REVIEW | Sunset Boulevard in Concert - at Home, Curve Theatre
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| Photo Credit: Marc Brenner |
Sunset Boulevard in Concert – at Home.
Curve Theatre, Leicester
★★★★★
It’s been 292 days (and counting) since I was last in the Curve and what a treat to enjoy a taste of theatre again from them with Sunset Boulevard in Concert. In a matter of weeks, Nikoali Foster has not only transformed the performance space, but the production itself, resulting in a thrilling experience of stage and film coming together perfectly.
The stage was set for a new season of work, adhering to social distancing, combining it’s 900-seat and 400-seat auditoria to become a spectacular 1300-seat, in-the-round single place. At the centre is a revolving stage, kindly donated by Cameron Mackintosh. It really adds greater depth and a intimate feeling to the Curve, its a massive shame it can’t be experienced by live audiences for now. What is great is that although the lack of audience creates a void, this production of Sunset Boulevard fills it to the brim. It has opened up so many more creative opportunities for artistic and visual expression that allows the Curve to hit new heights.
The theatre itself becomes a diverse canvas of different places, each illuminating the gorgeous space the Curve possesses. It was an emotional moment for those audience members desperate to take their seats in this auditorium once again.
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| Photo Credit: Marc Brenner |
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| Photo Credit: Marc Brenner |
Curve’s concert style production of Sunset Boulevard doesn’t have the set which hugely helps with the storytelling aspect of the musical. This concert relies heavily on its lighting, choreography music and costumes to do that. It doesn’t fall short at all, delivering a sublime production to the nail. A spectacular job from the creative team; Colin Richmond‘s costumes, Ben Cracknell‘s attention to detail in his lighting design plays a huge part and choreography by Lee Proud. The film shows spectacular eye-catching perspectives, gaining us new experiences on the intensity of this story and how the characters each play their part. You are immediately thrust into the action and this way of storytelling made it easy to digest.
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| Photo Credit: Marc Brenner |
The music, supervised by Stephen Brooker thunders through the vast space of Curve’s auditorium. It’s the largest to accompany a musical in the UK this year and it gave me a new found appreciation for delivering such an iconic score. All of the songs leave you with goosebumps, especially Sunset Boulevard and As If We Never Said Goodbye.
Read more: Review | Sunset Boulevard, Curve Theatre (2017)
For the concert, it reunites their company from the successful 2017 production. All of the cast fall back into the shoes of their characters with ease, particularly Danny Mac and Ria Jones who lead the pack. Ria Jones is nothing short of incredible as Norma Desmond; she delivers true passion through every heartbeat in her performance that makes her so iconic within this role. Danny Mac seems to take to his role as writer Joe Gillis with complete ease, especially as his growth in ambition increases through the show.
Collectively the cast are really quite something with this production.
Curve Theatre allowed me to appreciate this production in a completely fresh way, it radiates creativity, flare and brilliance. In a time where hope for theatres feels almost lost, Curve demonstrate that the show can definitely go on.
Sunset Boulevard in Concert – At Home plays online until Saturday 9th January 2021.