Scherzinger in SUNSET BLVD. Previews — Page 14

Dirty Rotten Scoundrel said: "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.

"

Completely echo your thoughts on Jimin. His acting felt much like he was just trying to get through, and I thought he played WAY too young.

His entrance in Act II was his strongest for me, but maybe only because I had no idea it was coming and thought it was cool and completely unexpected.

Updated On: 10/11/24 at 07:21 AM

I was there last night as well and from orchestra, only saw a standing ovation after "As If We Never Said Goodbye." I'm not too familiar with this musical and came to see Nicole Scherzinger, not Tom Francis. I heard from someone during intermission it was his Bway debut as a leading performer so kudos to him! I see what you mean though how parts of his acting seem like he just wanted to get it done and over with.

I plan to see this again at some point in the future.

I managed, but I also thought the ensemble numbers were a little tough to understand. Partially, it was diction and I just had to pay very close attention to parse the lyrics. But I also heard what sounded like mic feedback twice. In contrast, Nicole sounds excellent and they've perfectly synchronized things so you get the full effect of her playing with dynamics to draw you in with what she can do with her voice. I agree the title song oddly sounded much clearer except for a moment when I think the mic pack moved and there was a scratching noise.

Surprising. I feel like she's still written to fall in love with Joe because of what others have said... it doesn't make sense why she keeps pursuing him, especially after he gifts her Dark Windows to write on her own. She doesn't trust in her talent but she keeps telling him to trust in his. She works for a producer, she's married to a director, and while there was misogyny, female screenwriters did get work. So it's really not clear why she'd need Joe if she wasn't attracted to him because the show keeps telling us he's a middling talent who is out of favor at the studios. Betty and Norma are the only ones who think he has writing talent.

Jeremiah was there a minimalist revival of Sunset with mostly black actors I’m not aware of?

In any case, the lead of Sunset who in my opinion is giving one of the greatest performances of all time is obviously a person of colour. I love that I have not read a single comment in the 12+ months this production has been in existence that has called this out because the focus has been on her talent not her race. However, if you want to celebrate a person of colour then please let’s celebrate Nicole.

As a general rule, people of colour often make up some of the greatest leading performances of all time and they do get praised for it. This doesn’t mean there are never any issues, or that hard working black actors don’t ever get passed over because they don’t have the right ‘look’ or that particular races seem to be more absent than others (eg there are more black actors getting recognition than Asian - even more reason to celebrate Nicole).

However, I don’t think it’s healthy to try and continue division like this when clearly this Sunset is not just a white person show. In fact Jamie Lloyd has an excellent recent record for this. Look at the casting of Tom Holland R&J. I think your good intentions are oriented towards the wrong target here…

Nicole is part white but she is mostly Asian.



binau said: "Jeremiah was there a minimalist revival of Sunset with mostly black actors I’m not aware of?

In any case, the lead of Sunset who in my opinion is giving one of the greatest performances of all time is obviously a person of colour. I love that I have not read a single comment in the 12+ months this production has been in existence that has called this out because the focus has been on her talent not her race. However, if you want to celebrate a person of colour then please let’s celebrate Nicole.

As a general rule, people of colour often make up some of the greatest leading performances of all time and they do get praised for it. This doesn’t mean there are never any issues, or that hard working black actors don’t ever get passed over because they don’t have the right ‘look’ or that particular races seem to be more absent than others (eg there are more black actors getting recognition than Asian - even more reason to celebrate Nicole).

However, I don’t think it’s healthy to try and continue division like this when clearly this Sunset is not just a white person show. In fact Jamie Lloyd has an excellent recent record for this. Look at the casting of Tom Holland R&J. I think your good intentions are oriented towards the wrong target here…

"

I've now seen the show twice...once in London and once in NY (last night), and I've still yet to see Tom Francis. Alas.

I haven't experienced an audience reaction like last night since...well...last November in London at the same show. It really is thrilling. What that woman does with her voice is unlike anything I've ever experienced live. I am not a person who believes in a mid-show standing ovation. And I resisted standing for With One Look (thought it was otherworldly). But As If We Never Said Goodbye really is an astonishing moment and did I ever leap to my feet and screaming like a teenaged girl seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium.

