Sunset Boulevard - Sydney Opera House (NSW)
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. Directed by Paul Warwick Griffin
Gorgeous costumes and fantastic songs vie for your attention throughout this decadent restaging
Reviewed by Juliana Payne
Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Until 1st November, 2024
I need to start this piece with a Declaration of Interest: Sunset Boulevard, the Billy Wilder film, is in my top three films of all time. So it was with a degree of nervous tension that I settled in to watch this musical. Would it live up to the legend? Morgan Large’s set and projection design by George Reeve helped to provide some comfort that they were starting in the right place: the gothic-styled monochrome graphic of two giant mascara’d eyes gazed at the audience as lights dimmed and silence fell. Then the famous opening shot of Joe Gillis floating dead in the swimming pool appeared, to signal further that this was going to be a faithful rendition of the film we know so well. And indeed it was.
Sarah Brightman in the role of Norma Desmond has been getting a pretty rough time of it from mainstream reviewers. I would venture they’re being a tad unfair. Sarah is as Sarah does. She is not Patty Lupone nor is she Glenn Close. She gives us a perfectly acceptable performance with her beautiful soprano voice. I can remember Sarah in her heyday with Jose Carrera and Andrea Bocelli, it’s as if the plot of the musical – the fading star clinging to past glories – were coming to life in some kind of parallel universe. At any rate, the audience didn’t seem to have read the reviews as they showed up in droves to give Brightman and all the cast a standing ovation.
Sunset Boulevard, Princess Theatre (2024). Images by Daniel Boud
Tim Draxl as Joe and Ashleigh Rubenach as Betty both have energy to burn and bring plenty of vim and vigour to their roles. The musical is less darkly dramatic and sardonic than the film, and by necessity brings a lighter touch to the interplay between Joe and Betty. The musical arrangement is such that the plot progresses at a cracking pace, but what we may lose in dramatic impact we gain in an energetic and lively performance from the whole company that never lags. Robert Grubb provides some tragi-comic relief as Max, Norma’s butler and ex-husband, who enables her self-delusion and keeps her locked in her echo chamber.
The music was hugely enjoyable, and wonderful to hear played by a live orchestra, as it had that fifties swing-style in keeping with the time setting. Ashley Wallen’s choreography was proficient and multifaceted, with some beautiful flowing pieces between Joe and Betty. There were a couple of weird moments that didn’t seem to quite make sense, when Norma and Max suddenly appear in the middle of an ensemble piece at the New Year’s eve party, and the choice of an odd twitchy movement that all dancers make periodically throughout the show.
Go for the music, but stay for the set
Mark Henderson’s lighting contrasts well the shadowy mausoleum of Norma’s house with the bright active life of the world outside, and the precision of the follow-spots is a highlight. Large has done the heavy lifting technically with her stunning costumes for Norma, and the huge lowering gothic-styled set. With curlicued wrought iron gates, ancient climbing vines, and decaying walls, Norma’s house glides in and out silently like a ghost. It is the architectural incarnation of her own character, a fading reminder of high times long past. The long sweeping staircase up and down which Norma glides frames the stage and provides the focal point for her final tragic moment. Go for the music, but stay for the set.
Hollywood is often at its best when it comes to making movies about the Hollywood machine itself, a metaphor for our shallow, self-serving, celebrity-obsessed society. Sunset Blvd is a salutary tale, a memento mori to remind us to do some good if we can, with gorgeous costumes and fantastic songs to help us along the way.
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