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Theater: The musical Sunset Boulevard has found...
When Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical retelling of the Hollywood film noir classic Sunset Boulevard made its debut in London in July, audience response was respectful but restrained. The staging that opened in Los Angeles last week had playgoers shouting with delight. Part of the difference may be the American propensity for public exuberance; some is surely the special joy Angelenos derive from a sly, knowing look at the gritty world of make-believe that dominates their local commerce. But the major reason is that the creators have at last figured out what the show is meant...
...Wilder first envisioned beginning in a morgue with sheet-covered bodies speaking in voice-over. Although that scene did not wind up in the movie, it helps explain why Sunset Boulevard can be called the film that invented camp. Egomaniacal Norma, her slavish chauffeur Max (who turns out to be her former director and ex-husband) and down-and-out screenwriter Joe Gillis, who falls into her orbit out of sympathy and a love of luxury, are all a bit ridiculous. Where the London staging took them seriously, the Los Angeles rethink sends them up. Yet it wisely manages...
...transformation of a London also-ran into a Los Angeles landmark is proof that today's long process of development for musicals is sometimes worth the trouble. Sunset Boulevard is scheduled to open on Broadway a year from now, although there is talk of advancing it to this spring. As the show stands now, tomorrow would not be a day too soon...
...stage shows second, as were both of this season's big hits, Tommy (essentially a set of music videos performed live) and Kiss of the Spider Woman. And what are some of the big musicals about to arrive on Broadway? The Red Shoes (based on the 1948 movie), Sunset Boulevard (based on the 1950 movie) and, next spring, the Disney production of Beauty and the Beast (based on the 1991 Disney movie...