Sunset Boulevard

I would like to thank Dilys Williams and members of TADLOP for their kind invitation and hospitality extended both to the NODA National President Jacquie Stedman and to myself.

Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on Billy Wilder's Academy Award-winning 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the fabled Los Angeles street. When young screenwriter Joe Gillis accidentally crosses her path, she sees in him an opportunity to make her return to the big screen. Romance and tragedy follow.

Congratulations must go to Robin Cooper as Director, Ryan Sayce as Musical Director and Samantha Thomas the Choreographer on the overall look and presentation of the show. All the hard work put into making this production great could be seen on stage but unfortunately the overall show was affected with technical difficulties, specifically sound, sadly a common occurrence with shows held at The Place in Oakengates.

The role of Norma Desmond is a very demanding part to sing and perform but Deborah Owen’s interpretation of Norma was exemplary. The emotion that was portrayed had the audience transfixed whenever Norma was onstage. There was an issue at one point with Deborah’s microphone, however she wasn’t fazed and powered through the song with impressive projection during the technical blip.

Joe Gillis was played by Richard Kee, he acted this role well. His character acting was great and performed extremely well as a whole. His vocals however were no match in terms of quality to those of Deborah and maybe some more time with the musical director could have benefited him.

Cameron Walker played Max Von Mayerling extremely well. It’s been a pleasure watching Cameron evolve onstage over the past productions I’ve seen. This part had Cameron’s name written all over it, his genuine caring personality really came through as Norma descended into insanity. Being a bass naturally, I thought Cameron performed well especially when having to sing falsetto!

The rest of the company performed well in supporting the principles, unfortunately though there were times when sound quality meant poor audibility for the audience, made more significant due to sound mixing issues over the orchestra. I also felt that some cast members could have done with little more direction as there were times when it looked like some on stage were unsure what to do.

Regular issues from the sound deck prompt me to comment that TADLOP should work more on their projection and diction for their speaking and singing. This would ensure the mechanism is in place for future productions to overcome any sound problems should they arise. Microphones, in my opinion, should be considered a tool in which to further broadcast sound but should not be depended upon, historically actors have always used natural projection, and this is something that should be utilised in all performances.

Despite the technical issues this was probably one of the best shows that I have seen TADLOP produce. You should be extremely proud of the work and dedication you’ve all put into make Sunset Boulevard come to life on stage.

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