Review of the West End transfer of Sunset Boulevard to Broadway

Sunset Boulevard is one of my favorite shows of all time. I don’t think the book is perfect at all, but I love the songs, the movies, and have seen the Kennedy Center production of the show that was with Stephanie J. Block and Derek Klena. I’d heard about the British production and knew it had rave reviews, but I figured I wouldn’t be around for when it transferred to Broadway.

So when my visa for India got massively delayed, I impulsively decided to go to New York for a day or two. I had to decide between this show and Romeo and Juliet with Rachel Zegler, which were beginning previews right when I was coming, but when I saw the Olivier Awards performance with Tom Francis I was sold on this show.

I bought my tickets once I had a confirmation that I could sleep on a friend’s couch, and even a week before the third preview, there were some seats left. I snagged Row O, Seat 5 in the mezzanine for only $100 after fees, which is not bad for a mezzanine seat at all. I told my boss and she was shocked at how good of a deal it is.

I’d recommend center mezzanine for this show, but if you can afford orchestra, I’d splurge. Don’t sit too close to the stage if you want to observe the group dynamics of the ensemble—there are some really fascinating ways this show deals with blocking. I’ve also heard the balcony at this theatre isn’t the best, which is why I avoided it.

Let’s get into the review! I have so many wonderful things to say about this production.

Struggling writer Joe Gillis gets caught up with the fading silent film star Norma Desmond.

We begin this production, right before the lights going out, with the actress playing a young Norma Desmond (as a film star active in her career), staring right at the audience silently. She stood there for about five minutes as we all stared at her, many people dead silent and waiting for the show to start.

This isn’t a spoiler because in the opening scene of the show, Joe literally starts his opening monologue by unzipping himself from a body bag and telling us that he’s dead.

So we know this upfront, then we dive into the details throughout the show. Jamie Lloyd directed this, so don’t expect a set—there are some incredible ways he uses cameras to replace this, such as when actors are pretending to drive a car (they use the camera instead).

The minimalist set didn’t bother me, but I could see how an average Broadway tourist that isn’t into artistic interpretations might be miffed that they spent hundreds of dollars to see a show that’s an empty stage. I was really skeptical in how film played into all of this because the last show I saw incorporating a moving camera was the 2020 West Side Story, and they didn’t do it well at all.

Sunset Boulevard, however, takes inspiration from film noir. There are pockets of humor woven into how the camera is used, and while some people laughed at some of these takes involving Scherzinger’s interpretation of Norma, it played directly into how she’s elevated into more levels of insanity during this show.

Which, speaking of Scherzinger, is definitely the greatest star of this show. She growls, plays up the madness for the camera, and moves like a ghost trapped in the past of her career across this stage. Even when she’s not directly involved with the scene, she’s sometimes there lurking, watching over the characters.

Tom Francis, who portrays Joe, plays him as a cynical, biting character. It’s a contrast to Klena’s Joe that I saw a year prior, who smiled a lot more and seemed hopeful about his situation.

When we get to the titular song in Act II, which is performed live as he roams the streets of Shubert Alley (yet again using the cameras to show this), he’s biting out each phrase about how he’ll take everything he can from her.

But seriously, there are some incredible moments throughout this show.

There are some where it lightens and doesn’t take itself as seriously to relieve some of the tension, but there’s an entire scene right before the last song where I could feel my anxiety levels go through the roof because they did something I’ve never seen in a theater involving turning off all of the lights completely as Nora descends into madness.

Some other minor details I noticed is they changed the orchestrations and some of the lyrics in smaller ways—the phrase “let’s get lunch” was a bit different from the original 1980s lyrics.

Overall Thoughts

While Act II is a lot slower than Act I, and I really began noticing it, I think I’ve decided this is my favorite production out of all the theatrical shows I’ve managed to see throughout the years.

From the way the staging works with the ensemble numbers, to how the main leads really went so hard into their roles in a way that’s fantastic, this is going to be sticking with me for a long time.

I am not alone, I know that. When I went during the third preview they got four standing ovations before we got to the end of the show. Scherzinger alone was half of those standing ovations—people were going nuts before she could even get her last note out. It was that wild.

I also heard quite a few people on the way out declaring this was the best show they’ve ever seen. It really was an experience of theatre at some of its finest.

Even the lighting was so intentional; there are some scenes where the character’s shadows are deliberately played onto the background, showing how much thought and effort went into all of this.

Go see it if you want to and have the finances. I wish I could see it again! This is definitely going to sweep the awards season next year.

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