January 30, 2011 11:42 PM
Signature Theater: Sunset Boulevard
Trying to catch up on hold while I was busy enjoying my kids over the holidays and traveling a lot this month with Maddy.
While Sophia was home from Liberty, she and Maddy and I went to see Sunset Boulevard at the Signature Theater in Shirlington, VA. And may I just say, as someone who lived 1968-1972 in Parkfairfax, right across from Shirlington, how exciting it is to see what that tired and boring old shopping strip eventually became? I LOVE the Signature Theater - a truly unique performance space blessed with some amazingly and talented creative spirits who know how to use the space to full advantage.
Sunset Boulevard is based on the masterpiece film noir starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden and directed by Billy Wilder. When Andrew Lloyd Webber - composer of Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - signed on to author the musical version, many waited breathlessly for the results. This was truly a chance of a lifetime, a star vehicle for an aging actress. Glenn Close was chosen to play the role of Norma Desmond on Broadway - one of those instances of choosing someone with name recognition over an actual singer.
Signature Theater scored big time by being the first to premiere this in Washington DC (well, at least the metropolitan area). And they chose an actress whose name - Florence Lacey - might not be recognized by moviegoers, but who managed to portray a more nuanced and vulnerable Norma Desmond. The fact that she is a little overweight, I think adds to the believability of her character. Plus, she's a great singer and stage actress.
I had never heard the music from Sunset boulevard before. And it is to his credit that Andrew Lloyd Webber can create a score that grabs you the first time you hear it, so that you leave the theater with melodies running through your head. However, Webber's downfall is that his music is very derivative and you will hear snatches of Puccini and other classic composers throughout. Plus, he dogs his tunes to death, so that a wonderful song is dulled by unnecessary repetition.
Webber added to the simple film structure by scenes which contrast the fall from grace of an aging silent film star with the youthful energy and superficiality of Hollywood. I found that entertaining - and though the film Sunset boulevard is perfect and complete in itself, the play with these counterpoint scenes is compelling too.
The relationship between Norma Desmond and the younger screenwriter who becomes her paramour is painful, uncomfortable and embarrassing. Nothing will ever change that - and it was a little easier to take in black and white and 2-dimensional. On a stage jutting into the audience the scenes of an actress old enough to be her prey's mother will make you squirm. But also make you ask why we accept that age difference when the genders are reversed.
Should you see Sunset Boulevard? Absolutely, if you are a fan of film noir, modern Broadway, or wildly innovative staging. Because what is most intriguing about this production is the stagecraft.
Who could have imagined how the Signature Theater could have conjured up the grandiosity of Norma Desmond's mansion and her life on their modest stage? And yet they made an unforgettable mark on the Washington DC theater scene, with just enough to suggest all the audience needs to conjure up the visuals - plus a 20-piece orchestra ensconced above the stage, not stinting on the music.
Again, this is film noir. It is dark. But in the finest tradition of tragedy, it makes its mark. Not for everyone, but for students of musical theater, this production is a must see.
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