Sunset Boulevard, theatre review: Glenn Close at 69 remains completely persuasive

A mighty vehicle for a manipulative, mesmerising and teasingly seductive diva, says Henry Hitchings
Back in the spotlight: Glenn Close received a standing ovation before she had sung a note.
Henry Hitchings12 April 2016

Glenn Close's West End debut is a triumph. As Norma Desmond, a washed-up film star convinced that she’s still idolised by millions, she’s majestic, tormented and teasingly seductive. Close played the role on Broadway more than 20 years ago, winning a Tony award, and at 69 she remains completely persuasive as this manipulative, demonstrative and sometimes ridiculous diva.

This is a semi-staged revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Nineties musical, rather than an extravagant spectacle on the lines of its original and famously expensive incarnation. But Lonny Price’s production does include an ornate staircase for Norma to glide up and down, and Close makes every exit and entrance count. In stunning costumes by Anthony Powell, she resembles Cruella de Vil, a Japanese kabuki performer and a glamorous fortune-teller.

Michael Xavier is Joe Gillis, the struggling writer who blunders onto the reclusive star’s estate. She’s attempting to pen a screenplay about King Herod’s dancing daughter Salome and Joe decides to help. He soon finds himself in her thrall, while her manservant Max — an impeccably controlled Fred Johanson — looks on, conscious of having seen it all before.

Xavier has a velvety voice and debonair manner — which becomes positively devil-may-care when he appears in nothing except a tiny pair of swimming trunks. Alongside him, Siobhan Dillon impresses as aspiring writer Betty, who presents him with a wholesome alternative to his cynical liaison with Norma.

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1/50

Based on Billy Wilder’s deliciously ghoulish film, the book by Don Black and Christopher Hampton is rarely subtle and the lyrics are often pedestrian.

But while Lloyd Webber’s score is occasionally ponderous, it contains passages of opulent romanticism, and English National Opera’s orchestra, under Michael Reed, ensures these sound gorgeous.

In the end, though, this is a mighty vehicle for a mesmerising star. “I can say anything I want with my eyes,” claims Norma, and that’s certainly true of Close. She is at her best when taking risks, revealing the character’s infantile ways as well as her sincerity and raw vulnerability.

Until May 7 (020 7845 9300)

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