Sunset Boulevard

Synopsis

Based on Billy Wilder's 1950 Oscar-winning film of the same name, Sunset Boulevard depicts the faded glamour of former Hollywood actress Norma Desmond. The ex-silent movie star is portrayed living in isolation, with only memories for company. However, when struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis appears at her house, she demands a second chance in the limelight.

Our Review:

16 December 2008

It is over ten years since Sunset Boulevard closed in the West End after a three and a half year run (that was deemed a flop by Andrew Lloyd Webber standards) so it is very good news that the stripped down Watermill, Newbury, summer production by Craig Revel Horwood of this mordant, macabre and marvellous musical has been shunted into the Comedy for a winter season.

Whereas John Napier’s design for Trevor Nunn’s original production was a magnificent baroque palazzo with a giant staircase and a huge cast, Revel Horwood and his designer Diego Pitarch have a cast of eleven actor-musicians whirring around a simple spiral staircase, down which Kathryn Evans as Norma Desmond still manages to descend like a bedazzled harpy.

She sings magnificently, does Evans, ripping the heart out of “With One Look” (no musical numbers are listed in the programme, which is a disgrace; see my blog!) before proposing ...

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Latest User Review

Morten Aagaard - 11 May 2011:

Great to see how a wonderful musical can be made cheap :) Fantastic actors who play while they are acting. Kathryn Evans has a great voice!...

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