Guide to 'Sunset Boulevard' on Broadway, starring Nicole Scherzinger
Learn all about the latest revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Hollywood-inspired musical, fresh off a hit London premiere directed by Jamie Lloyd.
Get ready for Sunset Boulevard like you’ve never seen it before.
Legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beloved musical epic, based on Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir classic of the same name, returns to Broadway in a stark reimagining from acclaimed British director Jamie Lloyd (who last year brought us a sleek, modern take on A Doll’s House starring Jessica Chastain).
Following a critically acclaimed run in London’s West End in 2023, Lloyd’s minimalist staging moves to Broadway’s St. James Theatre starting September 28. Nicole Scherzinger, formerly of The Pussycat Dolls, reprises her celebrated leading performance as fading film icon Norma Desmond. The production rides into New York on a wave of acclaim, having earned trophies at the 2024 Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical and Best Musical Revival.
Get ready for Sunset Boulevard on Broadway with our guide to the legendary musical and Lloyd’s fresh new take, and be sure to check out the highly anticipated production.
Get Sunset Boulevard tickets now.
What is Sunset Boulevard about?
Hollywood, 1949. Forgotten silent film-era star Norma Desmond longs to return to the silver screen. Holed away in her decaying mansion on Sunset Boulevard, Desmond lures handsome, struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis into her orbit, seeking someone to pen a movie that will fulfill her fantasy of a big-screen comeback. But as the pair’s connection becomes sexual and Norma’s delusions intensify, their relationship heads towards a violent end.
Where is Sunset Boulevard playing?
Sunset Boulevard is at the St. James Theatre, located at 246 W. 44th St. between Broadway and 8th Avenue. Originally opened as The Erlanger in 1927, the 1,709-seat venue got its current name in 1932.
Recent tenants at the St. James have included Illinoise, Spamalot, Into the Woods, and New York, New York.
How long is Sunset Boulevard?
The running time of Sunset Boulevard is 2 hours and 35 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission. This a typical running time for a Broadway show.
What days is Sunset Boulevard playing?
Sunset Boulevard will run Tuesday through Sunday, with two performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays, only a matinee on Sundays, and no performances on Mondays. However, there are variations in the performance schedule during the first few weeks of performances and around major holidays.
When did Sunset Boulevard premiere?
The Sunset Boulevard musical premiered in London’s West End in July 1993, starring Patti LuPone as Norma Desmond. In December of that year, a second production opened in Los Angeles starring Glenn Close and featuring a reworked book and score.
The Broadway production opened in November 1994, led by Close and using the reworked version of the show. The show’s first national tour launched in 1996 and starred Linda Balgord.
The 2024 Broadway revival begins performances on September 28 ahead of an October 20 opening night. The production first premiered in London in September 2023.
Who wrote Sunset Boulevard?
Sunset Boulevard has music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, also known for musicals like The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and Jesus Christ Superstar. The book and lyrics are by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.
The musical is based on Billy Wilder’s 1950 film of the same name, which was written by Wilder and Charles Brackett.
Sunset Boulevard characters
Reflecting the cloistered life of Norma Desmond, cut off from the world in her desolate mansion, Sunset Boulevard has a small cast of main characters.
- Norma Desmond: A faded leading lady of the silent-film era, now holed away in a decrepit mansion on Sunset Boulevard dreaming of a return to stardom.
- Joe Gillis: A down-on-his-luck screenwriter who is drawn into Norma’s orbit.
- Max von Mayerling: Norma’s faithful and devoted butler.
- Betty Schaefer: A struggling screenwriter working as an assistant at Paramount.
- Artie Greene: Joe’s best friend and Betty’s fiancé.
- Cecil B. DeMille: The real-life legendary film director.
Who is in the cast of Sunset Boulevard?
Nicole Scherzinger stars in Sunset Boulevard as Norma Desmond. She is best known as a former member of girl group The Pussycat Dolls. Scherzinger previously led a 2014 revival of Cats in London's West End as Grizabella, earning an Olivier Award nomination, and now reprises the role of Desmond from this production’s West End premiere in 2023.
Tom Francis plays Joe Gillis, reprising his Olivier Award-winning performance from the production’s London run. Also returning from the West End run are Grace Hodgett Young as Betty Schaefer and Daxid Thaxton as Max von Mayerling.
Broadway veteran Mandy Gonzalez will guest star as Norma Desmond at certain scheduled performances, and Caroline Bowman is Scherzinger's standby in the role.
Sunset Boulevard songs
Sunset Boulevard features a lush, beautiful score by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, darker and more cynical than his prior work at the time. The show is mostly sung-through – “songs” from the cast recording in which music only plays below spoken dialogue are not included below.
Act 1
- “Overture/Prologue”
- “Let’s Have Lunch”
- “Every Movie’s A Circus”
- “Surrender”
- “With One Look”
- “Salome”
- “The Greatest Star Of All”
- “Every Movie’s A Circus (Reprise)”
- “Girl Meets Boy”
- “New Ways To Dream”
- “The Lady’s Paying”
- “The Perfect Year”
- “This Time Next Year”
Act 2
- “Sunset Boulevard”
- “There’s Been A Call”
- “As If We Never Said Goodbye”
- “Surrender (Reprise)”
- “Girl Meets Boy (Reprise)”
- “Eternal Youth Is Worth A Little Suffering”
- “Too Much In Love To Care”
- “New Ways To Dream (Reprise)”
- “The Final Scene”
What awards has Sunset Boulevard won?
