Nicole Scherzinger to star in West End Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy- Page 17

[OhHiii]

Posted: 11/17/23 at 10:37am

Dylan Smith4 said: "I agree a spring transfer would be wise for this production. I am still betting on it transferring to the Shubert. Does anyone hear otherwise by any chance?"

Hell's Kitchen has the Shubert.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 11/17/23 at 10:42am

The truth is nobody knows whats going on. To read these boards, Hells Kitchen is going to the Shubert - no Betty Boop is going to the Shubert.  Sunset is going to th Hudson or its not. The reality is that not everything rumoured for this season is going to open this season, but we don't know which will yet.   There may also be some houses that vacate by the spring.  Nobody knows anything.

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/17/23 at 11:08am

Bwayornoway said: "I also wonder how much weight will go into deciding on a theater based on the logistics of the opening of the second act?"

Me too. In order to preserve the "staging" (a bit of a misnomer) for the title song, I think it would be wise to avoid taking Joe out onto 8th Avenue, 7th Avenue, or Broadway, and that eliminates a lot of options. The best venues would probably be those well to the east side of Broadway, e.g., Hudson or Belasco. If they must go with the west side, I think the most feasible would be one of the houses adjoining Shubert Alley, which I expect could be more easily controlled.

[Huss417]

Posted: 11/17/23 at 11:59am

Does anyone happen to know recently how well this is selling?

[binau]

Posted: 11/17/23 at 12:22pm

Yes, very very well. It's one of the hottest tickets in London right now (Monday nights with Rachel T not quite the same). I think a Broadway producer would find it encouraging, especially as things really took off after performances started (i.e. word of mouth very strong). 

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 11/17/23 at 12:34pm

I saw it this past Tuesday and it was sold out.

I initially scoffed at this production for two reasons - it looked bizarrely misconceived and I really dislike Sunset. A friend of mine in the London theatre scene insisted I had to see it on my trip this week. I always listen to him so I gritted my teeth and bought a ticket. 

Nicole Scherzinger gives the best vocal performance I've ever experienced in either a Broadway or West End theatre. I would normally try to hedge and say top three (I've seen Audra and Kelli and Kristin and Idina and Donna and Vicki and Patti and Bernadette and many, many others live). But my god what she does vocally in this show is astounding. Utterly astounding.

The staging is Jamie Lloyd bonkers. Some of it is a little too too and maybe a little silly, but I didn't care. It's a really interesting mix of experimental theater, camp and horror. I saw Gregor Milne go on as Joe Gillis and you would never think he was an understudy. Grace Hodgett Young was a terrific Betty and David Thaxton is heartbreaking as Max. He is also deeply, deeply hot, but that is neither here nor there.

The ensemble is VERY young and dressed in urban street clothes, but vocally they sound like an old-school Broadway ensemble. It was a really interesting dichotomy. I was steeling myself for a very musically thin, pop sound, but no. The ensemble vocals were big and clear. Thank God 'The Lady's Paying' is cut. Some of the choreography feels a little jarring in the wrong way but, when it is right, it is dazzling. 

Scherzinger delivers one of the riskiest performances I've ever seen from a major personality. Some of her characterization is bizarrely modern and some of it is over the top camp and then, at the very end, she is balls-to-the-wall, go-for-broke mad (as in crazy). It's dizzying and thrilling and it has turned me into an absolute fan. Brava, lady.

The show is a big swing. It's pendulums wildly in tone. But it's a flipping thrill. And, judging by the audience response, it is really hitting with people. What a great friggin' night. 

[chernjam]

Posted: 11/17/23 at 5:39pm

SonofRobbieJ said: "I saw it this past Tuesday and it was sold out.

I initially scoffed at this production for two reasons - it looked bizarrely misconceived and I really dislike Sunset. A friend of mine in the London theatre scene insisted I had to see it on my trip this week. I always listen to him so I gritted my teeth and bought a ticket.

Nicole Scherzinger gives the best vocal performance I've ever experienced in either a Broadway or West End theatre. I would normally try to hedge and say top three (I've seen Audra and Kelli and Kristin and Idina and Donna and Vicki and Patti and Bernadette and many, many others live). But my god what she does vocally in this show is astounding. Utterly astounding.

