Scherzinger in SUNSET BLVD. Previews — Page 13

Norma is groomed by a man who is essentially her boss from the time she’s 16 (and maybe statutorily raped depending when her relationship with Max started). And now that man lives with her and has spent years gaslighting her into thinking she’s still famous. And who knows how else she’s been abused by the industry, you can read plenty of horror stories. And the industry responded by kicking her out as soon as she became too difficult and too old. So, maybe “emotional investment” is too strong a term, but I certainly feel empathy for her and how she became who she is.

Hell, even Joe is a young starving artist at the end of his rope. Yes, he goes in with the intention to manipulate Norma (out of desperation). But he is quickly moved out of his apartment against his will, loses his means of transportation, and Norma and Max refuse to give him his own money to further trap him. When he almost escapes he’s guilted into staying due to Norma attempting suicide. And when he finally does the right thing by scaring away Betty and cutting off Norma, he gets killed for it.

Yes, these characters are unlikeable, but I have no issue empathizing with them and even relating with them on some level. Maybe the divide here is just between people who like the musical and people who don’t. I don’t see the point spending over 2 hours hearing characters belt about their wants and desires if the production doesn’t want me to care about them on some level.

ColorTheHours048 said: "TaffyDavenport said: "The deep discourse about this show is sucking the life out of me. In my opinion, it's a melodramatic camp-fest that doesn't merit this much scrutiny.I feel like Kristen Johnston before she fell out of a window onSex and the City..."Whatever happened to fun?""

“I’m so bored, I could die.”

Between this and The Substance, I couldn’t agree more. If you want deeper meaning in your art, by all means, dig for it. If you’re just trying to vibrate with a particularly potent piece of art and not question the holes in its logic, vibe away. But trying to dissect Sunset Boulevard, of all things, feels like a waste of brain activity. The reading of it as a “cautionary tale with a freak show quality to it” is exactly what it feels like to me as well."

Paragraph after paragraph after paragraph. I don't get it.

JFC, I merely give my opinion about it. Y'all can say and "have" whatever you want, but I find it overkill, and, believe me, I do ignore all of it.

Updated On: 10/10/24 at 03:43 PM

It is, after all, called the BroadwayWorld Message Board, not the BroadwayConversationWithYourself Message Board.

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This is why I normally just stick to giving people discount codes and whatnot. You give a (barely) critical opinion of anything, and people go apesh*t. Why would anybody stop having this discussion simply because I think it's exhausting?

As far as this Sunset is concerned, I laughed my ass off for the majority of act one, so, clearly, I'm not the intended audience for this kind of deep analysis.

Updated On: 10/10/24 at 04:39 PM

Hollywood Reporter Nicole Scherzinger Signs With CAA

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Question: Was anyone else here reminded of Ivo Van Hove's (sadly) short-lived West Side Story revival that never returned after the pandemic while watching Jamie Lloyd's Sunset Boulevard? I know I was! I think that Ivo's approach to WSS was a tad more successful than what Lloyd has done with Sunset (granted WSS is a much better show than Sunset in general), but both productions are in the same vein.

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The Joe Gillis understudy is on tonight.

theatregoer3 said: "The Joe Gillis understudy is on tonight."

That was fast. Yikes.

Jimin! Loved him in Lempicka — hope he kills it as Joe!

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There are a few rows now for sale in the back of the balcony for opening night incase anyone wanted to go.

theatregoer3 said: "Robbie2 said: "theatregoer3 said: "The Joe Gillis understudy is on tonight."

Diego or Jimin?"

Jimin. Started shaky but he’s doing great. What a champ. They didn’t let the audience into the theater until fifteen till eight so it was clear they were still rehearsing. His vibe is younger and more modern which actually works well."



How did Jimin do with the Act 2 opener Sunset and overall his 1st time as Joe?

How's his acting and singing?

His stage presence in Lempicka really stood out and he's an amazing dancer.

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I was there this evening. First and foremost: you can't help but admire a show that had two mid-show standing ovations juxtaposed with multiple audience members leaving in a huff throughout. God, I love theatre.

I'll start off by saying that Tom Francis was out and I unfortunately was disappointed by his understudy, Jimin Moon's, performance. His vocals were shaky, and his acting amateurish. The Act 2 opener wasn’t as impactful as Tom Francis’ seems to be based on what I've read and the clips I've seen from his Olivier performance. Curious to hear what others thought of his performance if you were there.

Onto everything else: I loved this show. Echoing another poster's sentiments: it was ridiculous AND amazing. It's camp AND it's art. If you are the type of person who can suspend disbelief and accept that this is a 1949 when Macbooks and iPads exist, then you'll do just fine. I often roll my eyes when I read phrases like, "[director name]'s reimagining of [classic property]" but this truly was fully reimagined and although it's divisive, I think people have to at least give credit to Jamie Lloyd for trying something so drastically different. While there were parts of the show that dragged and didn't fully work for me, I remained fully captivated. Nicole's take on Norma is fresh and zany and terrifying and I loved it. I have tickets to see it again in November and hopefully will get to see Francis perform then.

To rapid fire address some key issues I have seen pop up throughout this thread: the theatre temperature felt fine to me, if anything I was a bit chilly; it is slightly hazy when you enter (at first I thought my glasses were dirty), but nothing ridiculous; the lights come on as soon as the end credits begin to roll; no audio issues where I was in front of rear mezz; Shubert Alley is a privately owned public space, and the production has the appropriate permits despite what That One Guy in the YouTube Comments says; The title number scene is incredible and I would kindly request that all the people who are saying that it's inappropriate/rude/selfish/unfair to have an actor walk through the street singing and acting his face off shut their computers and go outside and touch some grass.

Updated On: 10/11/24 at 12:29 AM