Sunset Boulevard – Savoy Theatre

Tom Francis and Rachel Tucker in Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre, London. Picture: Marc Brenner

Sunset Boulevard continues at the Savoy Theatre, London until 6 January 2023.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

It doesn’t take much to irritate the kind of musical theatre purist insistent that revivals of classic shows should stay true to a conventional formula. It speaks of a snobbery associated with the genre that is so infuriating. If the likes of Shakespeare and Chekhov can constantly be reinvented, why not Rodgers and Hammerstein or Andrew Lloyd Webber? What are we afraid of?

Surely, it’s when a director as original as Jamie Lloyd comes along that audiences have the opportunity to see a piece they thought they knew inside and out in a completely different light. And how incredible it must be for younger theatregoers seeing it for the very first time. Ultimately that is what art is about – and it’s very much what this award-winning production delivers.

Leading Lloyd’s reinterpretation of Sunset Boulevard, one of Lloyd Webber’s very best scores (book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, based on Billy Wilder’s legendary 1950 movie), for the majority of performances is singer, songwriter and actress Nicole Scherzinger (read MTR’s review right here), but Monday nights belong to Rachel Tucker – much loved for her previous roles in Wicked and Come For Away and her solo concerts and recordings too.

I have yet to see Scherzinger in action, so this review is by no means a comparison of the two Norma Desmonds. Instead, it is an appreciation of a truly memorable production, one that stays with you for quite some time after leaving the theatre, and the hugely talented cast, crew and creative team that bring it to life.

Perhaps I was particularly lucky, in that I saw Tucker give her Monday performance after she had played the iconic role of Norma all weekend, but from what I hear from others who have attended ‘Tucker Mondays’, the West End favourite is regularly giving a musical theatre masterclass in storytelling through song, whether she is doing one show or more.

In past productions of Sunset, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on how eccentric the discarded silent movie star has become, but in Lloyd’s stripped-back staging, we don’t just remain voyeurs, there is an understanding as to why her life as ended up as it has. This engagement with Norma as a damaged soul is at its most powerful during those signature numbers, ‘With One Look’ and ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’.

It’s then that we witness the depth of Norma’s yearning for her previous existence, whether that be the collaborative nature of film-making or the recognition and love that came her way as a result. Without that, it’s impossible for her to move on, to live a new kind of reality. In any other world she is lost, an empty vessel. Only the fantasy of a return to that life sustains her.

For Tucker to create this portrayal, particularly when in the dialogue scenes there is sometimes a disconnect between the protagonists (perhaps due to the heavy reliance on cameras to create the dramatic landscape) is staggering. The depth of emotion, physicality and vocal range she brings to the table is quite breathtaking.

And the excitement doesn’t stop there. Tucker is surrounded by a first-class company, not least the huge stage presence that is Tom Francis as Joe Gillis. Hardly ever offstage, Francis manages to play the role of narrator as well as give a full-rounded portrayal of the down-at-heel movie hack seduced by how a relationship with Norma can turn his fortunes around. It’s not easy to pull all of that off, plus also create a convincing love story with budding screenwriter Betty Schaefer, but he never lessens the intensity and throws in some pretty impressive vocals too.

Holding her own in all departments is Grace Hodgett Young, making her professional West End debut as Betty. It’s no surprise to hear that straight after Sunset, the promising actress will be playing Eurydice in Hadestown at the Lyric Theatre, she is definitely the real deal.

It’s tough to watch Joe and Betty’s potential romance destroyed by Norma’s desperate need for control, but perhaps some of the most powerfully emotional scenes during the evening come courtesy of David Thaxton’s Max Von Mayerling. Normally played as a rather intense, controlled personality, this Max begins to break down when unable to keep the truth from Norma anymore.

Lloyd brings a rather beautiful, cinematic, film noir-style aesthetic to the whole affair, helped of course by the brilliance of set and costume designer Soutra Gilmour and lighting designer Jack Knowles. The scenes when Norma, Joe and Max are stood downstage in Act II, for example, are visually stunning. The use of handheld cameras and close-up projections on a grand scale (credit to Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom) are also at their best in the second half. In earlier stages, I was occasionally left wishing the actors were interacting with each other rather than the cameras. But then again, perhaps that is what Lloyd is getting at – the majority of the characters do not know how to relate to each other – and in a post-pandemic social media-obsessed world, that’s a skill we could all do with refining.

Another very welcome addition is the work of the ensemble as a whole, especially when Fabian Aloise’s beautifully crafted choreography is involved. Numbers like ‘Let’s Have Lunch’ aren’t just entertaining, they majorly contribute to the tone of the narrative, and Hannah Yun Chamberlain’s portrayal of a ghostly, younger Norma – purely through movement – is captivating. Bravo too to sound designer Adam Fisher and musical supervisor and director Alan Williams, this score (with lush orchestrations by Lloyd Webber and David Cullen) has never sounded so good. I do hope there will be a cast recording.

Last but not least, it’s impossible not to mention the thrilling opening to Act II, peppered with theatrical in-jokes and timed to perfection. For some, it might seem a bit gimmicky, but I loved it.

‘Ring out the old. Ring in the new’ say the lyrics of ‘The Perfect Year’. On this occasion, I couldn’t agree more.

Lisa Martland