The staging is Jamie Lloyd bonkers. Some of it is a little too too and maybe a little silly, but I didn't care. It's a really interesting mix of experimental theater, camp and horror. I saw Gregor Milne go on as Joe Gillis and you would never think he was an understudy. Grace Hodgett Young was a terrific Betty and David Thaxton is heartbreaking as Max. He is also deeply, deeply hot, but that is neither here nor there.

The ensemble is VERY young and dressed in urban street clothes, but vocally they sound like an old-school Broadway ensemble. It was a really interesting dichotomy. I was steeling myself for a very musically thin, pop sound, but no. The ensemble vocals were big and clear. Thank God 'The Lady's Paying' is cut. Some of the choreography feels a little jarring in the wrong way but, when it is right, it is dazzling.

Scherzinger delivers one of the riskiest performances I've ever seen from a major personality. Some of her characterization is bizarrely modern and some of it is over the top camp and then, at the very end, she is balls-to-the-wall, go-for-broke mad (as in crazy). It's dizzying and thrilling and it has turned me into an absolute fan. Brava, lady.

The show is a big swing. It's pendulums wildly in tone. But it's a flipping thrill. And, judging by the audience response, it is really hitting with people. What a great friggin' night."

 

Thanks so much for your review... as a huge Sunset fan, I've often worried that it would be lost and inaccessible to each generation as "talkies" becomes more unknown and revering the film does too.  It seems like this new approach found a way to reinvent the show.  And the few clips I've heard, the cast sounds phenomenal.  It's no longer "Glenn Close's Sunset Blvd."

[Penna2]

Posted: 11/17/23 at 10:58pm

For anyone interested, there are some boots on You Tube - one a video of Nicole singing With One Look and Tom singing the title song. Others are audio only. I have to say, even the audio of As If We Never Said Good-bye only gave me chills and had me in tears - her performance is that strong.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 12:18am

To the person that says that Nicole gives the best vocal performance. I have to say that Kelli is one of the best, so putting her up on that level is pretty huge. I bet you haven't seen LEA in Funny Girl though. You'd have loved it.

Nicole is a great vocalist for sure. I'd see her live although I have no interest in seeing SUNSET ever again really. I saw the amazing Glenn 5x on Broadway in 2017.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 12:32am

I occasionally hear shades of Patti in Nicole's vocal performance, though she's mostly doing her own thing.

That title song is a feat of strength: he's not winded AND he doesn't fall down the stairs or collide with something!

[binau]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 7:27am

muscle23ftl said: "To the person that says that Nicole gives the best vocal performance. I have to say that Kelli is one of the best, so putting her up on that level is pretty huge. I bet you haven't seen LEA in Funny Girl though. You'd have loved it.

Nicole is a great vocalist for sure. I'd see her live although I have no interest in seeing SUNSET ever again really. I saw the amazing Glenn 5x on Broadway in 2017."

I agree that it'll always be tough to claim it's literally *the* best of all time, and it's hard not to get caught up in the hype - but even if it's not literally the best, it's at the very top category of vocal performance of all time in my opinion and is indeed as special as all of the greats mentioned (most of whom I've seen live and listened to basically all their records, so I'm not saying this naively). It's a very big shock/surprise, because I just didn't think that a popstar would have either the vocal ability* or the acting skills to pull it off. As well as her own unique interesting timbre. It's not just a generic pop sound, it's quite distinctive. And the texture as she navigates the full range of the score and dynamics (soft and loud) is just stunning. 

This production and Nicole's performance is so different than the 2017 revival that it's hard to even compare them. It's a a completely different show. 

* Well that's not strictly true, after listening to some clips of Nicole before seeing the show I knew she had a voice, which warmed me up to her casting a little. But I still did not expect what I heard. It's just stunning.

Updated On: 11/18/23 at 07:27 AM

[Seb28]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 9:13am

Penna2 said: "For anyone interested, there are some boots on You Tube - a video of Tom singing the title song. ."

I can see it's a funny gimmick, but I hate how this show is all about breaking the 4th wall, constant jokes about current themes, twerking, artists, even making jokes about the real lives of some of the actors involved, breaking the magic, basically constantly apologizing for the material and story.

