Mickey Jo (0:00)

So initially, when this Broadway revival of Sunset Boulevard announced that it would be concluding its run in July of this year, I wasn't surprised and I didn't think that this was any kind of a news story because I assumed it had always been the plan for the production to be a limited run. What I have since learned is that that wasn't the plan whatsoever and it may even be the case that the show's surprised investors are asking the question that we are going to try and answer here today, which is why is a successful, buzzy and much talked about production closing? Ok. Oh my God. Hey. Welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to you if you're listening on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. I am a professional theatre critic and content creator here on social media as well as a theatrical pundit. I'm based in the uk but I visit New York multiple times a year to go and see as many Broadway shows as possible. And today we're going to be talking about a production which began its life here in the West End at the Savoy Theatre before transferring Stateside, heading to the St James Theatre on Broadway where it continues to play. I am talking about the Jamie Jamie Lloyd directed revival of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard. And honestly, if you haven't heard about this production until now, I don't know where you have been. This was a huge hit in the West End. It swept the Olivier Awards winning awards for best revival of a musical for Jamie Lloyd, for best director for both of its stars, Nicole Scherzinger and Tom Francis. She, a former pop star returning to the stage with this celebrated, powerful performance. He a rising star who had done a couple of other shows before but is really being thrust into the limelight with this. This production in particular made significant waves in the theater world for being a very bold and slightly divisive interpretation of the material that does away with its traditional opulent aesthetic. There are no swimming pools, there are no cars as you expect to see them. There is no staircase, there's no turban, There is no monkey as you expect to see it. Instead we have anachronistic contemporary black and white costuming and a mostly bare stage except for one large screen onto which is relayed video footage from multiple cameras which are carried around by camera operators who are part of the and I won't tell you any more for fear of spoiling the production. For those of you who haven't yet seen it, if you haven't seen it yet at the St James Theatre and you have the capacity to do so. Go and see Sunset Boulevard on Broadway, if only to be part of the conversation. And much of the conversation, it's worth saying, has been very exciting around the production. The conversation quickly turned to the Tony Awards. Is Sunset going to beat Gypsy? Is Nicole going to beat Audra? And with all of this buzz and with all of this enthusiasm, the last thing anyone expected was for the show to announce that it was going to be finishing prior to the Tonys happening. As I alluded to at the beginning, it seems this announcement has come as a surprise not only to the Broadway community, but to the show's investors, even, who are presumably anticipating being able to reap the financial benefits of this successful production for much longer, especially if it were to win at the Tonys. And sure enough, I think there is an alternate reality in which Sunset Boulevard could continue to play quite successfully on Broadway. But that is not the future that we are going to see. There are a handful of reasons why we're going to talk about them today. In the meantime, I would love to know your thoughts. As always, if you have seen Sunset Boulevard already on Broadway, let us know what you think in the comments. And let us know if you would like to share any insights about why you think it might be closing earlier than originally planned on Broadway. Especially if there are any factors that I neglect to mention. If you enjoy this and you want to stay up to date with all of the theatre happenings both in the West End and on Broadway, make sure you are subscribed to my theatre themed YouTube channel or following me on podcast platforms. For now though, let's talk about it. Sunset Boulevard closing earlier on Broadway than Anticip now, when I say closing earlier than anticipated, what exactly did the powers that be anticipate? When I say the powers that be, I mean the real top of this pyramid. I mean producers. I mean Michael Harrison, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jamie Lloyd, who is not only a creative on the show, but is also a producer by way of the Jamie Lloyd Company. And so who is in multiple senses, both creatively and financially, a really strong force behind this production. What was their plan when they brought the show to Broadway? Because the reason I wasn't initially surprised by this announcement is the show's run in London was really very limited. In fact, it ran for just under three and a half months between September 21, 2023 and January 6, 2024. The Broadway production, meanwhile, then began previews on September 28 of 2024 and has announced that it will be closing on July 13, 2025. But prior to that announcement, the show had already been on sale through July 6, so it was already slated to run for around 10 months, way longer than the London engagement. And there's an interesting quirk of Broadway relative to the West End, where few mounted as limited runs or at least framed as limited runs. You see it more often in the world of plays, but particularly with musical revivals. There does seem to be this tendency, and there's a reason for this, and I will get to it, for shows to commence visibly open ended runs and then announce at some stage whether or not they were planning to close, whether it was going to be limited, or whether they would attempt to recast and extend beyond the contracts of the original performers or for those performers to remain and extend their contracts. One reason for this could be that everything is so much more expensive to produce on Broadway than it is in London. So a limited run in London is inherently more profitable. It is possible to recoup your investment on a limited run in the West End, but on Broadway the show has to endure for so much longer to make the money back for the investors, for the producers. And if it is making profit, then why would you want to close it? Why would you want to I was going to say slap a gift horse in the face, but I don't believe that's the accurate metaphor. That is, however, it seems what is happening here, because while it would seem that this is just a revelation of Sunset Boulevard's plans the whole time, that it was always going to be a limited run, it is the contention of those close to the production that that was never communicated thoroughly to everyone involved and that there was always the plan from quite