Stage
September 23, 2024

Review: Unfortunate miscasting in Sunset Boulevard revival

Venue: Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Producers: Opera Australia in collaboration with GWB Entertainment, by arrangement with the Really Useful Group

Here’s our review of the current Sydney revival production which we attended recently.

Show history & background

Certainly not amongst one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best works, Sunset Boulevard, which premiered in London in 1993 has always been problematic as a musical theatre piece. Based on the 1950 film of the Billy Wilder movie of the same name, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a former fading star of the silent movie era. The aging actress continues to live in the past, in her ornate but decaying mansion located on the famous street in Los Angeles. When young and dashing screenwriter Joe Gillis accidentally crosses her path, she recruits him to assist in her (and her ex-husband’s) plan for a glorious return to the big screen, only for unexpected romance and tragedy to ensue.

Although the musical has had several long international runs, it has also made the news for the wrong reasons, including some controversial, high-profile casting scandals for its lead actress, resulting in legal battles. Not surprisingly, high production and running costs of the initial production, compounded by such casting challenges, has apparently meant the show has not made as much money as some of Lloyd Webber’s other popular musicals.

Recurring challenges with lead actress

Given the Los Angeles and movie-making context of the work, Lloyd Webber must have imagined that the casting of Norma Desmond would be best served by a strong actress who could sing, as opposed to a great singer who can act. Yet, the challenge for anyone playing Norma in the musical is having to portray a “fragile”, aging actress who is deluded and on the verge of derangement, while also having to deliver two big vocal numbers. These are With One Look and As If We Never Said Goodbye which, if done well, would be showstoppers and have become diva anthems recorded by many worthy singers. With One Look, with its demanding vocal range, is particularly fiendish to sing for a non-singing actress, as demonstrated in recordings by Glen Close where awkward “gearshifts” are evident.

Faye Dunaway, who had been announced to replace Glen Close in the L.A. run was dismissed and humiliated when she subsequently started rehearsing and was found to be unable to sing the part. Other strong actresses who were considered worthy of being cast in the part in various international productions included Patti LuPone (who originated the role in the West End, only to then sue when she was denied the Broadway transfer she had been promised, in favour of giving it to Glen Close), Betty Buckley, Elaine Paige, Diahann Carroll, Petula Clark and Debra Byrne.

Musical content

While the lush orchestrations lend a distinctive and appropriate nostalgic cinematic feel that is compatible with the time and subject matter of the piece, the choice of singing through a lot of the storyline and characterisations may be the problem. Having been well-acquainted with the score and songs even before seeing my first stage production, I don’t mind it. Ban-Foo, on the other hand, finds it un-engaging, effectively consisting of lots of recitative, sweeping incidental music and a few key and even then unhummable numbers. If you’re familiar with the oeuvre of Lloyd Webber, you’ll recognise lots of musical references and motifs referencing his JC Superstar, Evita and Joseph & his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat littered throughout the score.

Sarah Brightman miscast?

This new production was doomed to be controversial when the producers took a big risk in casting Sarah Brightman, ex-wife of Andrew Lloyd Webber. She’s seemingly a well-recognised big name for the marquee, perhaps best known for creating the role of Christine Daaé in Lloyd Webber’s most successful musical Phantom of the Opera. The glaring snag with this casting is that despite some successful high-profile recordings, Brightman has not appeared in any other shows in over three decades. Perhaps the idea that a fading theatrical diva playing herself in this piece suggested it would automatically work. One could only hope. Alas, this production’s earlier outing in Melbourne, which preceded its transfer to Sydney, proved that this casting choice was unsound.

Someone I spoke with after the show, who had seen Sarah Brightman earlier in the final rehearsal in Melbourne, confirmed that she clearly wasn’t up to the role then (thus corroborating the few scathing reviews received, aimed at the miscasting by the producers). But he admitted that her subsequent performance at the recent opening night in Sydney was markedly better. It looks like she just took a while to warm to the role (albeit at the expense of Melbourne audiences) and eventually found her stride for Sydney.

Knowing the musical well and understanding the fundamental problems with the material and importance of the casting, we deliberately opted to see Silvie Paladino, the alternate for Norma. She did very well and exceeded expectations in her soaring and robust delivery of the two big numbers—devoid of those awkward Glen Close-type clunky register “gearshifts” in her more than competent rendition of With One Look.

Sarah Brightman as Norma Desmond

Sophie Paladino as alternate Desmond

Other principal cast performances

Tim Draxl as Norma’s love interest Joe Gillis was perfectly cast. We’ve followed Draxl’s career, having first taken note of his film work in Swimming Upstream and then through his many theatrical outings (including his recent successes in Jagged Little Pill, Into the Woods, Catch Me If You Can and Only Heaven Knows). It was therefore great to see him nailing the role on so many levels. We only wish he had more than the one big Sunset Boulevard number to show off his rich and expressive baritone. Learning that he has to be able to sing various duet numbers in two different keys, to suit Brightman and Paladino’s preferred but differing ranges, makes us appreciate his flexibility and vocal prowess all the more.

