Based on the Billy Wilder film, the musical version of Sunset Boulevard, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Christopher Hampton and Don Black, had its world premiere at London’s Adelphi Theatre on July 12th, 1993.
The show received its American premiere on 9th December 1993 at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles. The LA production starred Glenn Close (Norma Desmond), Alan Campbell (Joe Gillis), Judy Kuhn (Betty Schaefer) and George Hearn (Max von Mayerling), with Close, Campbell and Hearn going on to recreate their roles for the show’s 1994 Broadway opening at the Minskoff Theatre on 17th November 1994 – they were also joined by Alice Ripley as Betty Schaefer. That production opened with the highest advance in Broadway history at the time ($37.5 million in ticket sales).
This project features a new production of Sunset Boulevard opened at The Watermill Theatre in Newbury to fantastic reviews, with the Daily Telegraph calling it a “production of thrilling intensity.” - Photos by Robert Day
It also features images from the 2001 UK tour of Sunset Boulevard, featuring Faith Brown as Norma.