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Sunset Boulevard Trivia


  • The musical faced several legal challenges and was considered a financial loss due to its high production costs.

  • Stephen Sondheim once considered making a musical of Sunset Boulevard in the 1960s but dropped the idea after a conversation with the original film's director, Billy Wilder.

  • Andrew Lloyd Webber initially conceptualized the title song of Sunset Boulevard in the 1970s but did not begin serious work on the musical until after his 1989 project Aspects of Love.

  • The Broadway production of 'Sunset Boulevard' in 1994 set a record for the highest advance in the history of Broadway ticket sales at that time.

  • Despite being deemed a 'flop-hit' due to financial losses, 'Sunset Boulevard' was able to sell over a million tickets on Broadway.

  • The first national US tour of 'Sunset Boulevard' had to be cut short due to the high costs of transporting the set.

  • Sarah Brightman returned to theatrical performance after more than three decades to star as Norma Desmond in a new production of Sunset Boulevard that premiered in Melbourne in 2024.

  • The Marriott Theatre in Chicago was the first regional production of Sunset Boulevard in 2004 and was the only regional production licensed by the Really Useful Group for six years.

  • During Variety's 2024 Power of Women luncheon, Glenn Close revealed that the 'Sunset' film was still moving forward, although with a new director after Rob Ashford's departure.

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