Dear Sunset Boulevard

Dear Sunset Boulevard

You’re the musical theatre equivalent of a luxury day spa. Everything about you is lush and extravagant – with your decadent score, glitzy costumes, grandiose sets, and talent that is other-worldly. You’ve completely swept us away into a universe of Hollywood golden age glamour. We’ve come out the other end feeling rejuvenated and admitting, begrudgingly, that it’s still pretty hard to beat old ALW for melodrama. (That’s Andrew Lloyd Webber, of course).

Set in Los Angeles in the 1950s, you capture the hunger of young actors and screenwriters that are full of big dreams. In parallel, you play out the story of every actor’s worst nightmare – becoming an irrelevant ‘has been’. Norma Desmond, big-name silent movie star, is in that faded end of the spotlight, with ‘talkies’ having made her work wholly redundant. 

Like most Lloyd Webber productions, you’ve stood the test of time. Your first curtain call was more than 30 years ago in the West End, and you’re still going strong. And yet despite having been around for awhile, there are still a lot of us who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you before. First-time viewers would probably struggle to follow the unfolding plot in your initial jazz-inspired numbers (particularly when everyone is singing over the top of each other in layered counterpoint – can everyone just wait their turn, please?).

But then there comes a moment where it suddenly doesn’t matter what’s happening in the plotline – Norma (Sarah Brightman, alternating with Silvie Paladino for some performances) begins to sing her first major number ‘With One Look’. And it’s so extraordinary it literally sends shivers down our spine. Who knew getting shivers was really a thing? Anyway, ours are surely the most privileged ears (and spine) in all of Sydney in that moment. Silvie and Sarah are in another stratosphere.

Thankfully though, the rest of your cast aren’t far behind. Tim Draxl, as cynical screenwriter Joe Gillis, is in almost every scene and does much of the heavy lifting. His rendition of the titular number ‘Sunset Boulevard’ is abs-olutely captivating. Ashleigh Rubenach, as studio intern Betty Schaefer, brings the necessary sunshine onto the stage whenever things get too gloomy. But really, we get the impression that every single one of your cast – including all your swings –could easily pull off a lead role. Their combined vocal strength during the all-in numbers almost lifts the sails off the Sydney Opera House.

Now on to your orchestra. Normally we forget about the orchestra. Poor underappreciated souls. Hidden out of sight and mostly out of mind if they’re doing their jobs right. But it is impossible to ignore the masterful Opera Australia Orchestra, with the rich, emotive score you’ve given them. And speaking of things that can’t be ignored, your creative and technical teams have gone above and beyond with their set and costume design, not to mention lighting, sound and projection. It all came together to make you so very… gripping. Yes, that often-overused word is actually the perfect fit for you.

As any great thriller should, you increasingly built up the suspense through all means possible, and you genuinely surprised those of us who had no prior knowledge of where any of this was going (it’s been a long 74 years since your Academy Award winning namesake movie, after all). There was your dark, gothic mansion, fading in and out of view dramatically – and vulnerable, unpredictable Norma keeping us on our toes. We’ll admit we nearly jumped out of our skins when that gun was fired.

The only thing that would have made it more shocking would have been for her mysterious, loyal butler Max (Robert Grubb) to take the fall, as we thought for a minute he might. (Yes we’ve seen Chicago too many times – that other musical about a woman’s desperate need for notoriety). Norma’s descent into madness is possibly not as much of a surprise now as it might have been when the 1950 film first came out. Don’t we now just expect all celebrities to eventually go a little bit mad?

Yes Sunset Boulevard, you’re a classy, lavish tragedy. You’re totally mesmerising. And for anyone starting out in the biz, you’re still a cautionary tale indeed.

With love,

Showing at the Sydney Opera House (Joan Sutherland Theatre) until 1 November 2024. Produced by Opera Australia and GWB Entertainment. Photos by Daniel Boud.

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