Norma desmond returns to broadway!

After captivating London audiences last year, Glenn Close revisits the role of fading diva Norma Desmond on Broadway in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard. One of Lloyd-Webber's finest works, Boulevard is resplendent with a lush, noir-influenced score, which is brought to life in New York by a 40-piece orchestra.

Based on the classic Billy Wilder movie, Sunset is the greatest Hollywood tragedy of them all, telling the story of an aspiring screenwriter seduced by the old-school movie glamour that surrounds an aged actress. Little does he know what squalid depths her self-deception will drag them both down to.

An icon of stage and screen

Glenn Close originated the role of Norma Desmond in the musical's original 1994 Broadway production in a Tony-winning performance, and recently played it to huge acclaim in a sold-out run in London with the English National Opera. One of Hollywood's finest, Glenn Close has countless iconic screen credits to her name, including Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons, while her role in the legal TV drama Damages garnered her two Emmy Awards.

What is Sunset Boulevard About?

It's the early 1950s in Hollywood, and the age of silent cinema is already fading from memory. Locked away in her crumbling mansion, forgotten silent movie star Norma Desmond is desperate for a return to the silver screen, and is convinced that her self-penned script 'Salome' is her way to break into the "talkies". As luck would have it, screenwriter Joe Gillis turns up at her door one day, having stumbled upon her house whilst trying to evade the repo men. After reading the script, Joe can see that Salome is trash and Norma is completely deluded, yet he needs to lay low for a while, so agrees to work on Salome in return for free bed and board.

As the weeks wear on, Joe is sucked deeper into Norma's world of fantasy, keeping her appeased with promises of future stardom. She grows utterly dependent on him, and he realises to get away he must first shatter her delusions. But when confronted with the stark truth about her sunken career, Norma goes from odd to dangerous.