The music begins to swell, the lights go down, and with one moment, we’re back in Old Hollywood with Norma Desmond.
That’s right – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony Award Winning masterpiece Sunset Boulevard is back on Broadway, and yes, the magnificent Glenn Close reprises her role of Norma Desmond.
Close is joined by Michael Xavier as Joe Gillis, Siobhan Dillon as Betty Schaefer, and Fred Johanson as Max von Mayerling, and Nancy Anderson, Mackenzie Bell, Preston Truman Boyd, Barry Busby, Britney Coleman, Julian Decker, Anissa Felix, Drew Foster, David Hess, Brittney Johnson, Katie Ladner, Stephanie Martignetti, Lauralyn McClelland, T. Oliver Reid, Lance Roberts, Stephanie Rothenberg, Graham Rowat, Paul Schoeffler, Andy Taylor, Sean Thompson, Matt Wall, and Jim Walton.
When thinking of the words to describe this show, magnificent is what comes to mind. Magnificent in bold-faced print. Magnificent in lights.
It’s just magnificent.
The whole entire production is magnificent.
I was skeptical about how this show would be received – would it be too dated? Would it resonate? Would people feel the same way they did about this story now, as they did twenty years ago?
The answer is yes.
Yes.
It’s a resounding YES.
The energy in the theatre was palpable – you could see the audience hanging on every word and every note, and when Glenn Close takes the stage it is impossible to tear your eyes away from her. The woman is a tor de force. The Palace Theatre is not a small space, and yet, when Close starts singing, you feel as if she’s only addresses you. It’s that intimate. It’s that mesmerizing. It’s that beautiful.
As you watch the fall and unraveling of Norma – you can’t help but wonder, have we gotten any better about how we treat elderly women in Hollywood? Or, forget about Hollywood, have we gotten any better about how we treat our elders in general?
Once they’ve lost their sparkle and use – how do we engage with our elders?
These are the questions that Sunset Boulevard asks of its audience.
This is why Sunset Boulevard transcends time.
You can take a trip to Old Hollywood for a limited time only. Tickets and additional information are available here.