SUNSET BOULEVARD (Curve Theatre, Leicester)****

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.curveonline.co.uk/whats-on/shows/sunset-boulevard-in-concert-at-home

Available until: Livestreams at various times on 31^st December and 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th January. The final livestream is on 4pm on Tuesday 5^th.

I haven’t seen Sunset Boulevard before and I was always under the impression it was a cold and nasty play about people who were out for themselves and didn’t care about anyone else.

It probably could be performed in that way but that wasn’t the case in this performance. I actually found it a very moving performance and different forms of love seem to be really important. There’s also a lot of tragedy in this play. If there is any coldness and nastiness in this musical, it comes from the world of theatre (not that it’s always like that) rather than the characters who all seem like victims of the theatre in different ways.

Nikolai Foster hasn’t just restricted himself to the stage for this production. I’m a bit mixed on this. Sometimes it really works to take advantage of different spaces and venues when they are available. But I think these online shows are here to try to recreate the magic of the theatre and part of that is about being on a stage and transforming it into whatever you want it to be. That doesn’t really happen completely in Sunset Boulevard. But some of the parts of the theatre used have a really striking effect, especially at the end.

Sunset Boulevard probably has some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best music though this is always a matter of opinion and we all have our own favourites. This musical feels like it had a bigger and fuller orchestration and goes more deeply into the emotions. But that might not actually be true and the orchestration won’t necessarily be the same for every production and it might be a bit unfair to say it’s more emotional as he’s obviously not going to go so deeply into the emotions with something fun like Joseph or Cats (though Close Every Door and Memory aren’t exactly short of emotion). I like the music of Sunset Boulevard, anyway.

Ria Jones plays Norma Desmond. She’s unreasonable, demanding and manipulative but Ria makes her into a really tragic figure and although I obviously can’t condone everything she does, the sadness and desperation in Ria’s performance are really powerful and it’s painful (in a good way) to watch her.

Danny Mac is suave and confident as Joe. He gave him lots of layers and you can see the different sides of him, the romantic side which brings out the best in him and the ambitious side which doesn’t so much. He commands the stage really well and he gives Joe a charm which the character really needs as he does horrible things.

Molly Lynch is really lovely as Betty. She has lots of spirit and she knows her industry very well, but there is something very sweet and naïve about her. Although she’s not quite the leading lady in this show, Molly has so much star quality and a big likeability factor so I think she has a big future as a leading lady. Dougie Carter is a likeable Artie and probably better suited to Betty but since when is the heart sensible?

The other character that really stands out to me is Max Von Meyerling who is played by Adam Pearce. There is so much love and kindness in his performance and even though it’s for a sad reason and some people might think it’s not a good idea, he is still really lovely.

A lot of the drama in this musical is related to love for another person and love for your career and how you can’t always have both. I think it’s very sad but very realistic.