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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, PLEASE

CRITICS HERALD BROADWAY’S NEWEST LANDMARK HIT

JAMIE LLOYD’S
NEW PRODUCTION OF
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S
“SUNSET BLVD.” 

STARRING
OLIVIER AWARD WINNER
NICOLE SCHERZINGER 

“NICOLE SCHERZINGER SIZZLES IN ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S BEST SCORE”
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“JAMIE LLOYD’S DAZZLING SOLAR FLARE OF A PRODUCTION”
NEW YORK MAGAZINE

“A SCORCHING AND BRILLIANT REVIVAL”
NEW YORK POST

“SCHERZINGER GIVES A CAREER DEFINING PERFORMANCE”
PEOPLE MAGAZINE

“THE PERFORMANCE OF A LIFETIME IN A STAGGERING PRODUCTION”
THEATERMANIA

“AN EARTH SHAKING, VOLCANIC TALENT”
USA TODAY

“A BOLD, THRILL RIDE OF A PRODUCTION”
VARIETY

“SCHERZINGER IS A BONA FIDE MUSICAL THEATER PHENOMENON”
WALL STREET JOURNAL

“SHE IS AN ASTONISHING FORCE  OF NATURE”
WASHINGTON POST

New York, NY (October 22, 2024) – On Monday, critics lauded the season’s newest must-see smash: two-time Tony Award^® nominee and multiple Olivier Award^®-winning director Jamie Lloyd’s new Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Blvd. starring Olivier Award winner and Grammy Award^® nominee Nicole Scherzinger as ‘Norma Desmond,’ with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton now playing at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44^th Street).

Below is a sampling of what critics are raving about:

“There’s no more gilded cage for Norma in director Jamie Lloyd’s red-hot revival, not with a devastating Nicole Scherzinger sizzling as a Norma morphed from deranged diva to sexy beast in this throbbing Broadway revival.

I think the brilliance of Lloyd’s revival, aside from the silky-sensual choreography from Fabian Aloise and blistering lighting design by Jack Knowles’ that lights Scherzinger with spectacular effect, is how it pushes the emphasis away from the eccentricity of the star, and towards the cruelty of the Hollywood system that used her up and spat her out.

Scherzinger roars through the power ballads “With One Look” and “As if We Never Said Goodbye,” both of which are immaculately sung and clearly the result of a level of detailed lyrical and physical preparation that you don’t see much with this kind of fearlessness.

Sunset Blvd. is my favorite Lloyd Webber show and his best score. This production features a big orchestra, led by music director Alan Williams. Ergo, a delicious contrast: Director Lloyd’s minimalist but intensified physical urges (and his sense of humor) are bundled with a maximalist score that still feels like it came out of the golden age of Hollywood.”

– Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

“Jamie Lloyd’s remarkable production of Sunset Blvd. is a solar flare that dazzles. Scherzinger’s ravenous performance provides a great part of the adrenaline, but the show is also jolted into new life by the collision of Lloyd and Andrew Lloyd Webber.  

Lloyd and his collaborators, the set and costumes designer Soutra Gilmour, and the lighting designer Jack Knowles and video designers Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, craft a spare, echoing dungeon, girded by towers of LEDs. Inside Gilmour’s vast, deceptively empty box, Knowles, Amzi, and Ransom’s incredible work is, in and of itself, a liquid, high-octane form of scenery. They leave everything lavish and luscious to the orchestra, themselves playing in high contrast to the music’s saturated hues, and splashy, knowing lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.

With no armor to depend on, Scherzinger’s Norma is gargantuan and almost feral. She’s so big that she seems to be ripping her own seams. But she’s also got a surprisingly funny sense of humor that is tinged with sadness. She can also do thrilling things with her voice. She simply devours the songs, ricocheting between vulnerable tremblings and voracious howls.

The jaded screenwriter Joe Gillis whom Desmond turns into her kept boy is wonderfully sung and played with a compelling veneer of masculine numbness by Tom Francis while David Thaxton is fantastic in the part of Max, Norma’s manservant and eternal enabler, giving it real ache and agony.”

– Sara Holdren, New York Magazine

“Sunset Blvd. is Broadway’s most exhilarating show in years.

