Presented by GWB Entertainment and Opera Australia
By Damien Barrett @_helloshoppers
I need to preface my review of Opera Australia’s Sunset Boulevard with a couple of important statements. Firstly, Sunset Boulevard is my all-time favourite musical. And secondly, I am a genuine fan of Sarah Brightman – but not in this.
Based on the classic 1950 Billy Wilder film (and still regarded by many as one of the greatest movies of all time), Sunset Boulevard is the story of Joe Gillis, a down-on-his-luck screen writer who, whilst escaping car repossession agents, evades his pursuers by pulling into the driveway of a stately but dilapidated mansion on Sunset Boulevard. Silent movie star Norma Desmond inhabits the mansion, the “greatest star of all” who didn’t transition to “talkies”, and her loyal butler and chauffeur Max. Norma thinks she’s going to get a second shot at fame when Joe agrees to work on her script for Salome. However, their partnership soon takes a dangerous turn.
We meet a young script editor, Betty Schaeffer, who convinces Joe to work on another script with her. Love blooms between them as Norma becomes increasingly possessive.
With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber (Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat) and lyrics by Don Black, Sunset Boulevard is widely recognised as the last of the “mega-musicals” of the 1980s and early 1990s. The original production starring Patti Lupone is infamous in musical theatre cannon for gaslighting Lupone (and pretty much every actress who subsequently played Norma, including Australia’s Debra Byrne) and ultimately sacking her and replacing her with Glen Close, who eventually took the show to LA and Broadway where she won a Tony Award for her efforts.
The role of Norma has been played by some of the biggest and best musical theatre actresses in the world – Lupone, Close, Byrne, Betty Buckley, Diahann Carroll, and Elaine Paige, to name a few—huge voices for a huge role that requires a big Broadway belt. Opera Australia must have thought that they had pulled off the coup of the century by signing the world’s best-selling soprano and original Christine in Phantom of the Opera, Sarah Brightman (also Lloyd Webber’s muse and ex-wife), as Norma for this new Australian production 30 years after it originally opened in Melbourne.
However, this is one of those times when one wonders if anyone stopped and wondered if this was actually a good idea. This is the second time I have seen Brightman as Norma in this production – the first time in preview for the Melbourne season in May. On that occasion, I thought that she may have still been finding her feet in the show, but last night’s performance, although marginally better, was still lacking depth, strength and power. She plays Norma as the caricature of an operatic diva caught in her own delusional world where she is still the “greatest star of all”. I actually get what director Paul Warwick Griffin tried to do with Brightman but a lack of acting chops from the leading lady does not give the role the gravitas it deserves.
The other issue with the performance is Brightman’s decision to sing the entire score in a full coloratura soprano head voice, which was often difficult to understand due to poor diction and heavy vibrato. Brightman is absolutely capable of delivering a more traditional musical theatre / pop voice. She did this very successfully in parts of Phantom and did it exceedingly well in her series of studio albums in the late 80s and early 90s with The Songs That Got Away (1989), Surrender (1995) and her two exceptional adult contemporary albums which are reminiscent of Kate Bush – Dive (1993) and Fly (1995).
To put it simply, I feel that Brightman is woefully miscast as Norma – which is a real shame, not only for her, but for Opera Australia and the audience. The same cannot be said for the rest of the (Australian) cast who deliver some of the best performances this reviewer has seen on a musical theatre stage anywhere in the world – here, London or Broadway.
Tim Draxl as Joe Gillis is the glue that holds Sunset Boulevard together. Having seen Tim in several musical roles, most recently as the Wolf in the Hayes / Belvoir Street production of Into The Woods, he is emerging as one of the finest leading men in Australian Theatre. He understands the role and the material, delivering the title track, which opens the second act with sheer vocal power. The final note of the Act 2 opener left me with chills, and his crystal clear baritone rang like a bell through the Sydney Opera House’s Joan Sutherland Theatre. He portrays flawed Joe Gillis with authenticity, honesty and vulnerability.
Robert Grubb is a compelling Max von Mayerling hell-bent on maintaining Norma’s delusional fantasy world. Interestingly, Grubb also played Sheldrake in the original Australian production of Sunset Boulevard in 1996.
A very impressive Ashleigh Rubenach (An American in Paris, Sweeney Todd and Groundhog Day) plays Betty Schaeffer and very nearly steals the show. Her vocals are pure musical theatre and I could not imagine a better casting decision. She is absolutely one to watch, and it won’t be long before we see a big star vehicle with her name on it. Rounding out the cast is a very likable Jarrod Draper as Artie Green. Draper has a striking stage presence and is also one of the understudies for Draxl.
This production is lavish and looks expensive – exactly like Sunset Boulevard should. Set and costume designer Morgan Large has done a brilliant job creating the look and feel of the show through a noir lens. Norma’s house emerges from the back of the stage (in the original, it was flown down from the roof), and the costumes pop – especially those designed for Norma, which, although fresh designs, are still reminiscent of and loyal to the original look and feel of the show.
Paul Christ’s orchestra is big and packs a punch with 10 additional players added for the Sydney season and Ashley Wallen’s choreography is at its best in Draxl and Rubenach’s La La Land-esque Too Much In Love To Care in the second act (although in other numbers it can sometimes feel too much).
I will see this production again before it closes – specifically to see the alternate Norma Desmond – Australian theatre royalty Silvie Paladino perform the role. Word on the street is that she delivers everything that Brightman cannot.
Despite its one big casting problem, Sunset Boulevard is a great night at the theatre and, quite honestly, is mostly Australian musical theatre excellence. I was excited to see my favourite musical in a big-scale, schmick, professional revival. The show is supposed to stand on the shoulders of its leading lady – “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small” but production relies on everyone but.
Sunset Boulevard is playing at the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House through November and has just announced a season in Singapore in 2025.
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.
His claim to fame is that he once met Patti Lupone in New York and she was nice to him.