The stars are out in more than one sense for a stunning night on Sydney Harbour, where 'Sunset Boulevard' premieres. The Hollywood Glam theme ensures glorious gowns and stunning suits everywhere you turn, some embracing the gold and black theme with ornate golden jackets.
Inside the Joan Sutherland theatre, the mood tingles with anticipation as many wait to see the legendary Sarah Brightman singing in the flesh for their first time ever. Giant blue eyes stare out at the crowd from the curtains, before they slowly lift.
'Sunset Boulevard' follows Joe Gillis, played by Tim Draxl, an out-of-favour writer desperate to make a buck any way any how to prevent his car from being repossessed. His evasive actions land him in the garden of Norma Desmond, played by Brightman, a former star who hasn’t graced the sets of Hollywood in years but is convinced she’s still the biggest star there is: “I am big, it’s the pictures that got smaller.”
Joe and Norma strike up a deal for him to edit her ‘script’, which is four Bibles in length, as Joe is keen for the easy buck. Ashleigh Rubenach plays Betty Shaefer, a studio intern that sees promise in Joe’s writing, and is determined to mine it out of him, a relationship that becomes complicated due to her engagement to Joe’s best friend Artie Green, played by Jarrod Draper. Robert Grubb rounds out the cast as Norma’s butler, Max von Mayerling, although there is more to Max than meets the eye.
Image © Daniel Boud
Brightman’s first entrance draws rapturous applause from the crowd, as is expected. She initially takes her vocals gently, but allows their power to unfold as her first aria goes on. Playing a star forever stuck in the glory days of yesteryear, Brightman assumedly draws from her own reality of forever being enshrined as Christine Daaé in 'Phantom'.
Her performance is one of endless elegance, even at her most vulnerable, begging Joe for love, she maintains an air of superiority. She plays the perfect narcissist, and it is entirely believable. You are both sympathetic and repulsed by her manipulations. But it is Brightman’s vocals that are worth the price of admission. The greatest performers suspend time, hypnotising you with the beauty of song. Brightman is one of those performers and always will be.
From the moment Draxl enters, he drips griminess, an essential trait of Joe’s character. You feel his simultaneous desperation and selfishness, and yet you feel for him. Draxl wins you over as the show moves on, nothing to do with the washboard abs that feature post-intermission I’m sure, but not enough to overcome the perception that Joe and Norma were likely drawn to each other for a reason, they are both unbearably self-consumed. Draxl’s voice shines in an elongated note that is sadly uncommon, he deserves more.
Image © Daniel Boud
Rubenach’s Betty is the character you feel the most sympathy for, a bright-eyed girl that fell into the wrong set of circumstances. As depictions of Hollywood go, 'Sunset Boulevard' is eerily close to the unpolished truth. Her vocals are perfectly musical theatre, although a temptation to sing with gritted teeth on a few occasions made for an interesting delivery. Grubb’s Max shines in vocals and performance, despite being hit in the head by a flying feather headdress in one scene which, judging by Brightman’s shocked reaction, was not scripted. The show goes on.
The set is monstrously impressive, from the smoke-ridden beginning where a ghostly figure is projected high in the air to the huge house set that rolls in and out, this looks to be an expensive production. The costumes prove consistent with the time period, and the orchestra delivers some stunning strings, however some of the songs' melodies leave something to be desired.
The chemistry between Betty and Joe is believable despite his self-obsession, and a moment shared between the two towards the show’s end provides a stunning visual. Brightman, of course, steals the show with a regality acquired from years of service.
Tense, moody and accurate, 'Sunset Boulevard' shines with the darker side of stardom.
★★★★☆
