Sunset Boulevard

My return to Scarlett, following their excellent production of Spring Awakening was the Lloyd Webber classic, Sunset Boulevard. Following on from the recently revived version in London by Jamie Lloyd and starring Nicole Scherzinger the Sunset craze had started with groups all over the UK applying to bring it to their stage. Scarlett use the studio theatre at Ffrwnes, which I maintain is one of the bravest decisions for any theatre company to make. There is nowhere to hide whatsoever and being so close to the audience everything needs to be spot on. Whilst you’ll never get a full set into a studio theatre, I did like the preset with the dressing room style lighting, the old cinematic feel of the film playing and of course the dulled down lighting which is perfect for Sunset.

Musically, this show poses a challenge for any company. The opening “Lets Have Lunch” is so difficult but to their credit, Bridget worked very hard on that bringing out the chaos of the film studio, overlapping lyrics, challenging timing and that thought provoking moment anyone musical thinks – “Why has ALW done this?” It’s completely bonkers! The small band, led by Bridget held together very well. Being such a symphonic score creates so may issues for an MD but, on keys Andrew Harris did everything he could to fill the score out. I have to, as an MD myself, commend him for owning that score! It is an absolute monster! The balance was good throughout and I didn’t miss a lyric nor a piece of script. So onto the cast –

Scarlett do double cast some roles to give people opportunities which is good to see. On the Friday night the leads were played by Justine Davies (Norma), Ashton Williams (Joe), Matthew Tucker (Max Von Mayerling), Millie Tanner (Betty) & Jac Owens (Artie).

Scarlett always do everything they can to bring a full musical to a small space, which includes a strong supporting cast & ensemble. Sunset works really well when there’s not 40 people on stage so everyone has something to do. The ensemble created a good sound on stage and as previously mentioned tackled that heinous opening number with as much gusto as possible.

For me personally, Matthew Tucker and Justine Davies were the standout performances on the night. Max, being Norma’s ex-husband, has to be played by someone who is not just great vocally but also by an actor who’s stage presence stands out even when he’s not doing much. Matthew, absolutely nailed it! I totally believed him plus his vocals were stunning so that made it all that more enjoyable. Justine, was also great and had a very good vocal range. The relationship she had with Max was very believable but also how she manipulated Joe (Ashton Williams) from the offset was very well done. Norma has all the big belters in this musical and Justines delivery was never in doubt as she scaled those songs with precision. Very well done to Matt & Justine!

Joe Gillis played by Ashton, is the writer who stumbles apon Normas house, to then become embroiled in her life. In my opinion, Joe needs to be played by an older actor but, Ashton did play this character very well and certainly held his own when on stage but this is not a critique of the casting in anyway. Ashton brought a surprising innocence to Joe, a character usually portrayed as a hard-boiled cynic. He is a talent, there is no doubt about that and once again his contribution to this musical with the choreography as well as tackling the role of Joe is very impressive.

I very much enjoyed the performances of Millie Tanner as Betty and Jac Owens as Artie. Artie isn’t a big role but is a very important piece of the story especially when Betty meets Joe and the plot thickens. Jac played this very well and the casting was complimented well with Millie. Her acting throughout was strong and she delivered a solid vocal performance as well. There are many supporting roles in Sunset and I would be on page 10 if I mentioned everyone individually, but I have to say a huge well done to everyone involved. It is NOT easy to stage this musical in the round and I fully commend Steve & Bridget for taking on this monster musical.

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