"`Sunset Boulevard' Makes Grand Entree" by Frank Scheck, - The Christian Science Monitor, December 17, 1993 | Online Research Library: Questia
Article excerpt
SUNSET BOULEVARD Musical by Andrew LLoyd Webber. At the Shubert Theatre.
WHEN Andrew Lloyd Webber announced plans to make a musical out of Billy Wilder's 1950 film classic, "Sunset Boulevard," people wondered how it would translate to the stage. Scenes like the famous opening, with a corpse lying face down in a pool, would be as hard to stage as a car chase.
But when you have a source this rich, it makes sense to adapt it faithfully. And Webber and his collaborators, Christopher Hampton and Don Black (book and lyrics), are helped by the technical wizardry of production designer John Napier, who developed some of the most elaborate sets ever seen.
Webber's musical, a revamped version of the production currently running in London (starring Patti LuPone), opened recently in Los Angeles, the first of his shows to bypass New York in its American premiere.
Glenn Close stars as Norma Desmond, and the actress triumphs over the formidable challenge of playing a role created by Gloria Swanson. Close gives an oversized performance, filled with the grand gesture that is perfectly suitable to a former silent-film actress who is now living in a fantasy world. But the actress also humanizes the character, making her delusion more touching and making the relationship between her and desperate screenwriter Joe Gillis more credible, if less Grand Guignol. Close, who is no stranger to musicals ("Rex" and "Barnum") is also a powerful singer, delivering bravura versions of Webber's soaring melodies.
Webber's music permeates the show, creating a near-operatic effect, and the composer has not lost his gift for memorable melodies. …
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