"With One Look": Stefanie Powers Is Norma Desmond in Ogunquit Playhouse's Sunset Boulevard

By Andrew Gans
28 Jul 2010

Stefanie Powers
Stefanie Powers

Stage and screen star Stefanie Powers dons a turban in the Ogunquit Playhouse's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, which runs July 28-Aug. 14 at the Maine venue.

Shaun Kerrison directs the production, which boasts the Tony-nominated costumes designed for the Broadway run by Anthony Powell. An all-new set has been designed exclusively for the Ogunquit stage by Todd Ivins. Tom Kosis choreographs.

Powers is joined on stage by Todd Gearhart as Joe Gillis, Sal Mistretta as Max and Christina DeCicco as Betty Schaefer.

The musical, which is based on the classic Billy Wilder film, features a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.

The 1950 film "Sunset Blvd.," directed by Wilder, concerned an out of-work screenwriter named Joe Gillis who happens upon the home of former silent-screen star Norma Desmond. William Holden and Gloria Swanson starred in the film, which won three Academy Awards. Lloyd Webber's musical version debuted in London with Patti LuPone as Norma. Glenn Close opened the Los Angeles and Broadway productions; other Normas included Betty Buckley, Elaine Paige, Diahann Carroll, Petula Clark, Helen Schneider, Linda Balgord and Debra Byrne.

Stefanie Powers, who is best known for her TV work on "Hart to Hart," also starred in a U.K. revival and a U.S. national tour of The King & I. Her numerous stage credits include Oliver!, Annie Get Your Gun, My Fair Lady and the London production of Matador. She also starred as the legendary Margo Channing in a touring revival of Applause – The Musical All About Eve. She reunited with "Hart to Hart" co-star Robert Wagner in the play Love Letters in London's West End, followed by tours of the play in the U.S. and Canada.

The summer season kicked off June 9 with the award-winning The Drowsy Chaperone,  and continues with Monty Python's Spamalot (Aug. 18-Sept. 11) and Chicago (Sept. 15-Oct. 24).

For more information visit www.ogunquitplayhouse.org or call (207) 646-5511.