I thought Jimin Moon did a fantastic job. That role is a friggin' marathon and he shouldered it impressively, especially considering he probably had minimal rehearsal at this point. His voice leans to the crooner-ish and I thought that worked. And I don't think his characterization was far off from what is intended in this show.

The title song moment is entirely unnecessary and astonishingly thrilling. The poster who said that this is camp AND art hits the nail on the head. Scherzinger's work in the first act - over the top, calculated, ridiculous and very funny - pays off in spades with her descent into madness. I don't know how she does what she does 7 shows a week.

Is this production perfect? No. Is it wild and off-balance and thrilling? Yes. And in the end...it is incredibly entertaining, which is a word I've never used to describe the musical Sunset Boulevard.

But, sweet baby Jesus, is Too Much in Love to Care a dreadful song. There's not enough polish in the world for that turd.

binau said: "Jeremiah was there a minimalist revival of Sunset with mostly black actors I’m not aware of?


The only comparison I can think of is that he was referring to the reception The Wiz received earlier this year.

Except the spare, minimal staging of Sunset is obviously an artistic choice that's very different from previous versions, while The Wiz wasn't trying anything different, and did come across as a cheap and amateurish version (not surprising for a touring version they just stuck on a Broadway stage). So the fact that the one that tried to do something different is called innovative and the one that cheaped out was called cheap has nothing to do with race...

But maybe he's referring to something else.

Updated On: 10/11/24 at 11:23 AM

I wouldn't go so far as to call him depressed but this version of Joe seems directionless (aside from keeping his car and staying afloat). Norma energizes him by giving him Salome and they also do seem to connect at the New Years party. Betty energizes him by resurrecting Dark Windows and continually trying to get him to believe in his talent and push him to work on an artistic project he actually believes in again. I do think Joe stays partially because he pities Norma (a suicide attempt is a lot) but also because he doesn't really have the momentum to leave for a long time. Is it weird to say it's a bit like Jenna in Waitress? He complains and pushes back a little but it takes a long time for him to care enough to commit to the decision to go. I do think him caring about the wealth is still there in the lyrics but it's downplayed a lot in the show to the point that it's a little jarring when he starts singing about champagne and caviar again.

I don't think the amount of mugging has changed at all.

VintageSnarker said: "In terms of mental health, I don't think it quite finds its footing in negotiating Norma as both emotionally fragile and manipulative."

I loved the way Nicole played the scene between Norma and DeMille. That was the most impactful I've ever seen that scene be, and it threaded the needle perfectly between her ambition and her fear and fragility. I just wish more of that energy was brought to her scenes with Joe, but I feel this production misses a couple key moments.

After Max goes to deliver the script to Paramount, Joe says he's going back to his apartment and Norma has a panic attack until he relents and stays. Nicole played this as a completely fake panic attack and it got a big laugh when I saw it, but I feel it needs to be genuine as it's the first real indication the audience gets that she needs him to stay and isn't just using him to finish her script. They argue and she begs him to stay again during "The Lady's Paying," which is now cut. The song's a clunker but that moment reinforces her desperation.
And the big one is the suicide attempt. In almost every production, we see Norma alone: either through the original production's split screen effect where we see her getting increasingly drunk and depressed and/or we see Max helping her down the stairs/onto the couch before Joe comes in. Either way, we get to see how broken she is before Joe rushes in and she puts her guard back up. In this version, Joe is there immediately so we never see her privately break down. And Joe seems so eager to get her clothes off I didn't get the sense he was staying out of genuine guilt but just because he wants to **** her.

JSquared2 said: "Did you do your Directing MFA Thesis on this show? You seem to be WAY overanalyzing everything about it. It's a musical, for god's sake!"

Haha I did my MA thesis on animation, actually.
It's just a fun thought exercise for me: I can understand it's 'not that deep' while also enjoying thinking about the character dynamics.