Sunset Boulevard has won numerous awards on both sides of the pond.
- 1993 West End production: Sunset Boulevard's world-premiere production was nominated for Best New Musical at the 1994 Laurence Olivier Awards, but City of Angels took home the prize.
- 1994 Broadway transfer: This production triumphed at the 1995 Tony Awards, winning Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Performance By A Leading Actress in a Musical for Glenn Close.
- 2023 London revival: Director Jamie Lloyd's production, the same one on Broadway in 2024, earned Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical (for Nicole Scherzinger) and Best Musical Revival in 2024.
- 1950 film: The original Sunset Boulevard movie, on which the musical is based, earned three Oscars, including Best Story and Screenplay, and four Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture — Drama.
Onscreen adaptations of Sunset Boulevard
The Sunset Boulevard musical is based on a 1950 film noir classic of the same name, written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett and directed by Wilder. The film starred Gloria Swanson as Norma and William Holden as Joe. Legendary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille played himself in the movie.
Since its stage premiere, several efforts have been made to adapt Sunset Boulevard into a movie musical. Paramount Pictures first announced in 2005 that a film adaptation was in development. In 2019, Rob Ashford signed on to direct the film, with Glenn Close starring, but development stalled and both Ashford and Paramount eventually left the project. Close continues to state in interviews, as recently as May 2024, that the film is "in the works."
Celebrities who have performed in Sunset Boulevard
A number of high-profile actors and actresses have taken on the leading roles of Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis.
- Nicole Scherzinger: The former Pussycat Dolls frontwoman earned a 2024 Olivier Award for her performance as Norma Desmond in London's West End, and she reprises it on Broadway.
- Patti LuPone: LuPone was the first actress to play Norma on stage, leading the musical's 1993 West End premiere.
- Diahann Caroll: The first African American woman to win the Tony Award For Best Actress in a Musical, she portrayed Norma in Sunset Boulevard’s Canadian premiere.
- Glenn Close: She first opened the show on Broadway in 1994 and returned to Sunset in 2016 for a semi-staged English National Opera revival with a 40-piece onstage orchestra. Beginning at the London Coliseum, the production then transferred to Broadway in 2017.
- Betty Buckley: The Cats Broadway legend was a replacement Norma in both the original West End and Broadway runs.
- Elaine Page: She also replaced as Norma in both the original London and New York stagings.
- Rita Moreno: The EGOT winner did a stint as Norma later in the show’s West End run.
- Hugh Jackman: The stage and screen star played Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard's first Australian production.
- John Barrowman: He was a replacement for Joe Gillis for both the West End and Broadway runs.
- Gloria Swanson: The celebrated silent film star originated the role of Norma in Billy Wilder's original Sunset Boulevard film.
- Cecil B. deMille: Also a character in the movie and the musical, the legendary filmmaker played himself in Wilder's film.
Major productions of Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard has been revived many times since its initial premiere. Here are all some of the most high-profile productions between then and now.
- July 1993: Sunset Boulevard had its world premiere in London's West End starring Patti LuPone.
- December 1993: A new version of the show, with a revamped script and score, opened in Los Angeles.
- 1994: The L.A. production of Sunset Boulevard opens on Broadway with star Glenn Close.
- 1996: Sunset Boulevard embarks on its first U.S. national tour.
- 2008: A minimalist revival from Watermill Theatre in Newbury, England, transfers to London's West End, led by Kathryn Evans and Ben Goddard. The actors in this production played their own instruments.
- 2016: The English National Opera presented a semi-staged revival with a 40-piece onstage orchestra, led by Glenn Close. Beginning at the London Coliseum, the production then transferred to Broadway’s Palace Theatre in 2017.
- 2016: The show’s first Australian production opens, featuring Hugh Jackman as Joe Gillis.
- February 2023: Stephanie J. Block leads a one-week concert revival at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center in 2023, starring opposite Derek Klena as Joe Gillis.
- September 2023: Director Jamie Lloyd premieres his stripped-back revival of Sunset Boulevard, starring Nicole Scherzinger, in London's West End.
- 2024: Lloyd's Sunset Boulevard transfers to Broadway, with Scherzinger reprising her performance.
Fun facts about Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard generated significant press attention upon its West End and Broadway premieres, most famously for a major casting change.
- Stephen Sondheim considered working on a musical adaptation of Sunset Boulevard many years before Webber, but he was dissuaded by a conversation with Billy Wilder. The film director insisted only an opera adaptation could ever work.
- Patti LuPone was contractually promised the role of Norma in the show’s Broadway run when she signed on for the West End premiere. After she was replaced by Glenn Close, LuPone sued Andrew Lloyd Webber and received a settlement of roughly $1 million. She used the money in part to add a pool to her Connecticut home, which she named the “Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool.” LuPone and Webber have since reconciled.
- Due to a shortage of musicals that season, Sunset was one of only two nominated shows in the Best Musical category at the 1995 Tony Awards, beating out Smokey Joe's Cafe. The show was the only nominee for Best Score and Best Book, taking home both awards by default.
- Similarly, Sunset only had one other competitor for Best Musical at the 1994 Olivier Awards in London: City of Angels, which won.
How to get Sunset Boulevard tickets
Don’t miss Sunset Boulevard unlike you’ve ever seen it before, led by Nicole Scherzinger in the performance of a lifetime.
Get Sunset Boulevard tickets now.
Photo credit: Sunset Boulevard in London. (Photos by Marc Brenner)
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