Sunset Boulevard – Savoy Theatre 2023/24

Ahhhh, I still have the Pop Idol series 2 Christmas CD. Comes out annually.

Don’t see her as Norma but more than happy to see her have a stab at a gender swapped Max.

Could Scherzinger's performance ignite interest in a film version? I mean, Glenn Close's ship has sailed (and Scherzinger probably torpedoed it if it was still floating somewhere out there in dark), but Scherzinger... nobody's caused chatter or provoked a reaction like this about this part or this musical in a long time. I'm not arguing a transposition of Lloyd's staging or even Lloyd directing... but anybody thing Scherzinger might actually wind up donning the turbans in a film version?

Her bonkers casting only makes sense in the context of this production- and any film of this won’t be taking the Jamie Lloyd route.

Plus they will have a much bigger selection of Hollywood names lining up to play this role on film… much bigger box office names than NS.

All decisions about a film adaptation lies with Paramount and with the best will in the world, they aren't going to turn this into a movie.

Around the 2017 revival the chatter about the movie version had really piqued again, with supposedly a fantastic script and director attached, with Glenn giving updates. COVID was one of the main excuses for it getting derailed again and I haven't seen or heard a word from Glenn in a long time.

If they did attempt a film, I think Jamie Lloyd has just shown that there's more to the story than just recycling the original with music from ALW. Leaning into the fame/popularity aspects of things and some further reworking of the lyrics can make this even more something a bit more original "based" on the Billy Wilder film.

Whether Paramount has the vision and desire for such - no idea. The feline mess of Cats I'm sure is still lingering for many a movie exec

For those who wanted a brochure, there is 30% off everything on the Theatre Shop site today so it's £7 plus postage.

If you can wait for 10am the day of the prices drop. £295 is too expensive. £145 for the same seat, if available, while pricy on a budget is worth it.

Realised I never came back to post my thoughts after I saw it last weekend with Rachel. Despite my obvious upset that I wanted to see Nicole and getting Rachel (and it turns out they had emailed my fiancé to advise of this the week before and he had just missed the email, so I’m more upset at him!), she is obviously a complete and utter sensation as Norma. I’ve seen her in a fair few roles now and she is probably my favourite of the current West End stars but this was streaks ahead of anything I’ve seen her do, the acting in particular felt like a major step up from anything else I’ve seen from her!

All the leads really gave terrific performances, not a weak link among them - a pleasure to see Tom Francis on a West End stage after last seeing him at the Hope Mill for RENT.

Direction-wise I had a fair idea of what to expect given who directs - my fiancé however did not and was somewhat confused to begin with but felt it really worked for the most part by the end. Personally loved the stripped back, modern approach to the production as opposed to the traditional/original staging - brings what I (probably unfairly) view as a somewhat dated piece of theatre into the 21st century. The anachronisms (such as the finishing the screenplay on the MacBook or picture of Rachel as Elphaba in the opening of act 2) did feel a bit iffy because as it’s still quite clearly set in 1949/1950 but I can overlook that as a choice designed to amplify the absurdity of the whole piece.

5/5 for me!

I was watching a bootleg of this sequence the other day and the guy who has filmed it must have been so annoying to be sat next to. Every time there was a reference he put on a really false loud laugh and virtually shouted out each one.. "ooh turban HAHAHA...ooh chimp HAHAHA"

Thank you for saying it   Was losing my mind and getting further enraged that there's no news of a cast recording

With respect- there’s no way it would be a success in another theatre with Rachel. She isn’t a name outside of a very niche theatre community.

It just wouldn’t be financially viable to sell it with her as the star.

It also would have the problem that it’s a production that’s known for starring Scherzinger. They would have diminishing returns having anyone else headlining it, hence no plans to move it to another theatre.