Robert Grubb’s Max (Norma’s butler) was sung with much character although his vocal projection was at times uneven. Ashleigh Rubenach as Betty Schaefer was more than adequate. She brought a fresh and clear voice and demeanour in serving as Joe’s other more age-compatible and less intimidating love interest.

Production design

Set and costume designs by Morgan Large were good. But the reliance on just one major elaborate and gloomy monochrome set (recalling the black-and-white silent movie era) with its sweeping staircase serving as Norma’s living room was fine. This travelling main structure moved forward and receded at times into the background to form the vacant studio warehouse sound stage. It proved to be inadequate in one scene at the end of Act 1 when it suddenly it had to quickly transform into a separate New Year’s Eve party venue. While there was an attempt to superimpose Norma sadly alone in her home contemplating suicide while the party scene occurred, I found it to be unconvincing. If the main mansion interior set could actually rotate right around, as we saw at one point, there could perhaps have been a more creative transition in trying to present two concurrent scenes together than having the colourful partygoers simply invade Norma’s living room.

Costumes were not always effective, and we heard that the star of the show, in true diva fashion, may have overruled on original designs such that some of them proved unflattering and didn’t allow her to stand out against a visually cluttered backdrop.

What's the proposition for any revival?

Having recently seen a brilliant innovative and immersive revival of the classic Guys and Dolls at London’s Bridge Theatre, we are so convinced it is possible to extend the appeal of and rejuvenate something already arguably considered the ‘perfect musical’ with its combination of great songs, excellent book (which can carry the show with even mediocre acting) and very flawed but likeable characters. Although hesitant to see yet another hackneyed version of this musical, our concerns were assuaged when Nicholas Hytner’s efforts added a welcomed and fresh element to Frank Loesser’s 1950 book-to-stage-to-subsequent-film-musical classic.

The other new refreshed Sunset Boulevard we should have got instead

Also, being aware of a very recent and critically acclaimed revival version of Sunset Boulevard in London which took the musical into a new direction, made us wonder why we didn’t get that one instead. Jamie Lloyd’s third London revival which opened at the Savoy Theatre in September 2023 was a brave, reimagined minimalist staging which ended up sweeping this year’s Olivier Awards. It employed the new trendy cine-theatre elements, using live camera and projections that were appropriate in keeping with the cinematic context of the piece. It also brought in the pop vocal powerhouse Nicole Scherzinger to not only deliver massively on the two big iconic Norma numbers but to also potentially draw in younger audiences, especially with Schezinger her having already proven her musical theatre chops playing fading feline diva Grizabella in a Broadway rival of Cats. This fresh and innovative version is in fact opening in Broadway later this month, with Scherzinger reprising her illustrious take on Norma.

Overcoming a Cat-astrophy

Speaking of Cats, just when we thought the mangy old feline of a musical had outlived its relevance or appeal, especially after its disastrous 2019 film version, it has made a surprisingly well-received Off-Broadway come back in the form of a radical resetting and departure from the original creative intentions of this 43-year-old work. Titled Cats:The Jellicle Ball, directors Zhaillon Levinston and Bill Rauch, along with choreography by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, have created a fresh and unexpected adaptation of the musical taking inspiration from ballroom culture.

New ways to dream – refresh & update!

Isn’t that what musical theatre at its best is all about? Using the medium of music, song and dance to transport us into worlds we may never experience for ourselves, yet firmly rooted in the present relatable sensibilities? So, if any risks were to be taken with a new Australian revival, rather than safe scaled down versions of what we’ve already seen, why not give us something novel, fresh, and magical or, to use an often-repeated line from the musical, offer us “new ways to dream”?

Fair expectations for any revival

For us the best part of the evening was not seeing Sarah Brightman do a Faye Dunaway. The last thing we need is a watered-down version of an original production, while also being distracted and bothered by whether the diva, placed centre stage and in a huge spotlight, could really sing! We therefore opted to see the more reliable alternate Norma and the result was, we think, a decent night at the theatre. Five stars? Uh, certainly not!

It was far from a full house last night and the production has still 6 more weeks to go. We can only hope it won’t sink the the national opera company, which co-produced this and relies on its musical offering in the prestigious opera venue to be a money spinner to supplement and subsidise its costly and less popular operatic works. Otherwise, it might as well have chosen to stage Maury Yeston’s Titanic: The Musical instead. But wait, there’s already Titanique, the alternative musical spoof on the songs of Celine Dion and the blockbuster David Cameron movie coming up for a run in Sydney.