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Pioneer Theatre Company's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" is eye candy for the musical theater crowd. It's catnip for those longing for a boatload of songs. And it's heaven for anyone with an eye for expert ensemble dancing.
Taken for the seamless, deft and handsome package it is, this "Sunset Boulevard" comes off like a dream. It's the dream of composer Lloyd Webber and his lyrical team of Christopher Hampton and Don Black. And they've forsaken the nightmarish and grotesque source material of Billy Wilder's film about the delusional life of an aging film star for something closer to tragic romance.
Ever the gentleman of the musical theater, Lloyd Webber probably couldn't help himself when this adaptation first premiered in 1993 London. But if you adore Wilder's 1950 noir film classic—who doesn't?—the issue becomes more inescapable with every passing scene on display here.
Thankfully, the accomplices in this odd translation from screen to stage are every bit as talented as they are innocent. And as the singing and dance numbers accumulate, it's easy to see even Wilder purists submitting to its considerable charms.
True to the film, it's Joe Gillis, played by Benjamin Eakeley, who gets the ball rolling. Once we see him face down in Norma Desmond's pool, via a large-screen image stage projection, it's off to the races and straight toward his foreshadowed doom. "Sunset Boulevard" rarely stops the music long enough to let you catch a breath of appreciation. It just keeps rolling. Even the plot detail of two men sent to repossess Gillis' car becomes an occasion for sing-song exchanges of dialogue. As usual with Lloyd Webber, the music is the message.
By the time Lynne Wintersteller arrives on stage for her expertly unhinged performance as Desmond, the audience has already been wowed by PTC's set design crew with their construction of a Paramount Studio entrance gate. The "wow" rises several notches more with Desmond's lavish living room, replete with small balcony and winding staircase. The lair is most definitely set. Gillis' reluctant descent into the life of a kept man proceeds.
Not all musical numbers are played for straight torch-song effect. "The Lady's Paying" and the ensemble piece "This Next Time Next Year," featured when Gillis ventures off Desmond's estate for hobnobbing with his struggling Hollywood friends, are welcome breaks from the quiet storm brewing onstage, even if they break the momentum somewhat.
Eakeley and Wintersteller create all the chemistry needed to keep Lloyd Webber's vision afloat. Amid all the glitz and color of the set and song, it's Martin Vidnovic as Desmond's right-hand man, Max, whose austere creepiness provides perhaps the sole trace of Wilder's noir atmosphere. As such, he's invaluable.
What makes the British composer's take so distant from Wilder's is the recurring song-lyric "new ways to dream," whether as a human need or the gift of film entertainment. They're nowhere in Wilder's script, but Lloyd Webber can't get enough of them. So by show's end we get Norma Desmond the thinly veiled romantic hero, not the slow-cooked lunatic that made the film so delightfully disturbing.
"What a sad little story," Lloyd Webber seems to say. "I think I'll drape it in music, with some color here and there."
Wintersteller's Norma Desmond sobs, screams and pleads to Gillis through song with all the pain and fury of an authentically deluded woman. But given the material she has to work with, it's not the Norma Desmond we know, love and, above all, dread.
As sheer spectacle and epic song, this "Sunset Boulevard" raves toward a glorious dawn Lloyd Webber fans will probably adore no matter what. Just don't see it for the noir atmosphere that first made it stick to your soul.
Pioneer Theatre does Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Sunset Boulevard'
P Lloyd Webber fans will indulge in the nonstop music, eye-popping sets and near flawless cast, but the screen-to-stage adaptation misses the spirit of Billy Wilder's film.
When ยป Through May 14. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., with Saturday matinee, 2 p.m.
Where • Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East, University of Utah campus, Salt Lake City
Info • $34-$54, with children K-12 half-price Monday and Tuesday. Call 801-581-6961 for more information or visit http://www.pioneertheatre.org.
Run time • Two hours and 25 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission