By James V. Ruocco
Amidst the hype, advance ticket sales of $37.5 million, the ugly firings of Patti LuPone and Faye Dunaway, and reported backstage mishaps with scenery and costumes, "Sunset Boulevard" has finally arrived on Broadway.
And, it is a class act, so sophisticated and emotionally moving, it may surprise anyone prepared to hate it or hurl daggers at Andrew Lloyd Webber for tampering with Billy Wilder's celebrated 1950 film of the same name.
To Webber's credit, he not only retains the dark, sardonic tone of Wilder's hypnotic tale of broken dreams, but creates a musical drama with none of the soppy sentimentality of "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Cats."
"Sunset Boulevard," through grand in scale, is a musical of ideas, nuances and intense intimacy. It asks much of its audience and it challenges them to think.
If anyone was born to play the faded, delusional, aging silent film screen star, immortalized on film by Gloria Swanson, it's Glenn Close.
Her Norma Desmond, a proud relic of Hollywood's glorious past who actually believes she hasn't been forgotten, is yet another one of those legendary stage performances theatergoers won't be able to stop talking about for years to come.
Close is an enthralling actress who takes hold of the part and makes it her own, but eerily conveys the sumptuous past of her character's glory days as "the greatest star of all."
At the center of the story (circa, 1949) is hapless screenwriter Joe Gillis (Alan Campbell), who, after fleeing car repossessors, accidentally drives right into the estate of 50-ish film star Norma Desmond.
A strident women prone to "moments of melancholy," she is lovingly cared by Max von Mayerling (George Hearn), a former film director who acts as her trusted confidante and lackey.
However, once she learns that Gillis is a screenwriter, she engages him as her "script doctor" for "Salome," a silent movie with which she plans to make "her return" to the movies.
"Shouldn't there be some dialogue?" he asks.
"I can say anything I want with my eyes," cries Norma.
In exchange for free lodging, full salary and house privileges, Gillis eventually becomes her lover and kept man.
Closely modeled after Wilder's brilliant 1950 film, "Sunset Boulevard" is retold from Joe's point of view and retains most of its sterling catch phrases and scathing show biz observations.
Given the musical's shrewd, elaborate and seamless set-shifting of hydraulic mechanisms, director Trevor Nunn adapts a fluid, involving cinematic style that befits the impending dramatic action, plot ambiguities and musical numbers.
Here, as in Webber's beguiling "Aspects of Love," Nunn is a fiercely focused auteur highly sensitive to emotion, interplay, expression and piercing dramatic clarity.
Musically, Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" score (Don Black and Christopher Hampton did the lyrics) is his most thematically integrated work since "Aspects of Love."
From Norma's haunting ballads "As If We Never Said Goodbye" and "With One Look" to the jazzy irony behind Joe's "Sunset Boulevard," every song has been rigorously planned by Webber and his songwriting team.
Even the musical's romantic melodies ("Too Much in Love to Care," "Girl Meets Boy"), comic turns ("The Lady's Paying," "Eternal Youth Is Worth a Little Suffering") and vibrant ensemble numbers ("Let's Have Lunch," "This Time Next Year") are unobtrusively weaved into the storyline.
Kent resident Bob Avain, who staged "Sunset Boulevard's" musical numbers, is a sizeable talent whose choreography is extremely pictoral, ingenious and sensitive to the story, the period and its Hollywood surroundings.
As Joe Gillis, Alan Campbell is an exciting, charismatic performer with a strong stage presence who catches every nuance and mood swing of his character.
He's completely convincing as the youthful screenwriter-turned-gigolo. And when he sings, he brings bite, dimension and character to Webber's music, enunciating every clever syllable of Black and Hampton's lyrics.
George Hearn, who portrays Max von Mayerling, looks a lot like Erich von Stroheim, who played the same part in the movie. He too brings a sense of mystery, dignity and creepiness to the role. His "Greatest Star of All" tribute to Norma will bring tears to your eyes.
The Broadway production of "Sunset Boulevard" opened November 17, 1994 at the Minskoff Theatre and ran through March 22, 1997 for a total of 977 performances. It starred Glenn Close as Norma Desmond, Alan Campbell as Joe Gillis, George Hearn as Max von Mayerling and Alice Ripley as Betty Schaefer. It won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Original Score.
(This review was originally published on December, 4, 1994)
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