Sunset Boulevard theatre review (UK Tour): A fantastic show of faded stardom, romance and obsession with what could be.
The show is the musical version of the Billy Wilder film of the same name, Sunset Boulevard, which was released in 1950. It tells the story of how an actress whose fame faded as the talkies began to take over Hollywood, and how she hopes to stage a comeback some twenty years on, the whole musical set in and around Paramount studios and Norma Desmond’s residence on Sunset Boulevard.
Ria Jones is superb as she steps into the shoes of Norma Desmond the star who is ‘big, it’s just the screen became smaller’; she carries the whole show with tremendous skill and has a fantastic voice. The flashbacks to when she had been in her prime are done with poise and passion, and the star has never truly left. Norma’s ever devoted butler Max is a force to be reckoned with. The power and range of Adam Pearce’s voice is truly impressive.
Joe Gilles (Dougie Carter) is a struggling writer who stumbles upon Norma Desmond’s home by chance and becomes embroiled in her moneyed, self-indulgent world and despite several chances to leave it behind he can never quite face the realities of going back to just being a disillusioned writer. Dougie Carter grows in his role as the show progresses and becomes more definite in what he wants from the fickle world that is the movies, and that does include the charms of Betty (Molly Lynch) who would like Joe to co-edit her script.
The staging of the show is refreshing and makes great use of a grand stair case which is transformed in to a room, corridors, central hall way throughout the show. The use of film both as a backdrop to the diner outside the Paramount studio and during the car scenes is entertaining and creates the illusion of reckless driving. Film is also used to create the flash backs that Norma Desmond has and depict her as a young and fresh starlet, very different from the older and no more wiser faded star who is singing. The increasingly desperate attempts of Norma to recapture her youth lead her to take more and more drastic actions when things don’t go her way, leading to a dramatic crescendo.
The musical is all about the hope and dreams presented by the Hollywood lifestyle, but offers a cautionary tale to those trying to hang on to their glory days. Drama, passion and suspense are easy come easy go in this roller coaster performance.
Sunset Boulevard is running at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking until 27th January 2018.