If that's what's needed to keep current audiences entertained, so be it. Even the first half of this clip is all laughs and jokes, punch after punch after punch at the 4th wall.

What I do like is the magnificent and glorious score. Maybe even the current audiences long for beautiful melodies after years of musical poverty. They seem to love it and seem surprised by it. So maybe taking the p*ss in combination with glorious scores is the new "hip". I can only be halfway on board with that. But it's better than not using beautiful music at all.

 

Updated On: 11/18/23 at 09:13 AM

[kidmanboy]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 9:28am

Is it apologizing for the material? Or making a point that the themes of the story are still relevant?  I haven't seen the production but I can assume from things I've read that it's aiming for the latter.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 9:33am

Seb28 said: "Penna2 said: "For anyone interested, there are some boots on You Tube - a video of Tom singing the title song. ."

I can see it's a funny gimmick, but I hate how this show is all about breaking the 4th wall, constant jokes about current themes, twerking, artists, even making jokes about the real lives of some of the actors involved, breaking the magic, basically constantly apologizing for the material and story.:

I normally feel this way about...well...everything. But I personally think the movie Sunset Boulevard is perfect. A knowing, smart noir/horror tale that uses humor masterfully. I think the musical Sunset Boulevard, as originally conceived, positively flattens out all the gnarly bits of the movie to something that is, frankly, a bore...and unfunny. The major musical set pieces are beautiful, but a lot of the score just fizzles. 

By going so far afield from what the original musical was, it somehow worked its way back to the original spirit of the film. It's becomes something so entirely different but has captured the essence of Wilder's vision. Comedy is different now. And the film of Sunset was set in the here and now of 1949/50. A contemporary take can actually re-contextualize the story of a failed, delusional celebrity grasping to hold on. 

 

 

[Seb28]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 10:45am

I think the original stage version has humor too. Clever jokes, woven into the story and situations. Jokes that make sense. Just like in the film. Just like Wilder's vision.

I do not think that "Mc Hammer and twerk jokes", and constantly deliberately taking the audience out of the story is funnier. The whole entr'acte is now a laughing stock. That is apologizing for the material. 

"Comedy is different now." I suppose that is true. To me it is a cheap and easy way of comedy. I am not entertained by superficialities, pop culture references (which do not match the lyrics in any way) and personal references of the people playing it. I don't want to be in my own current realistic reference mindset when I visit theatre. I want to travel.

In my opinion it is not making the story more relevant, it makes the story and sung lyrics irrelevant. The combination of lyrics and disconnected jokes takes you out of the story in this case, which seems to be what they want. Funny for some, not for me. I felt this version to be, frankly, a bore. My thoughts wandered off in many scenes. I was only invested in Norma's 2 big numbers but the lyrics didn't make sense anymore and I have heard them sung better before. 

I feel that when the novelty of the long note (hooooooome) and the funny filming of the title song wears off, there is not much left.

When Joe sings the heart-wrenching lyrics of the title song I want to feel and experience them. Not being unable to hear them, not sitting in an audience constantly bursting out in laughter throughout the whole song for seeing a poster of Nicole or Andrew Lloyd webber and funny faces of other people and situations and gestures during those lines. Things that have nothing to do with the story, emotion, lyrics, whatsoever. The need for being distracted by turning every moment into a pop culture joke is not entertainment in my book.

Updated On: 11/18/23 at 10:45 AM

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 11:07am

Hasn't the title song always been performed a little tongue in cheek, particularly the revival, with Michael Xavier in a tiny bathing suit and nothing else? I've seen the show many times since 1994, and that song has never approached anything near "heart-wrenching" for me, and I don't think it's supposed to, since the way it and act 2 open have always been played for laughs, with the curtain rising on poor Joe Gillis living the high life by the pool as a gigolo.

Updated On: 11/18/23 at 11:07 AM

[Seb28]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 11:23am

The point is that the lyrics are very tragic and the humor in that version is actually based on Joe's situation, being in the situation he is in, as you describe. Which makes it tragic mixed with a kind of bittersweet humor that makes sense, story wise.