So much energy, freshness and unrelenting intensity courses through the veins of director Jamie Lloyd’s startling production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical from beginning to end, you’d swear it was brand new. And adrenaline pumps through our bloodstream anytime the extraordinary Nicole Scherzinger, making her wondrous Broadway debut, wails a note. The audience all but levitates.”

– Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

“Sunset Blvd. is already shaping up to be hit. And for good reason: Scherzinger and her earthshaking talent are every bit as stunning and volcanic as you’ve heard. Norma’s descent into mania is a wonder to behold and quietly devastating in Scherzinger’s hands. She delivers Norma’s signature ballads with breathtaking power and bravura, but perhaps her finest moment was the more subdued “New Ways to Dream,” as she is tearfully confronted by her younger self (Hannah Yun Chamberlain). It’s a striking juxtaposition, and Scherzinger hauntingly conveys Norma’s fear, fragility and longing as she stares down the barrel of her life.

The production itself is a technical marvel. Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom brilliantly incorporate video into the staging and Jack Knowles’s stark lighting and Adam Fisher’s atmospheric sound immerse theatergoers in a richly cinematic experience, with opening and end credits that cleverly evoke an old film noir.

In the show’s most staggering sequence, the captivating Tom Francis snakes through the backstage dressing rooms, before spilling out onto the street to sing the title number. It’s a dizzying feat of showmanship, and a bracing reminder of everything that theater can be.

– Patrick Ryan, USA Today

“Without putting a single cellphone onstage, or altering the original libretto, Jamie Lloyd has transformed Sunset Blvd. from period Hollywood satire into a pointed critique of contemporary culture, in which it seems everyone is as obsessed by fame as the show’s deluded heroine, former silent-screen star Norma Desmond, played by Nicole Scherzinger, making the most dazzling Broadway debut in memory.

Her casting can be seen as a commentary on our increased obsession with fighting off the tides of time. But Scherzinger has not been cast for her age or beauty but because she is a bona fide musical-theater phenomenon, almost being born before our eyes.

Most importantly, she sings the score with consummate beauty, confidence and skill. She can sing with exquisite, quiet delicacy that blooms into surging power carrying an emotional charge to send ghostly shivers down the spine. For collectors of history-making Broadway performances, this is one not to be missed.

As Joe, Francis is likewise superb. He wears his hard-boiled, Hollywood-bred cynicism with flair, but also expresses Joe’s now-occluded idealism, reignited by his friendship with Betty Schaefer (an affecting Grace Hodgett Young). In the important supporting role of Norma’s onetime husband and director, now slavish protector of her faltering ego, David Thaxton sings with dark, resonant richness.”

– Charles Isherwood, Wall Stret Journal 

“As she sings the final verse of “As If We Never Said Goodbye,” Nicole Scherzinger turns her face skyward. She seems, for a moment, to be inhaling not oxygen but motes of light.

Sunset Blvd. is a capital-E Event, a thrill ride whose greatest pleasure may be that, under the direction of Jamie Lloyd, Scherzinger’s work exists within a production as bold as she is. Scherzinger and the stage she inhabits push each other to grand extremes. The result is something like magic.

Lloyd’s Sunset Blvd. howls. Group dance numbers choreographed by Fabian Aloise become a rollicking, violent spectacle with angular, crisp dancing; lighting designer Jack Knowles manipulates our sense of reality by alternating between glaring, obliterating spotlights and inky darkness.

The other characters feels more dimensional than ever, with strong supporting turns by David Thaxton as Norma’s devoted, threatening butler and Grace Hodgett Young as the winsomely ambitious studio employee Betty Schaefer. It’s among the most remarkable aspects of Scherzinger’s performance that she creates space for Tom Francis, the appealing and gifted actor elegantly carries across what ought to be a breakout turn.

Scherzinger puts every bit of fierceness and charisma into proving herself as she stands center stage and belts with shocking vocal power and agility. In its diva-forward, astonishingly unabashed embrace of pure drama and elemental emotion.”

– Daniel D’Daddario, Variety

“She thrusts her ribs forward and throws her head back, plumes of fog whipping at her waist. Then she opens her mouth and delivers a rapture. Nicole Scherzinger’s radiance as Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. is difficult to overstate. She sings “As If We Never Said Goodbye,” with such delicacy and gut-slugging power that even Barbra Streisand might consider retiring the song from her repertoire.

