New York City
Close returns to the role of Norma Desmond on the Great White Way.
The London stars of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard will join Glenn Close on Broadway this winter, producers have announced. The musical, which first opened on Broadway in 1994, was mounted at the English National Opera's London Coliseum this past May under the direction of Lonny Price. Performances of the Broadway revival will begin on February 2, 2017, with an official opening night set for February 9 at the Palace Theatre, where the show will play a limited 16-week engagement.
Close (Norma Desmond) will be joined by Michael Xavier as Joe Gillis, Siobhan Dillon as Betty Schaefer, and Fred Johanson as Max von Mayerling. The production will have a 40-piece orchestra. Full casting will be announced.
When Sunset Boulevard returns, the musical will join School of Rock, The Phantom of the Opera, and the recently opened revival of Cats among the growing ranks of Webber musicals taking over Broadway.
Sunset Boulevard features a Tony Award-winning score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and a Tony Award-winning book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. Based on the classic 1950 film of the same title, Sunset Boulevard follows Norma Desmond, a washed-up silent film star, who lives in a dilapidated mansion on Sunset Boulevard. When she encounters a young screenwriter named Joe Gillis, she sees him as her opportunity to make a comeback to the silver screen. Close's performance as the iconic Desmond earned her a third Tony Award.