early on in the Broadway process at least, to look into the possibilities of recasting, which you would have to assume would be feasible given that the production has welcomed other high profile performers to share the role of Norma Desmond with a high profile alternate doing one performance a week alongside Nicole Scherzinger, both in London and on Broadway. The wording of this being a guest artist with Rachel Tucker having been the one to do it in London and Mandy Gonzalez still doing it in New York, if that in fact was pursued. However, it seems not to have made a difference because the production is going to close with Nicole Scherzinger in the role, which would seem to be a detrimental choice for multiple reasons that we'll get to first, let's talk about why this might be happening and based on what I'm hearing and if we take everything that I am hearing in good faith and we don't read into anything else here, there has been a sentiment that it was too difficult to recast Nicole, that there was no one else that they could find who would bring the same kind of thrill and electricity to the theater. And fair enough, having seen Rachel Tucker in the role, she did a fantastic job. But it did feel very much like she was performing a track that had created Bespoke for someone else, because it was. Because that's how Jamie Lloyd operates creatively. He shapes these roles and these productions around the talent that he has. It was designed explicitly for Nicole Scherzinger's fascinating and varied talents. And so anyone else trying to replicate it isn't going to be able to perform it with the same level of exuberance. They might be able to sing the score, but they're doing it in her keys. They might be able to deliver the physicality of it, but can they do the same sliding down into the splits? They're not going to do the cat doll's choreography, because that doesn't make sense. A lot of how the show works also spoofs Nicole's own status of celebrity as a parallel with that of Norma Desmond, the character that she is portraying. And so I get it that it would be challenging to recast Nicole at the same time. There have been so many conversations I've said on here multiple times. People have been saying to each other at cocktail bars in New York, and by people, I mean homosexual men, that, oh, I'd love to see this person do the Nicole Sunset. Oh, she could do the Nicole. Oh, they could put her in after Nicole. Oh, she. She'd be Tuesday night for Sunset Boulevard. There are so many divas, and a lot of it is because of Wicked. Listen, because there were all of these powerhouse Belters, strong performers, strong women who did that show, who played Elphaba, who are now a little older, who are now in the age bracket as Mandy Gonzalez, as a former Elphaba, is as Caroline Bowman, who was also a standby in that production to play Norma Desmond in this. Or you go in a completely different direction and you bring in someone who is completely thrilling in a different way. Someone like a Heather Headley, someone like a Sherry Renee Scott, I think would be sensational in this, who recently made a return after many years to the world of New York musical theatre with the performance as Audrey off Broadway in Little Shop of Horrors. I have a long list of people who could play Norma Desmond, and they don't all necessarily have the same kind of starred status and name recognition beyond the production. But you know, if it were to do well at the Tony Awards, then it would have a little bit of its own reputation, just like oh Mary and you could put other people into it and the show would carry itself to a certain extent. Oh Mary is an interesting example here because I mean, even when they transferred to Broadway, I don't know if there was the sense that it would be able to carry on without writer and then star Carla Scola, who is going to be returning to the show a little later. But in the meantime they are bringing in different high profile replacements. Betty Gilpin is currently playing the role with Titus Burgess set to take over very soon. This is certainly not something that would be beyond the realms of possibility for a Sunset Boulevard. So then you have to ask the question, was it really that impossible for them to someone. And by all accounts we've seen with the casting of Evita and the long process that that has been with Ariana DeBose being attached to the production or being in talks for it at least, and then pulling away from it, and then Rachel Zegler finally being announced sort of at the 11th hour with the show set to begin preview performances in around three months time, that being another Michael Harrison produced, Andrew Lloyd Weber written and Jamie Lloyd directed production that's going to take place in the West End that people are suspecting might then transfer to Broadway just like Sunset did. That production has showed us in any case it can hard to find a leading lady. But Evita is a much more specific role and it sort of feels as though they also wanted to pursue casting that was culturally authentic as well, which matters a little less with Norma Desmond, a role which has historically been played by the likes of Patti LuPone, Glenn Close and Diane Carroll. So, you know, breadth. And if you were to ask me if I thought there were any other reasons why Sunset might not be pursuing recasting and an extension, maybe it would be the fact that Jamie Lloyd is set to be so busy with a significant number of upcoming productions, not just Evita in the West End, but also another Broadway project with Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in a production of Waiting for Godot. Again spoofing their own celebrity with their previous performance alongside each other in the Bill and Ted films. He's just come off the back of directing two different back to back Shakespearean productions in London. Much Ado About Nothing is still running. There is talks of that transferring to Broadway and rumors are still swirling about other productions that he may be attached to. Are we going to see a Jamie Lloyd ragtime? Is there other stuff that he has in development? He is very, very busy and it would seem as though potentially this is part of the reason why he may not have the time to prolong Sunset Boulevard's New York life, especially with him being as hands on and involved as he is. I don't believe that when Cabaret recast their leads, which they do very often, that Rebecca Frecknell, the show's original director for this revival production, is always working with them directly. You know, there would be resident directors and associate directors and assistant directors. But it wouldn't surprise me if Jamie Lloyd's slightly more unique creator native approach sort of precluded him from being open to the idea of other directors rehearsing other performers into his shows without his involvement. That, of course, is just wild speculation. Here is something that isn't so I will let you know