Contra Costa Musical Theatre prodution of "Sunset Boulevard"

Last year the Really Useful Company of Great Britain released the rights for regional and semiprofessional companies to finally use the original Broadway orchestrations for “Sunset Boulevard”. Since then many companies have been producing the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

“Sunset Boulevard” is not the best musical that Webber ever composed but the productions I have seen have had great actresses portraying the legendary Norma Desmond. Over the years I have seen five professional productions starring Patti LuPone and Kevin Anderson at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1993 later I returned to London the following year to see Betty Buckley and John Barrowman in the roles. Other performances were in Los Angeles and New York with some luminaries as Glenn Close, Elaine Paige and Petula Clark.

The musical had a rocky road of getting produced and from 1952 to 1956 Gloria Swanson the original Norma Desmond worked with actor Richard Stapley on a musical adaptation of the 1950 Paramount film. Paramount executive Russell Holman in 1957 thought “it would damage the property to be offered to the entertainment public in another form as a stage musical”. Even Billy Wilder said “You can’t write a musical about Sunset Boulevard”,it has to be an opera. After all, it’s about dethroned queen”. Even Sondheim aborted plans with Angela Lansbury in the lead. Finally Webber wrote the musical in 1993. Since that time every singer/actress wants to be Norma.

The problem is whether it is an opera performance, a concert or a musical, something happens that makes the total experience far exceed the sum of its parts. This happened when I first saw the musical at the Adelphi in 1993. I also wondered what a semi-professional company could do with the mega musical. It certainly would need a strong dramatic voice of an actress to play the fading movie star from the silent area.

Contra Costa Musical Theatre has found that voice with Annmarie Martin as the deluded ex-star who has been protected from reality by her servant and past director Max Von Mayerling. She captivates and enthralls the audience with her measured and nuanced performance as Norma Desmond. She excelled where it most counted in her stirring rendition of “As If We Never Said Goodbye” on the Paramount soundstage and her sensitive treatment of the delusional finale.

Robert Lopez excellently plays the cynical and struggling Hollywood scriptwriter Joe Gillis. This is a challenging role with many vocal and acting demands and they are all handled with assurance by the singer. The pair struck gold with their duet “The Perfect Year”. Gene Bencomo has great vocal chops as Max especially in the song “The Greatest Star of All”. Nicole Helfer’s exquisite soprano and a sparking virtuousness capture just the right notes of Betty, the writer who falls for Joe. She does a nice job in a relatively small and ungracious role. She does a poignant reading of “This Time Next Year” All members of the large cast has great vitality and energy and the choreography by director Michael Ryken adds much to the whole production.

Contra Costa Musical Theatre under the direction of Michael Ryken has successfully re-imagined “Sunset Boulevard” with a large cast and large orchestra under the direction of Karl Pister. It certainly does not look or feel cheap. Far from it and you are in the middle of a late 1940 Hollywood soundstage with kudos to set designer Kelly James Tighe. The large orchestra is fantastic and you get a real “big musical” sound that is just a good as some Broadway orchestras I have heard playing Webber’s complicated melodies.

While Webber’s core is distinctly less inspired than “Phantom” the Contra Costa Musical Theatre production seem to have found a way to turn that into a virtue. There are large productions numbers such as the grooming of Joe in “The Lady’s Paying” and the upbeat “New Year Tango” . Much of the dialogue sung is recitative rather than spoken in prose sentences which are an additional demand on the actors. This seems more of a verismo opera then a musical most like Leoncavallo’s “Pagilacci” or Verdi’s “Othello”.
“Sunset Boulevard” plays through April 15 at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts. 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. For tickets call 925-943-7469 or one line at www.leasherArtscenter.org