Sunset Boulevard Will Return to the West End in December
By Mark Shenton
17 Nov 2008
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, which originally premiered at the West End's Adelphi Theatre in 1993, will return to London in a new and intimate production that was first seen at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury earlier this year.
The production will begin performances at the Comedy Theatre Dec. 4, prior to an official opening Dec. 15. The show, based on the classic 1950 Billy Wilder film, has book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.
The production follows in the Newbury tradition of using actors who double as their own musicians; John Doyle's production of Sweeney Todd was staged there in 2004 and subsequently played the West End's Trafalgar Studios and Broadway. The Tony-winning orchestrator of that production, Sarah Travis, who won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations, is the musical arranger for Sunset Boulevard.
The production is directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, last represented in the West End by Flamenco Flamen'ka. He is also known for his work as a regular judge on the TV series "Strictly Come Dancing." He has previously staged Hot Mikado and Martin Guerre at the Watermill.
London’s original Norma Desmond when the show premiered at the Adelphi Theatre in 1993 was New York's original Evita, Patti LuPone, back on Broadway in a Tony-winning turn in Gypsy. For this run, Kathryn Evans – the last actress to play the title role of Evita in that show's original run at the Prince Edward Theatre – will play Norma Desmond. She has also played leading roles in the West End productions of Anything Goes and The Fix and in the U.K. tour of Aspects of Love.
The cast also features Dave Willetts (Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera in the West End) as Max Von Meyerling and Ben Goddard (who starred in Horwood's production of Martin Guerre at Newbury) as Joe Gillis. Also in the cast will be Elisa Boyd, Tomm Coles, Alexander Evans, Kate Feldschreiber, Sam Kenyon, Nick Lashbrook, Tarek Merchant, Laura Pitt-Pulford and Helen Power.
The production is designed by Diego Pitarch, with lighting by Richard G. Jones and sound by Gary Dixon. The Watermill Theatre production will be produced in London by Howard Panter for the Ambassador Theatre Group Limited, Tulchin/Bartner Productions and Bill Kenwright Ltd.
To book tickets contact the box office at 0870 060 6637 or visit www.sunsetlondon.com.
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