that I have heard from multiple anonymous sources close to the production that there was a surprise that this announcement was made, that the show's investors were anticipating it being able to go on very successfully and that the lead producers have attempted to frame this as the inevitability of what was always going to be a limited run and what was always advertised as a limited run, except for the fact that it wasn't. And as we said, West End and Broadway limited runs work a little differently. But there was certainly no wording around the time of this going on sale in New York of it being announced that this was going to be strictly limited. And so their assertion is that the reason behind this closing date is that that is as long as Nicole Scherzinger is willing to extend her contract and that she is the only star capable of leading the production, they're just going to have to close without her. Amidst what I admittedly very high running costs, this particular decision does not stand them whatsoever in good stead because, and I don't know how many of you know this, a remarkable percentage, a very high percentage of the Tony Awards voters are comprised of representatives from regional theaters across the US who have a vested interest in the success of productions which will go on to subsequently tour. It is easier for them to promote, to sell and benefit from shows coming to their theaters that have on their advertising. The Tony Award winning new musical, the Tony Award winning revival parade currently touring around the US Kimberly Akimbo, a recent best new musical currently touring around the U.S. this doesn't mean that it is the only thing swaying these decisions every single year. It does make a difference. However, we've seen that before. The Tony Awards aren't purely about which show do we think is objectively the best. It has to do with a campaign. It has to do with a narrative and a storyline that often impacts wins for performers. And when it comes to productions, the likelihood of subsequently touring is a huge part of it. Now, in general, we see revivals, musical revivals, touring far less frequently than new musicals. But something that definitely isn't going to be playing regional houses around the US Is Sunset Boulevard with that giant screen with the thing that happens at the top of Act 2. Can you imagine, much as I know a lot of people would love to see it playing a limited season somewhere on the west coast for the novelty of finally doing Sunset Boulevard in proximity to Sunset Boulevard. They're not on Sunset Boulevard because those who know the area better than I do have told me that that really wouldn't work anywhere. This would seem to suggest, based on the terminating availability of Nicole Scherzinger, that that is not going to happen, at least not with her. And per the producer's affirmations, it can't happen without her. So then you look at this production as a Tony Awards voter and you question what the benefits are of its success at that ceremony. If Nicole wins best actress in a musical, she's there for another month after the Tonys and then it's all shutting down. If the production wins best revival, revival, same story. As an alternative to that, there are wins for other actresses for other productions which would bolster them, which would give them months of further success and do great business for Broadway, and then possibly that would go on to do great business regionally as well. The Tonys are, as well as this recognition of excellence, a huge marketing tool, one which Sunset, as a result of this decision, scarcely stands to benefit from. And ultimately this is just one show. And Broadway will keep on turning. The Kristin Chenoweth led Queen of Versailles has already been announced as the next tenant for the St. James Theater that will be arriving in the fall. But this being a very uncertain business, there is no guarantee that that will catch on in the same way that Sunset Boulevard did. We are seeing many shows currently and recently struggling to really live up to their potential, struggling to find an audience, struggling to run. And so for something that has really become part of the Broadway zeit Zategist, and so part of the conversation like Sunset Boulevard has, it does seem like a puzzling choice not to try and allow the production to continue. It makes me wonder if any similar conversations were being had behind the scenes at Merrily We Roll along, last season's Tony Award winning revival, because that is not a show that we get to see often on Broadway. That was a really celebrated production of what has traditionally been considered flawed and troubled material and there are so many brilliant performers I would have loved to see in those roles. You could have put Andrew Gar into that show. You could have put Bonnie Milligan into that show. And similarly with Sunset, there are huge stars who could do this, who would do this. From a financial perspective, I am given to understand that there was a projected 40 week recoupment and so by the end of what will have been the show's run, it will have recouped its investment, which is good news for investors. But it also indicates that if the show were to continue playing, they would only make more money thereafter. It is also my belief that Nicole Scherzinger is going to perform all eight performances in that final week. But don't quote me on that when you are buying your tickets. In fact, it might be better if you don't quote me on any of this. I am, however, deeply curious as always, to hear what all of you think about Sunset Boulevard closing on Broadway. Are you going to miss this production? Do you think it's a shame not to see it with other stars in the leading role rotating, like Cabaret, like O Mary? Especially because this production has seen a far more diverse lineup of women already in this role than traditional stagings of the show had done? Or do you think that there is something a little more artistically authentic about mounting the show simply with the initially planned cast and then concluding it at the end of a successful run? Let me know all of your thoughts in the comments section down below. For now, that is everything that I have heard about Sunset Boulevard's early closure. That is everything that I have to say about it. This has been a production which, since it first arrived at the Savoy Theatre in the West End, has been creating a lot of conversation. I have had so much to say online about it and I dare say that will continue as we head towards the Tony Awards. In the meantime, thank you for listening to this. I hope that you have enjoyed. Make sure you're subscribed right here on YouTube or following on podcast platforms to stay up to date with everything happening in the West End and on Broadway, including just occasionally, some exclusive stories like this one. Until next time, I hope that you are staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.