Sunset Boulevard on Broadway Tickets

By: Don Black and Christopher Hampton, based on the Billy Wilder film
Songs by: Andrew Lloyd Webber (music), Don Black, Christopher Hampton (lyrics)
Director: Jamie Lloyd
Choreography: Fabian Aloise
Cast list: Nicole Scherzinger (as Norma Desmond), Tom Francis (as Joe Gillis), Grace Hodgett-Young (as Betty Schaefer), David Thaxton (as Max Von Mayerling)
Design: Soutra Gilmour
Costumes: Soutra Gilmour
Lighting: Jack Knowles
Sound: Adam Fisher
Other info: Music direction and supervision by Alan Williams, video design and cinematography by Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom

Based on the Academy Award-winning movie by Billy Wilder, the Sunset Boulevard musical features songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber with a book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.

The show revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the fabled Los Angeles street of the title. When young and promising screenwriter Joe Gillis crosses her path, she sees in this up-and-coming writer an opportunity to make her return to the big screen, with romance and tragedy to follow.

Nicole Scherzinger, the original lead singer of the pop group The Pussycat Dolls, takes on this legendary role in her Broadway debut following her acclaimed West End bow, and her London co-stars reprise their roles for Sunset Boulevard in New York: Tom Francis as Joe Gillis, Grace Hodgett Young as Betty Schaefer, and David Thaxton as Max Von Mayerling.

What to watch for

• Nicole Scherzinger joins a long line of Broadway stars who have played fading diva Norma Desmond. Tony Award winner Patti LuPone and Academy Award nominee Glenn Close have both played her on Broadway and in London's West End. Other stage stars, including Stephanie J. Block and Kathryn Evans, have taken on the role in other productions.
• Critics raved about the London production. Time Out London’s critic wrote that Sunset Boulevard’s “mind-blowing video and a truly singular use of pop star Nicole Scherzinger power Jamie Lloyd’s triumphantly out-there take on the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic.” Additionally, Variety said that “not for one second is there any doubt that Scherzinger has a dominating presence and magnificent money notes.”
• You have likely heard some of the songs before. Sunset Boulevard includes the standards “As If We Never Said Goodbye,” “With One Look,” and the title song naming the Los Angeles area where this show is set, “Sunset Boulevard.”
• This production lacks traditional Broadway razzle-dazzle — and it works. Lots of Broadway shows boast stunning spectacle, from flying witches to life-size animal puppets. Here, Jamie Lloyd makes bold use of video and color, and little else but the powerful actors, to tell this reimagined story.

Set an alert for tickets to Sunset Boulevard on Broadway!