SUNSET BOULEVARD
SUNSET BOULEVARD
PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE, 2019
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Book & Lyrics by Don Black & Christopher Hampton
Based on the film by Billy Wilder
Direction by Michael Weber
Choreography by Shanna Vanderwerker
Music Direction by Aaron Benham
“TRANSFIXING…COME WATCH HER FLY”
“I have seen many great actresses play the central role of the washed-up silent-movie star, dreaming of an epic return without realizing the world has changed: Patti LuPone, Linda Balgord, Glenn Close, Petula Clark, Paula Scrofano. Resnik dives the deepest of any of them into Norma’s specific mental pain. Her withered, demented diva is as vulnerable as she can be, and the part is, as always, exquisitely well sung.”
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
“FILLED WITH MARVELOUS PERFORMANCES!”
“Director Michael Weber’s take on the iconic stage musical is filled with marvelous performances. Weber’s detailed direction vividly captures clashing visions of Hollywood.”
Catey Sullivan, Chicago Sun-Times
“A GRAND-SCALE, YET WINNINGLY INTIMATE PRODUCTION”
“Chicago’s formidable Porchlight Music Theatre opened its 25th anniversary season with a grand-scale, yet winningly intimate production of ‘Sunset Boulevard’ that deftly incorporates the story’s cinematic and theatrical elements, and taps into both its wildly melodramatic moments and its aching realism. And director Michael Weber has gathered an A-list cast led by Hollis Resnik as Norma.”
Hedy Weiss, WTTW
“Weber’s creative talent shared the spotlight with the cast of his latest production, a fresh and new and inventive run.”
Philip Potempa, Post-Tribune
“As the silent film era star Norma Desmond, Hollis Resnik fuses madness, elegance and heartbreak. Porchlight’s artistic director Michael Weber stages the explosive May-December relationship between Norma and Joe with compact excitement. Together with a uniformly strong cast, the Chicago director and actress sync their talents to build the show’s narrative of illusion and loss. Resnik’s mature vocal power and the fine ensemble that surrounds her makes it a moving night of theater.”
Susan Lieberman, PictureThisPost