(Photo: Marc Brenner)

 

Sunset Blvd.

By Fern Siegel

 

For fans of Billy Wilder's masterpiece Sunset Boulevard, the Broadway incarnation may be jolting. It's not Wilder's vision, but director Jamie Lloyd's Sunset Blvd., reimagined for the stage. While the piece is based on the 1950 movie - and retains some of its powerful lines - this version is oddly devoid of place.

Now at the St. James Theatre, this Sunset Blvd. is stripped bare of the glamour, decadence and cruelty of Hollywood, especially for women, which was Wilder's focus. Legendary silent film star Norma Desmond (Nicole Scherzinger) has been relegated to oblivion, surviving on memories and dreams of future stardom. Lloyd has created a minimalist world - often told in dance - to capture an icon abandoned by cinematic progress.

Norma began too young and ended too soon.

Hannah Yun Chamberlain elegantly symbolizes the young Norma in exquisite movements. (However, some of the later cast dances, especially the reliance on frenetic circle runs, are inexplicable.)

Lloyd has made Norma's narcissism and obsession less professional and more personal. The musical is presented as a movie - with close-ups or characters carrying video cameras. Too often in act one, Norma is the object of scorn. A flip of her hair doubles as a laugh line, which negates the imperiousness of her character and the larger pathos of the story.

Into this bleak universe arrives Joe Gillis (Tom Francis), the broke B-movie writer. He wants shelter from creditors. Norma wants attention and help with her behemoth screenplay of Salome. Initially, she lures Gillis with money and a room, aided by her trusted servant Max (a standout David Thaxton). But soon, Norma's obsessive nature unnerves the young man. Later, he bonds with co-writer Betty (Grace Hodgett Young), eager to have the studio head consider their own script.

Competing needs are ample grounds for drama. Lloyd demonstrates it with choreography, intense black-and-white lighting, stage smoke and Steadicams forever pushed into the leads' faces. The camera is the fourth, uncredited lead.

Nicole Sherzinger (Photo: Marc Brenner)

There is a genuinely moving score, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. And a singular show-stopping number by Scherzinger that brings some audience members to their feet. She is a powerful, commanding force here - diva divine - and delivers a riveting performance that's sure to earn a Tony nod.

Norma's strength and vulnerability are brought home in the second act, which is the more compelling of the two. But there are curious choices - such as having a group dance number in Shubert Alley, like something from a revamped West Side Story, and questionable casting choices. Most telling: Joe and Betty have no chemistry. Their scenes seemed forced and having Betty, a grown-up story editor, in pigtails defies explanation. We need their connection to underscore why Norma is so threatened, leading to the denouement.

Likewise, Norma is often viewed as aging and vain in the original film. "She must be about a million years old," someone cracks. But since Scherzinger is beautiful, with stunning cheekbones and striking posture, it's hard to reconcile the idea of a fading star.

Lloyd is known for reinterpreting, in stark style, many classics, including A Doll's House and Cyrano. There are arguments to be made for preserving an author's vision and for updating or reinterpreting a classic for a new generation. For example, Lloyd's singular production style worked well in A Doll's House with Jessica Chastain.

Here, set and costume design by Soutra Gilmour, choreography by Fabian Aloise, sound design by Adam Fisher and dramatic lighting design by Jack Knowles, a significant element in the musical's emotional core, unite for a specific vision. It's Sunset Blvd. for the selfie age.

Still, Lloyd's Sunset Blvd. gets points for originality, and Scherzinger is a revelation on stage. Wilder lacerated Tinseltown. In this incarnation, the knife is poised, but the cast is too busy with their close-ups to deliver the fatal cut.

Sunset Blvd.

St. James Theater - 246 W. 44 St.
Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, one intermission

Tickets: https://sunsetblvdbroadway.com/tickets/