SUNSET BLVD. Reviews — Page 64

Bryce 2 said: "Tyler Davis, Emma Lloyd, Shayna McPherson, and Hannah Yun Chamberlain all transferred from the West End. I can understand why Shayna and Hannah were brought over, but Tyler and Emma seem like completely random choices to me."

A definitely agree about the importance of Hannah Yun Chamberlain to this production. She is so believable as young Nicole/Norma, and she dances the overture (and everything else) beautifully. When I saw the show with Mandy Gonzalez, I found it jarring because there was absolutely no resemblance between her and Hannah.

Nicole is on this week’s Hot Ones with Sean Evans. Excited to watch it this evening.

sppunk said: "Nicole is on this week’s Hot Ones with Sean Evans. Excited to watch it this evening."

Maybe that’s why she was coughing the other day on stage, according to posts on here. All that hot sauce stuck in her throat.

Thanks - the article also seems to confirm that the concept of the production is indeed that Norma wants to be young and is trying to hold onto her youth and that is why she behaves the way she does and can be seen in her dancing etc. (I always found it strange that people thought some of Nicole's choices were gimmicks designed to get a laugh rather than seeing the devastating subtext).

Of course it makes even more sense now that she is chasing a younger guy with Joe. And I feel even more embarrassed for Nicole's Norma that she probably was trying the "money, honeyyyyy" line to try and seem young and cool in front of Joe.

Nicole's Norma and the production has so many layers. I'm even slightly changing my opinion of the material now (and ALW more generally after the productions of Sunset, Evita and Starlight I've seen recently). Maybe the material is good and was always good, it just needed the right director to find the best way to stage it.

Blow Gabriel said: "The musical isn’t well written to begin with. So to add this abstract staging on top of it just confuses matters more. You could be forgiven for not even realizing Norma is trying to get a picture made because all of this felt like an after thought. It just feels like a will they or won’t they love story so when she kills him in the end, it seems like she does that because he’s leaving her, rather than her own psychological issues. Lloyd Webber musicals need a director to bring clarity to help the audience understand what the fvck is going on. If you don’t buy that she’s been shut out because she’s aging, the entire performance feels gimmicky. The biggest Hollywood actresses today are the same ones who’ve been around for decades; Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Cateblanchette, et al. So don’t tell me this “modern day” production is some sort of reflection of the world we live in. No it is not, quite the opposite. The scene before the perfect year, when max talks about her personally calling up her friends and inviting them to her party, and none of them showed up,this was one of the few moments that really worked for me because it felt like she was cancelled rather than an age thing. It really shows the artificial world of Hollywood who only wants to be with the in crowd. Nicole’s singing sounded lovely, but her holding out that long note is just so gratuitous and performative and cringe. Isn’t this supposed to be her sincere, letting the guard down moment? When I saw Glenn do it, I was weeping in my seat. Nicole doesn’t have a leg to stand on against Glenn. I love wild or campy musicals like Teeth and Here We Are,but I still want to FEEL something. And with this sunset, I felt NOTHING."



Dude, you REALLY weren't paying attention -- much of the plot revolves around Norma wanting to get her script of SALOME made as her STAR return -- she does an entire number acting it out. She hires Joe to stay and work on it with her, she sends Max to deliver it to Paramount, then when she arrives at Paramount, DeMille said it must be about that horrible screenplay she wrote.

Blow Gabriel said: "Honestly, I think I was distracted by the screenduring that scene but even still, you miss one lyric, you’re fvcked. Also, I don’t think the sound was that good. I don’t know what people on here are talking about how they have such excellent sound, but I felt vindicated when they didn’t winSound, as the rest of the category I thought had excellent sound. Let me also say, I’ve seen this production twice, and the previous revival, as well as the film. Both times I saw this new sunset, I was questioning whether I was following it correctly. And as far as Norma calling up her friends, this is literally what is said in the show. That is the way I choose to interpret it. That she called them up and nobody wanted to come to her party because she’s not cool anymore."

Your interpretation is 100% incorrect. It’s pretty obvious to anyone that she did not call anyone. She wanted Joe all to herself.

Blow Gabriel said: "Matt and Jsquared, I think YOU didn’t understand the show correctly. Probably explains why you both love it so much"

Babe, it’s clear that your comprehension skills need work. Maybe you should go see a production you didn’t like for a THIRD time before it closes so you can get a grip on the oh sooooo confusing plot. Jesus Christ.

Blow Gabriel said: "Matt, you’re embarrassing yourself. Max explains to Joe that she called her friends herself inviting them. Max is the truth teller or explainer in the show, why would he lie about this? When Norma sings, “I don’t need a crowded ballroom, everything I want is here” it’s just her trying to save face and to schmooze up to Joe. My goodness, thank godI’m here to get this board back on track."

I like you, Blow, but Matt is correct about this. Max sings “Madame herself made every call” so he doesn’t have to make Joe uncomfortable by admitting that no one is coming. Max knows that Norma didn’t call anyone. Who would she call? She’s been friendless for decades. Later, Norma says “There are no other guests! Just you and me!”

Updated On: 7/17/25 at 06:59 PM

Of course they find it bewildering. Even when she gets to Paramount and finally meets Demille, it’s this shadowy faceless creep on then screen, further confusing the audience on the ‘making a picture’ plot. This wasn’t confusing at all with the original and revival productions when you see the soundstages and other Hollywood imagery. My friend I was with the first time thought Joe was getting out of a sleeping bag at the top of the show lol. As far as Norma’s party, she’s trying to get back in, so why wouldn’t she call people over? In the film, she certainly has friends over when they’re playing cards. This is all clearly up for interpretation, but the way I see it is that she called people to her New Year’s Eve party and nobody wanted to come to reinforce her being shunned.

Updated On: 7/17/25 at 07:31 PM

She’s just explaining the obvious. He’s the only one entertaining her only because she’s literally paying him, as she says. To me, it emphasizes that she has no friends except the men she bribes. She could have gifted him the cigarette case with a house full of people. He’d be more taken with her if she was actually popular, no? Plus they already spent scene after scene of them being alone together, watching her old movies, editing the script. Again, this is just the way I saw it

Updated On: 7/17/25 at 08:31 PM

I absolutely agree that the subtext of the show is that she did not call anyone. However, I also would speculate that she does not actually have anyone to call either. She does appear to live a lonely, destitute life without any friends.

One of the interesting things I found about seeing Tom’s understudy in London, who was far less attractive, was that it made Norma’s character seem even more desperate and lonely because it’s like she wants to cling onto anything she can. At least with Tom’s Joe you can tell there is a bit of chemistry between them.

Blow Gabriel said: "Matt, you’re embarrassing yourself. Max explains to Joe that she called her friends herself inviting them. Max is the truth teller or explainer in the show, why would he lie about this? When Norma sings, “I don’t need a crowded ballroom, everything I want is here” it’s just her trying to save face and to schmooze up to Joe. My goodness, thank godI’m here to get this board back on track."

I'm just going to pile on here. You are wrong about what's going on during this sequence, and the actual details have been clear to me since the first time I heard the London recording thirty years ago. Norma wants to spend New Year's Eve alone with Joe. To get him to agree to come, she guilts him into cancelling his plans with his friends and tricks him into thinking there will be lots of guests at her party. Max's comment about "madame herself" making every call is a deflection when Joe challenges him about the guest list. This is the way things happen; it's not really a matter of interpretation.