SUNSET BLVD. Reviews — Page 14

Does Tom usally have a Mandy performance off ? He was in it once out of the 3 times Mandy was on

Tom's taken the last two Mandy performances off, which might be the start of a pattern, or might just be him needing the additional rest or a result of needing to pace himself during this weird off-schedule week. 

C4b2a3b said: "Per his IG story, Tom Franciswill be out for the 11/6 matinee and says he might be back for the evening. He has a case of laryngitis. He seemed confident he'd be back Thursday.

He sounded great 3 days ago when I saw him! Feeling lucky to have caught him!"

I hope he feels better! I’m seeing the show Thursday. 

New to the message board and scheduled to see the matinee this afternoon. Unfortunately, 2 members of our party are no longer able to attend. 
 

Looking to gift 2 Center Mezzanine seats (ROW F; Seats 108-109) for today at 2pm. I’d hate to see them go to waste-though I’m sure the neighboring parties would appreciate the extra room in the tight St. James :) Shoot me a message! Happy to transfer tickets electronically. 
 

 

Tom/Grace are out tonight 

Diego and Sydney are on

also no sign of Patti 

Updated On: 11/6/24 at 07:56 PM

suzycat said: "Did anyone catch Diego Andres Rodriguez’s debut as Joe last night?"

I just saw him in the November 6 matinee. I thought he was solid. He looks a little young to play someone who's worked in Hollywood long enough to already become cynical, but it doesn't really matter. Scherzinger is in theory too young too play Norma, but everything about this productions is geared towards expressing the emotional truth of the characters, as opposed to creating a realistic time and place. 

Dirty Rotten Scoundrel said: "When I saw this originally, Jimin Moon was on for Joe and I was pretty disappointed by the performance, so I'd bought a ticket to go again in the hopes of seeing Tom Francis. I went Saturday eve and Tom was indeed on - and he was fantastic. It was clear, however, that he was fighting an illness. He was struggling not to cough throughout and did cough once or twice. Despite this, his voice still sounded absolutely gorgeous. He really is the glue of this show and the entire production takes on a new life when he's performing.

Joe is on stage and singing for almost all of Act 1 and a good portion of Act 2. Although his vocals aren't as demanding as Norma's, he is still doing a marathon every evening. Am I off the mark in thinking that perhaps Joe should also have a dedicated standby - or perhaps even an alternate?"

I’m going tonight and crossing fingers Tom is in! 

Scherzinger is in theory too young too play Norma…

Nicole Scherzinger is 46 years old, Norma Desmond is 50 in SUNSET BLVD — Gloria Swanson was 49 when she filmed the original film. 

Jonathan Cohen said: "He looks a little young to play someone who's worked in Hollywood long enough to already become cynical, but it doesn't really matter."

Not relevant to this specific production, but the original libretto clarifies that Joe is early 30s. I think the official casting breakdown says 25-35.
Also, Jamie Lloyd is clearly aware of how young Nicole looks. He aged Norma down form 50 to 40. She's around the same age as many actresses who've played the role, but between how young she looks and the costume/makeup, I think it's fair to say she doesn't read 50. This Norma is not 50.

Yes, I acknowledged that in my comment. My point was that Jamie Lloyd changed the text so this version of Norma is 40 instead of 50. Every prior version of Norma has been 50. So, whether Nicole looks young in comparison to previous actresses is irrelevant because she’s playing a character that’s a decade younger.

The way people age, especially women, has changed dramatically since the original film was made. And the way our culture sees age has changed dramatically. Jennifer Lopez at 55 is a bombshell and looks half the age of Gloria Swanson in the film. In 1950 J Lo would be seen as an old spinster.

Kardashian culture, fillers, Botox, plastic surgery, skincare, personal trainers, personal chefs and nutritionists, etc. have changed the game. People are image obsessed and actually have the tools to impact how they age and how they look. 50 now is very different compared to 50 in 1950.

Updated On: 11/7/24 at 12:44 PM

Nicole is a very beautiful woman. She looks amazing. But even with incredible self care, she still looks like a woman in her 40s. One of the most striking camera work moments in this production is the first time they cut from Nicole's gorgeous face to the gorgeous face of Hannah Yun Chamerlain who plays young Norma. In that moment, you absolutely see Nicole's relative age, and that is all that matters relative to the story being told.

Hannah Yun Chamerlain deserves her own bow during the curtain call, btw

Updated On: 11/7/24 at 12:58 PM