Skip to main content

Sunset Boulevard @ London Coliseum

tumblr_inline_o64mmndaJu1rgiv1h_500It isn’t often that you can sit in the theatre and be certain, before the show begins, that you are about to bear witness to something special that will be talked about by theatre fans for years to come!
I’ll be honest, when I heard a few days ago that Glenn Close was going to miss a performance this week I suspected she would be absent for the Saturday matinee I was to attend. It was a little frustrating – we might not have rushed for tickets without Close’s name attached – but nonetheless I was intrigued to head along as the cast was very good even without Glenn and I’d heard good things. Of course we have one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best scores (equalled, in my eyes, only by Phantom) and a cracking story.,.. but it’s nothing without the right performers!
Then Ria Jones donned the turban & sunglasses and the West End went wild. Secretly I was hoping to see Ria myself and was elated when posters around the Coliseum proclaimed she would once again be performing her Norma Desmond.

Ria Jones dazzles as Norma Desmond (photo courtesy of Kevin Wilson)
Ria Jones dazzles as Norma Desmond (photo courtesy of Kevin Wilson)

Prior to the show starting one of the production team stepped out onstage to apologise for Close’s absence but pointed out that Jones had performed the previous two nights to great acclaim and a rousing cheer swept through the audience (barring one curmudgeonly heckler demanding a refund). Throughout the afternoon Jones, a diminutive figure with a big powerful voice, surprised me. She stalked the stage, eyes wide, but her love for Joe was totally believable even among her larger-than-life characteristics. Of course when your first number is With One Look you have a bit of an advantage, but by the time we’re treated to As If We Never Said Goodbye I’m not ashamed to say I was tearing up…. Magnificent!
Before today I knew she was good but by the time I left the theatre I was sure of one thing… Ria Jones is a star!
But let’s not dwell just on Jones. The cast here is a very strong one throughout. Michael Xavier is an excellent Joe Gillis, charming and charismatic. He gets his own cheer at the opening of Act Two when he emerges from the orchestra pit clad only in skimpy blue swimming trunks, most of the ladies (and a good number of the men) in the audience swooned noticeably.
I didn’t know much about Fred Johanson before going into the show but his reverberating bass vocal and haunting presence made Max a scary, but sympathetic figure. Siobhan Dillon makes for a perky but worldy-wise Betty Schaefer too.
There are some great performances in smaller roles here as well, Haydn Oakley makes the normally sad-sack Artie an interesting character and Julian Forsyth is perfect as an aging but still authoritative Cecil B DeMille.
The English National Opera orchestra play a huge part in making this such a special production too, a character in their own right they occupy centre stage as the cast perform in front and above them on criss-crossing gantries and staircases. Lonny Price makes the most of his set and has some nice directorial touches, notably in the car chases and the stalking manner in which Norma patrols the stage. A special nod too to Stephen Mear whose choreography is, once again, wonderful. He makes the most of a sometimes too-tight stage and the funnier numbers (The Lady’s Paying, A Little Suffering) simply dazzle!
If you grabbed tickets to see this, whether with Close or (if you’re really lucky) you are surely in for a rare treat. I just feel sorry for the few who have decided not to attend in Glenn Close’s absence…they’ll never know what they’ve missed!

5 star

Huge thanks to Kevin Wilson (http://www.kevinwilsonpublicrelations.co.uk/) for the use of his photos. Check him out on twitter: @KevinWilsonPR

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"I'm just focused on getting that third trophy and enjoying the rest of my time with the guys here." David Goodwin on preparing for Playoff Finals Weekend

photo courtesy of William Cherry, Press Eye It’s EIHL playoff final weekend! After eight months of toil, four teams will face off for the chance to lift the last silverware of the season. First up Belfast Giants take on Cardiff Devils so I caught up with David Goodwin to see how the team are feeling after a battle against Dundee Stars and how ready they are for the games ahead. It was, I suggest, an intense weekend for the team. “Yeah, I mean it was. It always is. The quarterfinals… you never know what you're going to get.” Goodwin replies. “On one hand, you have us, the Giants, who are coming off a league title win, so we're on a high. But then you got Dundee, who don't want to go away quietly. They were fighting and scratching and clawing for every inch and it lead to two feisty games. “I give Dundee a lot of credit. They threw everything they had at us. But ultimately, I think our consistent play, maybe some of our higher skill was able to shine through and get the...

"If it was easy everybody would do it. That’s the best part about this, it’s hard!" Jeff Baum on Belfast Giants record-setting seventh league title

  Last weekend the Belfast Giants etched their names, once again, in the EIHL history books with a record-setting seventh league title. A dramatic win for the men in teal, away in Nottingham in the final minutes of the season, was a fitting end to a spectacular season and though there are still play off games to contend with, the club have made sure to celebrate their success. We caught up with Jeff Baum to see just how much fun was had and to hear about how he keeps focused for the games still to come. “It’s a very unique situation to win a trophy and still have - hopefully - four more games to keep playing. It’s a great honour to have finished out the league season the way we wanted to and to be able to celebrate that together…. That sigh of relief that we’ve been able to accomplish a goal we set ourselves at the beginning of the season. That’s two goals checked off, from the three we set ourselves at the beginning of every season. Now it’s time to reset our mindset, get back ...

"Certain games you look to, maybe against like the likes of Cardiff or Sheffield or Nottingham" - Josh Roach looks to the season ahead for the Belfast Giants

With player announcements in full flow, CHL fixtures next month and the Elite League season hot on its heels what better time to get back to chatting with players on what they are up to and their thoughts on the season ahead. Fresh off announcing his return to the  Belfast Giants we caught up with Josh Roach . “We're starting to get close to that pre-pre-season time, so I’m enjoying a little bit more relaxing before we get back into it… it won't be long.” Roach tells us, before sharing how he has spent his summer. “I was home for a quick visit right at the end of the season and then we went on a little holiday, but other than that I've just been on the island. It's kind of nice to have some downtime in Belfast and explore around here a bit more.” “You don't really get the opportunity many times to stay for summer in the place you play, so you get comfortable. This is year five for me, so it is really is like a second home and honestly, it feels more weird t...