Sunset Boulevard – Savoy Theatre 2023/24

Couldn’t agree more with Obi’s post. No denying the performances and some of the technical wonders of the production but whilst less is often more the production suffers from being too minimalistic. References like Mad about the Boy are lost. It assumes you have seen the musical before so that you can place the significance of this. I’m not sure As if We Never Said Goodbye quite achieved what it should have been capable of achieving as it missed the creation of the movie set whilst With One Look was thrilling with prolonged applause and cheers. A production which may well divide opinions but glad to have seen it but will cherish more the memories of past full productions.

I think the problem that I have with the idea of this production is contemporary dress for what is supposed to be a 1950s story about a woman whose heyday was in the 1920s. Visual disconnect. I saw the original in previews, and of course it was conceived as a mega-musical with the two level interior of Norma's mansion receiving a huge round of applause as it glided forward from the upstage shadows. Norma's return to Paramount in that massive old limo also got a huge hand. This is clearly not your Mother's Sunset. If the singing and performances are good, that's in its favour, but with missing props and so much emphasis on the screens I can understand why it's polarizing opinion. Minimalism for its own sake doesn't necessarily serve the material, especially when one thinks of the excesses of peak studio system, and how the studio's publicity departments wanted the public to believe that their stars lived like royalty. That was part of Norma's tragedy, how she was essentially living in a house that was frozen in time from the apex of her career. Max's deception in sending fan mail and encouraging her to believe a revived career was possible. The baroque sets by John Napier really contributed to the idea that she was living in a mausoleum, living in the past. And the blood at the end now - is that really necessary? Granted we had Joe's body "floating" in the pool at the beginning of the OP. Ah well. I'm not convinced yet...

"Mad About The Boy" was written in lipstick on the mirror in NS dressing room during the second half opener last night and she was stood in front of the mirror touching it whilst wearing a turban.  The references are in there, people just need to look more closely.  These little easter eggs are planted throughout the show in obvious and less obvious ways.  My brother saw this last night with me and he is not particularly good at "filling the gaps", but his comments afterwards were: "That was f***ing incredible - I loved the way it makes you have to pay attention and fill some of the gaps for yourself because it is so abstract and minimal."   He has never seen or heard Sunset Boulevard before last night but said he had the music stuck in his head and thought it was an amazing story.   To me, this epitomises this production.  While some people seem to want a modernised replication of their memories, this is a new production for a new audience.  My brother isn't switched on when it comes to joining the dots of sub-narratives and plotlines, yet he felt last night's show was one of the greatest things he has seen and was able to recount the story in great detail and give opinions on the psychological state of Norma.  For me, that says this show works on a number of levels - beyond pure entertainment, it is getting people thinking and talking about the characters, incidentally with a beautiful note-perfect lead instead of an archetypal Norma who is old enough to be yer granny.

Disappointing to hear they’ve cut that title sequence - I thought that was great when I saw it on Thursday night, a really simple but clever idea.

And yes, can also confirm the screen was sharp and clear, no pixels even up close.

NS on R2 with Dermot O’Leary now

Has anyone won the lottery for this yet? How easy was it and where were the seats?

That is bizarre. That's one of the few choices that worked in my view, although, in keeping with the conventions of that movie period, it should have been at the top of the show, not after a prologue, and they should have used technical wizardry to make it look like 35mm celluloid, not hi-res, dynamically bright video.

Hopefully it could've been just that one performance where the sequence hadn't played properly/in time? My second visit, the live footage of Max wasn't relayed at all to the screen and the light panels on his cameraman's rig were off, so the 2 of them just meandered around in the dark at the back for a long while.

Downside to such a minimalist and tech-reliant staging, if the tech goes wrong, half (or even more) the magic's gone, as this is so reliant on the contrast between the stark, everyone-downstage scenes, and the simultaneously in-your-face and looming live video backdrop.

Agree with the rest the credit sequence was one of the best moments/most inspired use of the screen, its placement was fantastic too and sets the scene.

I saw that too, but it's not nearly enough. Even if I accept new audience members will be able to remember the lipstick message, the line has lost all of its narrative significance. There's no diegetic reason for Norma to be wailing it in her monologue of madness. "Silent music starts to play" - ah, yes, that's from her big solo. "If you're with me, next year will be" - ah, yes, that's from the New Year's party. "They bring in his head in a silver tray" - ah, yes, that's from her Salome script. "MAD ABOUT THE BOY!!!" - uh... that's a random phrase written on a mirror in the interval?

You can't just leave in a payoff while cutting the setup. That's as close to an objective screwup as it's possible to get when retooling a show.

There will be people, myself included, who go to see musicals to enjoy the music and spectacle without understanding every single thing about the story and plot.
I've seen many musicals where I have come out at the end and not really understood what I have been watching but still enjoyed it immensely. Not everyone needs to delve into the subject matter too deeply to enjoy it.
So I don't think small parts of the original missing or not being explained would have much effect on most people who are seeing the musical for the first time.

Yes, that’s a good point alece10. I love Hamilton but would be lying if I claimed to have grasped every detail so I know what you mean!

Just realised we haven't given enough credit to the camera operator for the Act 2 opening number. Whoever it is they are dammed talented.