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Sunset Boulevard

SUNSET BOULEVARD weaves a magnificent tale of faded glory and unfulfilled ambition. 1995 WINNER of 7 TONY Awards including Best Musical.

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Description

  • Full Length Musical
  • Drama

  • Time Period: 1940s, 1950s
  • Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings

  • Performance Group:
  • Community Theatre

  • Accolades:
  • test, 2 Awards for the Original Broadway ProductionOutstanding Broadway MusicalOustanding Actress in a Musical - Glenn Close, 9 Awards for the 1994 Los Angeles ProductionOustanding ProductionOutsanding Original MusicOutstanding DirectionOutstanding WritingOutstanding Scenic DesignOutstanding Costume DesignOutstanding Lighting DesignOutstanding Performance - Glenn CloseOutstanding Performance - Alan Campbell, 7 Awards for the Original Broadway ProductionBest MusicalBest ScoreBest Book of a MusicalBest Scene DesignBest Lighting DesignBest Featured Actor in a Musical - George HearnBest Actress in a Musical - Glenn Close
SUNSET BOULEVARD weaves a magnificent tale of faded glory and unfulfilled ambition. Silent movie star Norma Desmond longs for a return to the big screen, having been discarded by tinsel town with the advent of "talkies." Her glamour has faded in all but her mind. When she meets struggling Hollywood screen-writer Joe Gillis in dramatic circumstances, their subsequent passionate and volatile relationship leads to an unforeseen and tragic conclusion.

SUNSET BOULEVARD takes place in Hollywood between 1949 and 1950.
REVIEWS:

"Wonderfully entertaining. Lloyd Webber and his colleagues have reinvented the movie as a romantic musical spectacle. It's a show that, like Phantom, demands his floridly romantic music. The show is visually magnificent. Grandeur is designer John Napier's signature, but he also has a breathtaking imagination. Sunset Boulevard has become a celebration of the outsized glory of Hollywood."

Robert Feldberg The Record

"A glorious, grandiose production. The eye-popping starts the minute the curtain rises. Lloyd Webber's music is as lushly melodic as anything he's written. Alice Ripley shines in the role of Betty Schaefer."

Michael Kuchwara Associated Press

"Rest assured, the sun will not set on Sunset for many a season. The performances are all excellent. It's extravagant. It's spectacular. Go and enjoy."

Clive Barnes New York Post

"The show's a hit. Lloyd Webber's most shamelessly and artfully constructed score. It offers two of Lloyd Webber's best songs in 'With One Look' and 'As If We Never Said Goodbye.' Director Trevor Nunn and designer John Napier, the Cats team, have fashioned one coup de theatre after another. Radiant."

Michael Walsh Time Magazine

Characters

  • Casting: 6M, 2F
  • Casting Attributes: Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle)
  • Casting Notes: Numerous Characters including non-speaking roles.

  • NORMA DESMOND
    JOE GILLIS
    MAX VON MAYERLING
    BETTY SCHAEFER
    CECIL B. DeMILLE
    ARTIE GREEN
    SHELDRAKE
    MANFRED

  • ensemble characters (in order of appearance)
    MYRON
    MARY
    JOANNA
    FIRST AND SECOND FINANCE MEN
    SAMMY
    MORINO
    WUNDERKIND
    SECRETARY
    CLIFF
    KATHERINE
    LISA
    JOHN
    ANITA
    ADAM
    WAITRESS
    ACTOR
    SANDY
    LARISSA
    JANE
    GLENN
    DANIELLE
    DAWN
    BARMAN FIRST THROUGH SEVENTH SALESMEN
    RICHARD
    JEAN
    ACTOR #4
    GUARD
    JONES
    HEATHER
    HOG-EYE
    VICTOR MATURE STAND-IN (non-speaking)
    HEDY LAMARR STAND-IN (non-speaking)
    VICTOR MATURE (non-speaking)
    HEDY LAMARR (non-speaking)
    ASTROLOGER
    MASSEUSE #1, #2
    BEAUTICIAN #1, #2, #3
    ANALYST
    DOCTOR
    JOURNALIST
    POLICEMAN (non-speaking)

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Perusal Material Shipped immediately. This is optional. Order Now

    1 Libretto
    1 Vocal Book

    		 $24.00
    Pre-Production Pack Shipped upon receipt of a signed License Agreement and full payment of all invoices. This is optional.

    1 Libretto
    1 Vocal Book
    1 Piano/Conductor's Score

    		 $75.00
    Rehearsal Material Shipped a minimum of 3 months before the last performance. This must be hired as a condition of the License to produce this show.

    20 Libretto
    20 Vocal Books
    2 Piano/Conductor Scores

    		 $550.00 +$135.00/pm
    Orchestral Material Shipped a minimum of 1 month before the last performance. This is optional.

    2 Full Scores Act I & Act II
    1 Reed 1 (Piccolo, Flute, Alto Flute)
    1 Reed 2 (Flute, Clarinet, Tenor Sax)
    1 Reed 3 (Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Alto Sax)
    1 Reed 4 (Oboe, Cor Anglais (optional, cued in Keyboards 1-3))
    1 Reed 5 (Bassoon (optional, cued in Keyboards 1-3))
    1 Horns 1 & 2
    1 Trumpet (Doubles Bb Piccolo Trumpet)
    1 Bass Trombone
    1 Guitar (Electric & Acoustic)
    1 Harp (optional, cued in Keyboards 1-4)
    1 Keyboard 1 (programmed synthesizer)
    1 Keyboard 2 (programmed synthesizer)
    1 Keyboard 3 (programmed synthesizer)
    1 Keyboard 4 (programmed synthesizer – optional, contains cueing for Strings, Harp & Additional Percussion)
    2 Percussion 1 & 2 (see lists below. If there is only one percussion player, a separate single player book is included. Omitted writing is found in Keyboard 4)
    2 Violins (7 Players in Original Broadway Production – cued in Keyboards 1-4)
    1 Violas (2 Players in Original Broadway Production – cued in Keyboards 1–4)
    1 Contrabass (Acoustic Bass, Pogo Bass, Bass Guitar (if Pogo or Electric Upright Bass is not available, Acoustic Bass may be used))
    1 Cello
                    
    Percussion List
    PERCUSSION 1:
    Vibraphone, Bells, Xylophone, Tubular Bell (D5), Timpani (2), Congas, Bongos, Suspended Cymbal, Beer Bottle with Stick, Gong, Concert Bass Drum, Shaker, Piatti, Shellphone, Optional Electronic Percussion (such as KAT) for difficult chromatic passages (#15: "The Lady's Paying", #28: "A Little Suffering" & #36: "Curtain Call")

    PERCUSSION 2:
    Drum Kit (Cymbals, Snare Drums, Ride Cymbal, High Hat, Bass Drum), Bongos, Toms, Tam Tam, Piatti, Tambourine, Triangle, Woodblock, Mark Tree, Shellphone, Bell Tree, Mark Chimes, Ratchet, Bells

    PERCUSSION (one player):
    Timpani (2), Bells, Drum Kit (Cymbals, Snare Drum, High Hat, Toms, Bass Drum), Bell Tree, Bongos, Mark Tree, Tambourine, Triangle, Woodblock, Tam Tam, Guiro, Bass Drum, Ratchet

    		$350.00 +$135.00/pm

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