Sunset Boulevard (w Silvie Paladino)
As with my initial review of Sunset Boulevard, I need to preface the following with some critical statements. Firstly – Sunset Boulevard by Andrew Lloyd Webber is my favourite musical. Secondly, I adore Silvie Paladino – especially in this!
Tuesday night saw me attend my fourth performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical Sunset Boulevard at the Sydney Opera House. The first three times I saw Sarah Brightman play faded silent movie star Norma Desmond; her performance was disappointing and not everything I wanted it to be. This week, I deliberately saw a Tuesday night performance specifically to see Australian musical theatre royalty Silvie Paladino give us her take on the role. In this review, I will not compare the two actresses – they are incredibly different (indeed, Paladino sings Norma’s two most significant numbers in Lupone’s original key – the first time this has been done in a total production since Lupone was famously sacked), nor will I trash Brightman, who delivered a very different interpretation of the role. Instead, I will focus on why Silvie Paladino gave Tuesday night’s audience in the Joan Sutherland Theatre the Norma Desmond that this excellent production so richly deserves.
From the moment we hear Norma cry out her first line: “You there! Why are you so late?” to her haunting opening vocals (Surrender gave me chills), Paladino delivers a stunning performance in a role that many great actresses have played before her (Patti Lupone, Glen Close, Betty Buckley, Elaine Paige, Diahann Carroll, Debra Byrne, Maria Mercedes). She captures every facet of this most complex of roles -fragility, fear, delusion and obsession in a way that makes the audience feel Norma’s pain and longing. To make an audience empathise with an essentially flawed character is the sign of a genuinely excellent actor. She draws the audience into her world and shows them what a thrilling journey it is.
Paladino is a standout in the cast, as she should be, and brings the company together, showing a cohesion lacking the previous times I had seen this production. Her chemistry with Tim Draxl’s Joe is both believable and palpable. Indeed, with Silvie in the role, both excellent male leads (including Robert Grubb’s Max) can pull back and allow her space to develop her complex character rather than merely “playing Norma Desmond”. Norma’s first big number, With One Look,stopped the show cold, with Tuesday’s audience cheering with delight.
Silvie’s vocals have range and are powerful and captivating. Her big second-act number, As If We Never Said Goodbye, brought the house down, and she was every bit as good (if not better) than Lupone. I dare say that when she belted out, “I’ve come home at last”, there was not an audience member who did not feel chills and had the hairs on the back of their neck stand up.
I was particularly pleased to see the comedic The Lady’s Paying sung through (rather than done ala Brightman as a patter number), which showcased the excellent male ensemble. The “mad scene” at the show’s peak was devastatingly tragic, taking the audience to the brink of Norma’s descent.
Morgan Large’s giant set, which became an extension of Paldino’s character, stood out to me in this performance. It was as if the massive palazzo was a part of Norma Desmond herself. The set’s lighting subtly changed throughout the show, reflecting her state of mind, and she angrily cried, almost defeated, in the penultimate scene as the thunderstorm rolled in.
The singular criticism I have of Tuesday night’s performance (and it is minor) is that the costume designer did not replicate every one of Brightman’s immaculate costumes for Silvie. Two costumes were missing and substituted, which looked like hastily thrown-together get-ups that momentarily took me out of the noir fantasy. With so much expense poured into the rest of the production, this was unforgivable.
However, that one criticism aside, this is Sunset Boulevard, the last of the mega-musicals, as it is meant to be performed – with a thrilling lead actress who embodies the role to utter perfection. Silvie Paladino proved on Tuesday night exactly why she is Australian musical theatre royalty. Long live the queen!
Sunset Boulevard plays at the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House through November and plays a season in Singapore in 2025.
Silvie Paladino plays Norma Desmond on Tuesday nights and Wednesday matinees.
photos: Damien Barrett.
In his past lives, Damien was a drag queen and musical theatre actor. He made his stage debut as a fat cow in a school production of Joseph in 1984. He holds a BA with a major in drama from the University of Newcastle. He is completely obsessed with musical theatre – especially broadway divas. Since relocating to Sydney at the beginning of 2024 he attends every musical he can get to and lives with his partner and grumpy 12 year old poodle.