REVIEW
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S
SUNSET BOULEVARD
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend on Sea
29th January - 3rd February 2018
✭✭✭✭☆ 4/5
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S
SUNSET BOULEVARD
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend on Sea
29th January - 3rd February 2018
✭✭✭✭☆ 4/5
It’s 1949 and Norma Desmond lives almost as a recluse, the faded star of the silent screen era, with just her manservant, Max, who lovingly tends to her every whim. Joe Gillis, a young and handsome screenwriter, looking for a lucky break at Paramount Studios, falls upon Ms Desmond's mansion in Sunset Boulevard having given the slip to repossession agents. Norma persuades him to stay and help her re-write the script she's been working on in which she intends to star and which she is certain will secure her triumphant return into the film industry. Reluctantly, he stays, finding himself ensconced in the strange fantasy world in which she lives and becoming seduced by the wealth of riches that she offers him and their subsequent passionate and volatile relationship ensues.
Ria Jones won rave reviews and standing ovations when she stepped into the indisposed Glen Close's shoes and took over the role of Norma Desmond at the Colliseum in 2016 - and you can see why. Jones cuts a tragic figure as the 'has-been' silent movie star who tragically can't let go of the past, still believing that she has what it takes to make a return to pictures. Her first big number of the show With One Look lets you know just what she has to offer and brought a rousing cheer of approval from Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion first night audience. It was wonderfully disturbing to watch how Norma falls for Joe and manipulates him to stay with her. Her performance in one scene where she feigns illness in order to make Joe stay, when he clearly wants out, is played to perfection as she limply walks back up the grand staircase, turning her head briefly towards the audience with a quietly satisfied smirk that screams, ‘I got him.’
Joe Gillis is played by Danny Mac who wowed us with his dancing skills in 2016's Strictly Come Dancing tv show. The role of Gillis is a massive undertaking and Mac does it with absolute aplomb and really is a revelation. He does a great job in driving the show along and his scenes with Ria Jones are truly spellbinding as we are drawn deeper and deeper into their obscure and almost grotesque relationship. |
Jessica Paul as Betty Schaeffer, the upcoming writer who falls for Gillis, also wows the audience with some beautiful vocals, not least in the Too Much in Love to Care number.
Surprisingly, Ria Jones’ performance wasn’t the only one to give me goosebumps. Adam Pearce’s beautiful baritone vocals and remarkable range in The Greatest Star of All are overwhelmingly sensuous and drew gasps from the audience. Pearce plays Max, Norma’s manservant, and completely endears with his performance but oh my goodness - that voice!
This touring production is big in all senses of the word, from performances to backlit projections, lighting, sound, scenery and staging. On occasion, however, there are moments where the staging is in danger of upstaging. There’s an awful lot of business with the staircases etc being moved, which I appreciate is artistic licence of the way the movie industry works but did tend to create rather a distraction at times.
That said, you absolutely cannot take away the fact that this is a top notch touring production which also boasts a fabulous ensemble cast along with a powerful sounding orchestra, conducted by Adrian Kirk, bringing the combined talents of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music and Don Black and Christopher Hampton’s lyrics to life.
This touring production is big in all senses of the word, from performances to backlit projections, lighting, sound, scenery and staging. On occasion, however, there are moments where the staging is in danger of upstaging. There’s an awful lot of business with the staircases etc being moved, which I appreciate is artistic licence of the way the movie industry works but did tend to create rather a distraction at times.
That said, you absolutely cannot take away the fact that this is a top notch touring production which also boasts a fabulous ensemble cast along with a powerful sounding orchestra, conducted by Adrian Kirk, bringing the combined talents of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music and Don Black and Christopher Hampton’s lyrics to life.
Tickets are on sale now on www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135
For more info/website plus tour details click here