Stage Review - Sunset Boulevard (Showtunes Theatre Company)
Stage Review - Sunset Boulevard
Presented By: Showtunes Theatre Company - Seattle, WA
Show Run: February 3 - February 11, 2024
Date Reviewed: Saturday, February 3, 2024 (Opening Night)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
It’s funny how things work sometimes, like when you think of one particular moment in time and look back to realize that if certain other, previous, events didn’t happen, this one most definitely would not have. These kinds of events feel like they’re destined to happen, like it’s some sort of kismet when they do. Such is the case with the production of Sunset Boulevard, presented by Showtunes Theatre Company and currently onstage at the Cornish Playhouse for just two weekends before it rolls up the carpet on February 11. For this to appear on my schedule, let me go back a few months, to my review of The Canterville Ghost at Key City Public Theatre in Port Townsend. The director of the show, Allen Fitzpatrick, reached out to me after I posted the review, to make me aware of an upcoming performance of his one-man version of A Christmas Carol at Aspire Repertory Theatre. Having then added that to my calendar, before that show I ran into another familiar face, Bobbi Kotula, who recognized me from this past September’s Heilman and Haver awards, where she won for her performance in Hello Dolly. Offhandedly, Bobbi mentioned this performance of Sunset Boulevard that was coming up in February that she was going to be in and suggested I consider looking into coming out to see it. Long story short (it’s probably too late for that), I reached out, got the event on my calendar, and headed to Seattle Center on Saturday for the opening performance of the Showtunes Theatre Company’s production of Sunset Boulevard, a concert version of the Tony Award winning musical, featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the very first regional production of it in Seattle.
Concert productions can go a number of ways, ranging from simple to complex. On the simple side, a group of actors stand on stage and sing some (or all) of the songs from a musical, with no additional dialogue, set design, costumes, or live accompaniment. Sunset Boulevard skews to the more complicated, it’s really everything you need to tell the story, save for the cast being completely off book, and sets. And it’s such a good story to tell. For me, personally, anytime you can combine theatre, old Hollywood, and Andrew Lloyd Webber, it’s already a winner. And this story has all of those things. It’s the story of Norma Desmond, aging silent film actress who is one of the unlucky ones who has found it difficult to adjust to the world of the talkie. Norma has written a screenplay and wants struggling young screenwriter Joe Gillis to help her write it, so he takes up residence with her and leaves his world of destitution behind, and along with it friends Artie Green and Betty Schaefer. It’s a classic tale of co-dependency, set to the sweeping and operatic stylings of Webber, in a combination that works wonderfully.
The Showtunes production features a veritable who’s who of Seattle theatre, it’s akin to attending an all-star game, if you’re the sports going type. Billie Wildrick is an exquisite Norma Desmond, she plays the tortured diva as well as any I’ve seen. Billie’s version of “As if We Never Said Goodbye” is alone worth the price of admission. This production’s Joe Gillis is no slouch either, far from it. Matthew Kacergis is the thread that holds the story together. He’s got the most stage time, and is a delight, talented enough not just to be able to hold a candle to Billie’s Norma, but to match her stage presence and emotional range. Jeff Church is Max Von Mayerling, Norma’s long suffering butler, the one person in her life who has stood by her through her triumphs and her struggles. Jeff plays the ever supportive Max without fault, his baritone solid and ability to control a scene on full display. Rounding out what I would call the four main players here is Karin Terry as Betty Schaeffer. With the darkness that surrounds Norma and Max (it IS an Andrew Lloyd Webber play after all), and into which Joe is thrust and sinks deeper as the story progresses, the light to balance it all is squarely on the shoulders of Betty, and Karin is the breath of fresh air that Sunset Boulevard needs to succeed.
The concert production is definitely not without its complexity. Sure, each member of the cast carries a binder with the script and music in it, and uses music stands to rest that binder on, but that makes it sound a lot simpler than it is. The binders are more prop than anything else, particularly during the musical numbers, all of the emotion of the music captured, nothing lost due to those pesky glances down at the sheets, because there are none. The music stands, and the scripts themselves are carefully and purposely deployed as prop devices. It’s quite creative, and director Kelly Kitchens really has produced the closest thing to a musical that she can in this setting. Also note that this is done with a full orchestra on stage, under the direction of Nathan Young, that also helps to make this production pop. Add to this an elegant costume design from Chelsea Cook, lighting by Kevin Nash, and sound by Alex Wren, and it’s the complete package.
Beyond the leads, there’s an excellent supporting cast here, including an ensemble comprised of individuals that alone have led a number of shows in the area, but here combine to create a sound that is full and consistent, with a depth that fills the Cornish Playhouse to its rafters.
If I were to summarize the Showtunes Theatre Company’s concert production of Sunset Boulevard, I’d have to say that it’s a fabulous, engaging, and superlative presentation of one of the great Broadway musicals. It is truly an example of something that is greater than the sum of its parts, and for any fan of theatre, musical or otherwise, it is one that demands to be experienced.
Sunset Boulevard, presented by Showtunes Theatre Company, runs onstage at the Cornish Playhouse through February 11. For more information, including show dates and times and tickets, visit https://www.showtunestheatre.org/.
