Sunset Boulevard Tickets

There’s been a murder at a crumbling mansion on Sunset Boulevard – but who is the victim and who is the killer? That’s the arresting opening to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, and Christopher Hampton’s musical noir. This autumn, Nicole Scherzinger stars in their Hollywood fable in the West End. Don’t miss out: Book your Sunset Boulevard tickets now on TodayTix.

The Grammy- and Olivier-nominated Scherzinger, the former Pussycat Dolls lead singer, will play fading silent-movie star Norma Desmond in this Sunset Boulevard London production at the Savoy Theatre. Norma hires a struggling young screenwriter, Joe Gillis, to work on her comeback – with fatal results.

The show is based on the 1950 Billy Wilder film of the same name, and premiered in London in 1993 starring Patti LuPone. Now, Scherzinger will be ready for her close-up in the West End this autumn.

Make sure you’re there to see it — book your Sunset Boulevard tickets today.

Please note: Rachel Tucker guest stars as Norma Desmond on Thursday 12 October matinee, and all Monday performances from 16 October.

The role of Norma might seem like a departure for pop star Scherzinger, who has become a stalwart of TV reality competitions (Dancing with the Stars, The X Factor, The Masked Singer) since her time with the Pussycat Dolls. But she has multiple musical theatre credentials.

She previously appeared in another Lloyd Webber show, playing Grizabella in the 2014 West End revival of Cats and earning an Olivier nomination. She also starred as Grace Farrell in Annie Live! on NBC and performed “Reflection” from Disney’s Mulan at the Coronation Concert.

Scherzinger now joins a long line of Normas that includes LuPone, Glenn Close, Ria Jones, Mazz Murray, and Stephanie J. Block. And she's teaming up with a director renowned for his thrilling, hugely popular productions starring big names: Jamie Lloyd, fresh from directing Jessica Chastain in A Doll’s House on Broadway.

Previously, he wowed with a James McAvoy-led Cyrano de Bergerac, a Betrayal starring Tom Hiddleston, and The Seagull with two Game of Thrones alumni: Indira Varma and Emilia Clarke.

What to Watch For

• Even if you haven’t seen it before, you’ll definitely recognise some Sunset Boulevard quotes. Along with Norma’s fabulous “I’m ready for my close-up,” there’s this great exchange: When Joe quips that Norma used to be big, she replies: “I am big – it’s the pictures that got small!”
• Lloyd Webber wasn’t the first to try a stage adaptation of Wilder's film. Gloria Swanson (star of the movie) worked on a cabaret version, but Paramount Pictures halted it. Stephen Sondheim composed a first scene, but he abandoned the project after Billy Wilder said it had to be an opera since it’s “about a dethroned queen.”
• The original tryout version of Lloyd Webber’s musical starred Ria Jones and Michael Ball. The latter is also now in the West End in another of the composer’s shows, Aspects of Love, which made his name.
• In the show, Norma’s comeback vehicle is based on the princess Salome – who, legend has it, did such an alluring dance that she persuaded her stepfather, Herood Antipas, to gift her the head of John the Baptist. Her story has inspired numerous tellings, including Oscar Wilde’s Salome play and a movie starring Rita Hayworth.
• Norma’s torch song, “As If We Never Said Goodbye,” has become a breakout hit, recorded by artists including Barbra Streisand, Elaine Paige, and Alfie Boe. Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) also sang the song on Glee.