SARAH BRIGHTMAN To Star in Australian SUNSET BLVD. — Page 9

https://www.theage.com.au/culture/live-reviews/angie-mcmahon-offers-up-a-sublime-performance-in-front-of-home-crowd-2024052

MUSICAL Sunset Boulevard

★★ Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Book & Lyrics: Don Black & Christopher Hampton Princess Theatre, From May 29

It’s been nearly three decades since the Australian premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, starring Hugh Jackman and Debra Byrne, and longer than that since Sarah Brightman left musical theatre to pursue a solo career as one of the world’s most popular sopranos. Sarah Brightman returns to musical theatre as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Sarah Brightman returns to musical theatre as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.

The social media age has dawned upon us in the interval. Now that anyone can be famous for anything, we all seem to have a little bit of Norma Desmond in us – the toxic obsession with celebrity that drives the musical has spread, alas, to the general population. This new production doesn’t do much – OK it doesn’t do anything – to take that change in, but it does have Sarah Brightman. Musical theatre royalty.

Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the role of Christine Daaé in Phantom for her, before she became a global recording sensation, and if you want to see the legend live in a musical, this could be your last.
But you’ll be doing it because Brightman’s music means something to you, or to tell all your friends you saw her, or perhaps to further your parasocial relationship with the star. Sarah Brightman is renowned for her three-octave range. Sarah Brightman is renowned for her three-octave range.

Truth is, Brightman’s long hiatus from musical theatre has diminished her theatrical skills, and vocal stylings that work like a charm in the recording studio don’t always translate well to the stage. Humour, pathos, menace: these are the notes you’ve got to hit as Norma Desmond, an ageing silent film star and classic femme fatale. And if few musical notes are beyond Brightman – who’s renowned for her three-octave range – her vocals here are so operatic, and resort to such heavy vibrato, that you sometimes can’t make out the lyrics. There’s an argument for Brightman’s artistic choice. Opera precedes musical theatre as silent cinema does talkies, I suppose, and if the aria-busting vocals had been deployed with a sharper sense of parody and attention to character, they might’ve worked.

But the singing tends to remain somewhat disconnected to the rest of the performance, and it’s one reason the essence of Sunset Boulevard – which is supposed to be black comic Hollywood noir – gets shortchanged in this production. The web of erotic attraction and revulsion between Norma and failed screenwriter Joe (Tim Draxl) doesn’t stick either, which neutralises some of the complex tensions that make noir work. Draxl is a bit lightweight, vocally, to be going toe to toe with Brightman, and the portrayal is probably too nice for a Chandleresque antihero succumbing to moral decay. Some supporting performances are excellent. Ashleigh Rubenach as the optimistic love interest is Norma’s worst nightmare – young, clever, vivacious, with a voice as crisp as a bell. Jarrod Draper makes a striking impression as her lovely but limited fiance.

You can’t fault Robert Grubb as the gothic butler with a secret past, or Troy Sussman’s cigar-waving film producer, or Paul Hanlon’s cameo as Cecil B. DeMille. Tim Draxl plays failed screenwriter Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard. Tim Draxl plays failed screenwriter Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard.

But this production doesn’t exude the confidence and energy you would’ve hoped for on opening night. That isn’t to say the ensemble performs badly, nor that the period-inspired choreography and big chorus numbers aren’t entertaining (however much Andrew Lloyd Webber seems to be plagiarising himself by the time he gets to Sunset Boulevard). Advertisement It’s just that the cast look like they’re still on tenterhooks, and it may take a week or two for all traces of effort to be properly disguised. Brightman as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Interview

: The return of Sarah Brightman We’re left with a Sunset Boulevard that looks the part – vibrant period costume, stormy projections and silhouetted palms, a set dominated by an imposing Spanish gothic revival mansion – but often fails in performance to be funny or dark or tense enough to deliver the guts of the show. Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead

Listener said: "It's a shame she isn't tearing into this a bit more. It's likely her last theatrical hurrah. Why not show people you've grown as an actress?"

Because she hasn’t?

BrodyFosse123 said: "FANtomFollies said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "Editing means they’ll soften face lines and enhance coloring but no other manipulation is accepted these days. All of Brightman’s press material was edited not Photoshopped."

And what program do you think they use to 'edit' photos? Photoshop. It's not wrong to say the photos were photoshopped. Also I think you're very naive if you think no other manipulation is done in press photos other than softening lines."

As someone who actually works in photography, Photoshop is generally used to create graphics, and even then, most seasoned editors use Adobe Illustrator.There are other programs that are used primarily for photo editing. Anyone still using Photoshop to edit images is someone I would avoid hiring for a project."

What are you talking about? Photoshop is a multipurpose software fully capable of editing photos and is indeed still very much the go-to program used for subject retouching and photo manipulation. It has a much more comprehensive suite of tools for things like skin softening and detailed blemish removal than purely photo editing programs like Lightroom.


And regardless, saying a photo is “Photoshopped” is a colloquialism meaning it has been obviously retouched / manipulated. You know this, you’re just an inveterate pedant.

Updated On: 5/30/24 at 07:35 AM

They posted a trailer. You hear her say the famous line and sing a bit from "With One Look". Yeah, what I figured she'd sound like. She's really going for the heavy operatic sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKHZvPQyP2w&t=8s

Ensemble1716440075 said: "They posted a trailer. You hear her say the famous line and sing a bit from "With One Look". Yeah, what I figured she'd sound like. She's really going for the heavy operatic sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKHZvPQyP2w&t=8s"

That’s “As If We Never Said Goodbye” she’s singing in that clip, yo.

Very interesting that the trailer video is unlisted and comments are turned off...

Judge for yourself - here’s Patti LuPone, the first person to play Norma Desmond in the World Premiere of SUNSET BOULEVARD in London:

That's too bad -- I was hoping this would work out for her.

These pictures just add to my frustration. The design is beautiful and she has the right look for Norma. I also appreciate the lack of turbans.

BrodyFosse123 said: "Judge for yourself - here’s Patti LuPone, the first person to play Norma Desmond in the World Premiere of SUNSET BOULEVARD in London:

"

Impeach2017 said: "The sets look nice."

I simply stated LuPone was the first person to play the role in the World Premiere production, which is what the London production was. Never stated she created or originated or first sang the role.