FENN'S IN MEDIA'S RACE

SUNSET BOULEVARD
by JOHN FENN

A deliciously, sumptuous unattractive deeply sinister musical, with the same impact as the original production of The Beggar's Opera must have enjoyed. The latter was the first representation of thieves, highwaymen, prostitutes and fences as the principal characters in a stage piece ... a cynicism and irony that attracted Bertoldt Brecht to create The Threepenny Opera. Sunset Boulevard has much the same effect.

The music and lyrics are totally appropriate to the dark theme, but, possibly as a result, seem less than memorable. In short, you go out whistling the dramaturgy. We love it that the boy doesn't get the girl ... and welcome certain other sinister final surprises (assuming you, like me, hadn't seen the movie).

The piece therefore, ends up being a truly dark counterpoint to the Fred and Ginger world of the Hollywood false mask it intends to remove.

Each song, each musical number, advances the plot, peeling away an ever darker world which we have been conditioned to view in such different light.

I saw the road company with Linda Balgord who was truly remarkable, almost completely unappealing, although perhaps a trifle overstated - even for a role which is about an overstated character. As a result she delivered an almost Kabuki interpretation, as age and her neurosis, in its most horrific manifestations, conquered the character completely. Her final scene reminded me of Blanche Dubois' final exit in Streetcar.

The setting ... really a character in itself, reached a remarkable peak when it hung as a sinister reality over the New Year's party of young Hollywood hopefuls who were, in their lives, so totally oppressed by the very images it represented.

Ed Dixon (Max von Mayerling) was perfect as Norma's protector ... shoring up her illusion and singing one of the most lovely pieces in the evening.

The one warm moment, aside from the somewhat uniquely crafted obligatory ingenue love scene, was when Norma returns to the studio and is welcomed by a few old friends and sings about the madness on a studio set in the mornings. She seems to get passed her ego needs for a bit as she revels in the feeling of a film community on a shoot.

Somehow, they were always characters who interested me ... not that I ever liked them, but they all had deep, unresolved tensions, drives and desperation which made them always compelling ... and for a musical, quite real.

PS Saw the original film which the show duplicated almost completely. 90% of the dialogue was a direct quote and the scene structure virtually totally Billy Wilder. No problem, the music generated beautifully from this dramaturgy and provided some exciting expansions. Notably, the return to the studio mentioned above, and some neat chorus numbers of struggling studio hopefuls.