Sunset Boulevard
Closed 2h 40m
Sunset Boulevard
84

Sunset Boulevard NYC Reviews and Tickets

84%
(1050 Ratings)
Positive
91%
Mixed
7%
Negative
2%
Members say
Great acting, Entertaining, Great singing, Absorbing, Must see

About the Show

Three-time Tony Award-winner Glenn Close returns to Broadway in her most iconic role, Norma Desmond, in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony-winning musical. 

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Show-Score Member Reviews (1,050)

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52 Reviews | 18 Followers
95
Great acting, Great singing, Great staging, Epic, Entertaining

See it if You want to see a mature Glen Close bring Brilliance to Norma. And a symphonic on stage 40 piece orchestra makes the Webber score magical.

Don't see it if You can't forget the original set was breathetaking. Or you don't wanna see old fashion Hollywood on old fashioned Broadway!!!

61 Reviews | 7 Followers
95
Entertaining, Exquisite, Great acting, Great singing, Great staging

See it if you like a beautiful score, wonderful singing and performances, and a chance to see a real diva (in a good way) walk away with a show.

Don't see it if if you don't like Andrew Loyd Weber's music, but even if you don't, see this one.

206 Reviews | 42 Followers
95
Absorbing, Great acting, Great singing, Must see

See it if you want to see Glenn Close give an epic performance, you want to hear a large orchestra on stage, you like mostly sung-thru shows

Don't see it if you don't like sung-thru shows, you don't like Lloyd Webber music, you prefer smaller cast shows with few large production values Read more

108 Reviews | 34 Followers
95
Exquisite, Great acting, Great staging, Must see, Epic

See it if you like a good story, brilliant performances, and a fantastic score. Glenn Close giving the performance of a lifetime. Unforgettable

Don't see it if you don't appreciate top-notch musical theater.

201 Reviews | 21 Followers
95
Absorbing, Must see, Great acting, Masterful, Riveting

See it if You loved the movie Sunset Boulevard, or you're a Glenn Close fan

Don't see it if You're offended by profanity and sexual innuendo

98 Reviews | 38 Followers
95
Absorbing, Exquisite, Great acting, Great staging, Must see

See it if You ant to see Glenn Close give the performance of a life time. The onstage orchestra is amazing.

Don't see it if You are not a fan of the movie or Andrew Lloyd Webber.

172 Reviews | 31 Followers
95
Great acting, Great singing, Great staging, Great writing, Masterful

See it if Glen Close.

Don't see it if There is absolutely no reason. This kind of opportunity doesn't happen often.

70 Reviews | 34 Followers
95
Great acting, Exquisite, Dated, Intense, Absorbing

See it if you are a fan of the movie/show, love Glenn Close as Norma Desmond and appreciate her intensity w/this character. She was truly spectacular.

Don't see it if you don't like unhappy endings,mental breakdowns, awkward moments, ensemble numbers that don't drive the plot and don't like the movie/story

Critic Reviews (74)

Wolf Entertainment Guide
February 19th, 2017

"Close is sensational in the role on many counts and deserves every bit of the prolonged ovations she is getting...Lonny Price as director knows exactly how to showcase her...The strong, pulsating score adds intensity, but I have to say that I find the sing-song rhythm and tonality of dialogue in various recitative passages annoying. But that is a quibble. This is a hugely entertaining musical and a chance to enjoy the artistry of Glenn Close at the height of her stage power."
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W
February 20th, 2017

"Both music and lyrics here are pedestrian...A good singer and actor (not to mention eye candy), Xavier is made to sympathize with Gillis’s benefactor to such a degree, we lose the repulsion and self loathing, mercenary attitude prevalent in the original...The role of proud, desperate, unbalanced Norma is less camp than frequent embodiment in Glenn Close’s well practiced hands...Though vocals can be thin or off key, the performer never loses focus or verisimilitude."
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Theater In The Now
February 21st, 2017

"The staging by Lonny Price is sensational...Price and his team insured that the brilliant orchestra was a centerpiece of this production...Close gives a master class in performance as the maddened fading star. Mystifying is an understatement...It's easy to get lost with everything that this production brings but Michael Xavier was an incredible leading man...Between Glenn Close and the breathtaking orchestra, you'll never want to say goodbye to this perfect production."
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Broadway & Me
February 22nd, 2017

"Its sound is certainly robust. Maybe too much so. It could be that my ears just aren't used to such a full sound. Or it could be that Lloyd-Webber's score isn't weighty enough to support an orchestra of that size...Close certainly throws herself into the role...Her singing isn't always on key but that lends an extra poignancy to the character...But, like Norma, Close eats up nearly all the oxygen in the room...It can be hard to resist viewing 'Sunset Boulevard' as high camp."
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Newsday
February 9th, 2017

"There is something fitting, even satisfying about this less elaborate, modest incarnation...Close is just as daring but less campy and even more touching as the aging movie queen...Almost as important is the casting of Xavier, the first Joe I’ve seen to capture William Holden’s attractive, increasingly corrupted nonchalance of Norma’s boy toy...The show is a limited edition selling paste and glitter as treasures. As long as we know what we’re getting, however, costume jewelry can be fun."
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NY Theatre Guide
February 19th, 2017

"The material, it turns out, is pretty sturdy. And with a more seasoned Glenn Close bringing new nuance to her interpretation of Norma, it offers ample spectacle of a different kind: the spectacle of unhinged megalomania and vanity. Better yet, it offers the biggest orchestra on Broadway...Lloyd Webber really did himself proud with this one...Close plays these big moments, and all of Norma’s many others, with an intelligence and imagination rare among divas."
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Daily Beast
February 17th, 2017

"Close’s performance is, of course, goosebump-enducing and electric...All the surrounding ballast of singing and dancing in the show—the songs about Hollywood and its venal, sanity-shredding ways—is a slickly executed pleasure to watch...But these moments do not feature Glenn Close, and therefore, brutally, feel a little redundant. Any moment without Close on stage starts to feel like a frothy musical about those ye-gads crazy kids trying to make it in Hollywood."
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This Week in New York
February 20th, 2017

“While it’s lovely to hear and see such a grand orchestra, the audience is constantly looking around to find where the actors are, and the orchestrations and arrangements are so mundane that a smaller band might have sufficed…Close is fine as Norma but sometimes gets caught between playing it serious and camping it up…The ghost of the classic film hovers over the proceedings onstage, hoping the musical will get better, but except for too few shining moments, it never does.”
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