Photo Flash: SUNSET BOULEVARD to Play The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre Starring Jeanine Collins as Norma Desmond

The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre's 2013 Season is the year Broadway and Hollywood meet with all of the productions at the theatre being hits both on the silver screen and Great White Way. For the fall, Way Off Broadway will be producing what can be called the epitome of a movie musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard.

Sunset Boulevard weaves a magnificent tale of faded glory and unfulfilled ambition as silent movie star Norma Desmond longs for a return to the big screen. Having been discarded by Tinsel Town with the advent of "talkies," her glamour has faded in all but her own mind. When she meets struggling Hollywood screen-writer Joe Gillis through dramatic circumstances, their subsequent passionate and volatile relationship leads to an unforeseen and tragic conclusion.

Over the years, several theatre veterans including Stephen Sondheim and Hal Prince, had thought about adapting Wilder's film into a stage musical. But it was Andrew Lloyd Webber, in 1993, who brought Norma Desmond and the glamorous world of Hollywood-past to the stage at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End. Starring as Norma in the world-premiere production was Broadway legend Patti LuPone.

Sunset would have its American premiere later that year, not in New York, but in Los Angeles with Glenn Close playing the role of faded movie queen Norma Desmond. Between the London premiere and the U.S. opening, Webber and the creative team had done some reworking of the book and score and it was this version that transferred to Broadway's Minskoff Theatre in 1994.

When the show opened in New York, it did so with the highest advanced ticket sales in Broadway history (at that time). Following its New York opening, Sunset ran for nearly 1,000 performances and won a Drama Desk Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, and seven Tonys, including Best Musical and Best Actress in a Musical.

"This was the perfect show to include in our Broadway Meets Hollywood Season," says Justin M. Kiska, Way Off Broadway's President & Managing Director. "The movie was such a classic and the music Andrew Lloyd Webber added is magnificent. We're also very happy that Way Off Broadway's production will be the show's area premiere."

The part of Norma Desmond has become a much sought after role by actresses around the world. Making her Way Off Broadway debut playing the former silent movie star is Jeanine Collins. She will be joined on stage in the principle roles by Jordan B. Stocksdale as Joe Gillis, a struggling screen-writer; Joey Banigan as idealistic, young studio secretary Betty Schaefer; and Zane L. Oberholzer, Jr. as Norma's devoTed Butler Max Von Mayerling. Also in the cast are Danny Bertaux, Jessica Billones, Lauren Ebbin, Nathaniel Howard, Samn Huffer, Melissa Ann Martin, Ariel Messeca, Steve Steele, Joseph Waeyaert, and Megan West.

Sunset Boulevard has music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and a book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. Way Off Broadway's production will run from September 6 - November 9, 2013 and will be directed by Bill Kiska, with music direction by Jordan B. Stocksdale. Performances are every Friday and Saturday evening, with matinees on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sunday of each month. Tickets for a Friday evening or Sunday matinee are $43; Saturday evenings are $47. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased by visiting the Box Office or calling (301) 662-6600.

For additional information about any of Way Off Broadway's productions or events, call the Box Office at (301) 662-6600 or visit www.wayoffbroadway.com.

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