Sunset Boulevard |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Sunset Boulevard |
2017 | Theatre World Awards | John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater | Glenn Close |
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