At London’s Coliseum theatre the beleaguered, cash strapped English National Opera are mounting a staged concert of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s SUNSET BOULEVARD, a sure fire box office hit.
We’ve known for some time that it will star Hollywood’s Glenn Close reprising the role she played in the US. Full casting has now been announced along with the release of extra tickets.
According to the press release – “With the lush melodies of this much-loved score (including Sunset Boulevard, With One Look and The Perfect Year) performed by ENO's acclaimed orchestra, this semi-staged production with book & lyrics by Don Black & Christopher Hampton promises to be a spectacular evening.”
Glenn Close is joined by Michael Xavier as Joe Gillis, Siobhan Dillon as Betty Shaefer, Fred Johanson as Max Von Mayerling, Anna Woodside as Hedda Hopper, Emily Bull as Hedy Lamarr, Julian Forsyth as Cecil B DeMille, Mark Goldthorp as Sheldrake, Fenton Gray as Manfred, Haydn Oakley as Artie Green and James Paterson as Jonesy. Further company members include Carly Anderson, Michelle Bishop, Jacob Chapman, Nadeem Crowe, Cornelia Farnsworth, Ria Jones, Katie Kerr, Aaron Lee Lambert, Matthew McKenna, Jo Morris, Tanya Robb, Ashley Robinson, Vicki Lee Taylor, Gary Tushaw, Adam Vaughan and Stuart Winter.
The full ENO orchestra will appear on stage alongside the cast in this semi-staged production. Orchestrations are by David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber with choreography by Stephen Mear, set designs by James Noone, costume designs by Tracy Christensen, Glenn Close’s costumes designs by Anthony Powell, sound by Mick Potter and lighting by Mark Henderson. Musical Director is Michael Reed who also conducts.
Based on Billy Wilder’s classic film, SUNSET BOULEVARD originally premièred in London at the Adelphi Theatre in 1993, where it ran for almost four years and played to nearly two million people. It went on to open on Broadway in 1994 to what was then, the biggest advance in Broadway history, $37.5million.
The musical is set a dilapidated mansion on Sunset Boulevard where faded, silent-screen goddess, Norma Desmond, lives in a fantasy world. Impoverished screen writer, Joe Gillis, on the run from debt collectors, stumbles into her reclusive world. Persuaded to work on Norma’s ‘masterpiece’, a film script that she believes will put her back in front of the cameras, he is seduced by her and her luxurious life-style. Joe becomes entrapped in a claustrophobic world until his love for another woman leads him to try and break free with dramatic consequences.
Director Lonny Price returns to the London Coliseum to stage this strictly limited run of 43 performances.
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