"the curtain rising on poor Joe Gillis living the high life by the pool as a gigolo"

Exactly, a dark humor, underlining the tragedy of the situation, because the audience is invested in his actual story.

In this new version it is laughing, hollering and neighing about a poster of Andrew Lloyd Webber, a poster of Nicole, and all kinds of people making funny faces in the camera.

It also happened in many other songs as well. Such as the first few songs between Joe and Norma.

Updated On: 11/18/23 at 11:23 AM

[chernjam]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 11:28am

SonofRobbieJ said: "Seb28 said: "Penna2 said: "For anyone interested, there are some boots on You Tube - a video of Tom singing the title song. ."

I can see it's a funny gimmick, but I hate how this show is all about breaking the 4th wall, constant jokes about current themes, twerking, artists, even making jokes about the real lives of some of the actors involved, breaking the magic, basically constantly apologizing for the material and story.:

I normally feel this way about...well...everything. But I personally think the movie Sunset Boulevard is perfect. A knowing, smart noir/horror tale that uses humor masterfully. I think the musical Sunset Boulevard, as originally conceived, positively flattens out all the gnarly bits of the movie to something that is, frankly, a bore...and unfunny. The major musical set pieces are beautiful, but a lot of the score just fizzles.

By going so far afield from what the original musical was, it somehow worked its way back to the original spirit of the film. It's becomes something so entirely different but has captured the essence of Wilder's vision. Comedy is different now. And the film of Sunset was set in the here and now of 1949/50. A contemporary take can actually re-contextualize the story of a failed, delusional celebrity grasping to hold on.



"

That is what has me excited about (hopefully) seeing this on Broadway.  I loved the Original Production and saw the 2017 revival 4 or 5 times as well (if for nothing else, to hear this score with that Symphonic orchestra was amazing).  But it definitely seemed like most of the audiences were those who loved the original or were interested in seeing Glenn perform the role again 25 years later.  It didn't seem like the story itself connected to people who don't recall an era of silent pictures and stars being cast aside.  The foundational elements of the story where someone is longing for love and mistakes fame and popularity for that and gets stuck in those delusions seem as relevant as ever.

[Seb28]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 11:54am

chernjam said: "people who don't recall an era of silent pictures. The foundational elements of the story where someone is longing for love and mistakes fame and popularity for that and gets stuck in those delusions seem as relevant as ever."

Then why use a show and libretto of which every line is literally about that era, till the finest detail? You can't have a laptop on your lap (actual prop) while saying you live in a time where microphones do not exist yet. It's just silly. Then just write new lyrics. Or a new show. 

 

[binau]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 12:17pm

Gurl this is an ALW show not Sondheim. Yes the production is apologising for the material because it needs to apologise for it. I barely cringed (still did at points), and I can’t say the same thing for the Glenn Close production. The 2017 revival for me felt more like Diana the Musical than something to be taken very seriously, except for Glenn’s performance. 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 3:02pm

binau said: "Gurl this is an ALW show not Sondheim. Yes the production is apologising for the material because it needs to apologise for it."

Totally agree. I think the best thing about Jame Lloyd's production is the way he distracts and camouflages the weaknesses in the show, even omitting the worst songs (The Ladies Paying, Eternal Youth is Worth a Little Suffering). He also does the opposite by taking all the gimmicks away for the strongest moments: With One Look, As If...Goodbye, Greatest Star, etc. 

[BETTY22]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 4:46pm

Do we know what theatre they have in NYC?

I'm guessing it will be a limited run, like in West End.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 8:33pm

It would be weird for them to close in london, and not come directly in to broadway. If they go away, people might not be as interested. They should get it while it’s hot and while people are wanting to see it. Although people have said ATG, who is producing it, doesn’t want it to compete with Cabaret.  It would make sense for them to come into the Majestic, palace, or Broadway. 

[chernjam]

Posted: 11/20/23 at 2:05pm

On theatreboard - guy who's been pretty spot on with his predictions/announcements re: Sunset just said it will be at the St. James in Fall 2024 

[DurantPlummer41]

Posted: 11/20/23 at 2:50pm

Is Nicole still rumored to be involved with 'Death Becomes Her?'