Sunset Boulevard (musical)

Sunset Boulevard is a musical play based on the movie of the same title. The plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the fabled Los Angeles street. When a young screenwriter named Joe Gillis accidentally crosses her path, she sees in him an opportunity to pave the way for her comeback to the big screen. (When Gillis comments, "You used to be big," she retorts "I am big . . . it's the pictures that got small!") A thwarted romance and tragedy follow.

Related Topics:
Musical - Play - Movie - Los Angeles

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With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, direction by Trevor Nunn, and starring Patti LuPone and Daniel Benzali, the production first opened at the Adelphi Theatre (owned by Lloyd Webber) in London's West End. Reviews were less than ecstatic - many critics felt that the score was repetitive and more time had been spent constructing the mammoth set than working on the book. Critic Frank Rich, who otherwise praised the show, noted that LuPone was far too young to play Desmond, and opined that Desmond's songs had been written without consideration that the actress playing her might best be older and not a youthful belter. Still, it was an instant sell-out success.

Related Topics:
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Don Black - Trevor Nunn - Patti LuPone - Daniel Benzali - Adelphi Theatre - London - West End - Frank Rich

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The American premiere was at the Shubert Theatre in Century City, Los Angeles, California, on December 9, 1993, with Glenn Close as Norma and Alan Campbell as Joe. Featured were George Hearn as Max and Judy Kuhn as Betty.

Related Topics:
American - Shubert Theatre - Century City, Los Angeles, California - December 9 - 1993 - Glenn Close - Alan Campbell - George Hearn - Judy Kuhn

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Sunset Boulevard opened on Broadway at the Minskoff Theatre on November 17, 1994 with Close, Campbell and Hearn recreating their roles from the Los Angeles production and Alice Ripley joining the cast as Betty. Also in the cast were Allen Oppenheimer and Vincent Tumeo. The production opened with the highest advance in the history of Broadway ticket sales. It ran for nine hundred and seventy-seven performances.

Related Topics:
Broadway - Minskoff Theatre - November 17 - 1994 - Alice Ripley

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In a dismal season where it was practically the only new musical to open, it won several Tony Awards in the musical category, primarily by default.

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The Toronto production opened in 1995 with Diahann Carroll in the lead role.

Related Topics:
Toronto - 1995 - Diahann Carroll

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LuPone, who initially had been promised the Broadway run, sued Lloyd Webber and won an out-of-court settlement reputed to be an extremely healthy sum. She wasn't the only actress to get paid for not playing - Faye Dunaway, set to replace Close in L.A., proved to be unable to meet the vocal challenges of the score, and was unceremoniously fired. She, too, sued Lloyd Webber.

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Frank Rich, in his book The Hot Seat, noted that these lawsuits contributed to Sunset Boulevard setting the record for the most money lost by a theatrical endeavor in the history of the United States. Despite its record advance sales, weekly operating costs were so high that it could not pay back its initial investment, and its road companies generated large financial losses. The final figure is near or above US$20 million, making it what he termed a "flop-hit, as it ran more than two years.

Related Topics:
Frank Rich - The Hot Seat - Flop-hit

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Between 1995 and 2000, Petula Clark starred as Norma Desmond in the West End production (following Betty Buckley and Elaine Paige), opening to raves, followed by the national tour in the States. A first attempt at touring the show had been aborted due to exorbitant costs involved in transporting the set, so Lloyd Webber called in director Susan H. Schulman to design a scaled-down production, with Clark again in the lead. In 2004, she repeated her performance at the Cork Opera House in Ireland for broadcast on BBC Radio. To date, she has played the role more often than any other actress.

Related Topics:
1995 - 2000 - Petula Clark - West End - Betty Buckley - Elaine Paige - Susan H. Schulman - 2004 - BBC

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In 2001, a UK tour commenced starring Faith Brown as Norma Desmond, against Earl Carpenter as Joe Gillis. The show was an entirely new production, with no link to Nunn's version.

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In 2005, Judi Conelli starred in a new Australian version.

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In July 2005, Lloyd-Webber's Really Useful Group announced that a film version was to be produced with an expected release date of 2006. See: Sunset Boulevard.

Related Topics:
July 2005 - Really Useful Group - 2006 - Sunset Boulevard

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