If that sounds like hyperbole daring theater queens to flood my mentions, here are a few more: Scherzinger, who moves with the steely grace of an exacting ballet mistress, is almost absurdly glamorous. She has a rare, unflinching magnetism and commands the spotlight with bone-chilling intensity.

Jamie Lloyd’s electrifying revival drips with a cutting-edge cool that would make anyone feel they need to scramble to keep up. The book and lyrics, by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, have also been given a streamlined, modern polish.

The set, a psychic dungeon with stark shadows, and Jil Sander-chic costumes are by Soutra Gilmour with arresting lighting is by Jack Knowles. The focus is on bodies in space (the athletic and libidinous choreography is by Fabian Aloise) and the sheer bigness of the sound. Orchestrations by the composer and David Cullen are bright and muscular, with swelling strings and brassy crescendos thrashing like a storm at sea. (Alan Williams is the music supervisor and director.) Sleek head mics are visible accessories, and sound designer Adam Fisher pulls off the technical feat of rattling but not splitting eardrums.

Lloyd does brilliant work capturing and directing attention. When the lens of video designers and cinematographers Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom pushes in, we get the story in microexpressions, with every pore and imperfection magnified to awesome degrees. When the cameras bring us backstage, or out to the street beneath lit-up marquees, Lloyd’s production gives us a meta wink: Old Hollywood is fused with present-day Broadway and we’re reminded of Scherzinger’s own trajectory from pop stardom to her second coming as an onstage force of nature.”

– Naveen Kumar, Washington Post

Tickets for Sunset Blvd. are also on sale at www.sunsetblvdbroadway.com or Seat Geek HERE .

Joining Nicole Scherzinger are the co-stars of the London production, 2024 Olivier Award winner Tom Francis as ‘Joe Gillis,’ 2024 Olivier Award nominee Grace Hodgett Young as ‘Betty Schaefer,’ and Olivier Award winner and 2024 Olivier nominee David Thaxton as ‘Max Von Mayerling,’ all of whom are making their Broadway debuts. Drama Desk^® and OBIE Award^® winner Mandy Gonzalez will guest star as ‘Norma Desmond’ at certain select performances and Caroline Bowman will standby for the role of ‘Norma Desmond.’

The cast features ensemble members Olivia Lacie Andrews as ‘Nancy,’ Brandon Mel Borkowsky as ‘John,’ Shavey Brown as ‘Finance Man/Stan/DeMille,’ Hannah Yun Chamberlain as ‘Young Norma,’ Cydney Clark as ‘Joanna/Guard,’ Raúl Contreras as ‘Finance Man/Frank,’ Tyler Davis as ‘Sheldrake,’ E.J. Hamilton as ‘Lisa,’ Sydney Jones as ‘Dorothy,’ Emma Lloyd as ‘Mary/Heather,’ Pierre Marais as ‘Sammy,’ Shayna McPherson as ‘Camera Operator/Katherine,’ Jimin Moon as ‘Morino/Hog Eye,’ Justice Moore as ‘Jean,’ Drew Redington as ‘Myron/Jones/Camera Operator,’ and Diego Andres Rodriguez ‘Artie.’ Swings for the production will be Giuseppe Bausilio (dance captain), Kristina Garvida Doucette (assistant dance captain), Brandon LaVar, Maggie Likcani, Abby Matsusaka, and Rixey Terry.

To coincide with the show’s Broadway opening, SUNSET BLVD: THE ALBUM recorded live at the Savoy Theatre in London’s West End, is set for global release on Friday, October 25 via The Other Songs. Featuring the powerhouse London cast, SUNSET BLVD: THE ALBUM captures the thrilling energy of this bold, new production. “Sunset Boulevard” the iconic title song performed by Tom Francis, dropped last week on all digital platforms. Jamie Lloyd also directed a new music video to accompany the release of “Sunset Boulevard” watch it HERE.

Pre-order the physical and digital editions HERE.

When The Jamie Lloyd Company’s new production of Sunset Blvd. began performances last fall, it immediately grabbed the attention of theatergoers worldwide as an extraordinary reimagination of Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical. Scherzinger’s performance was hailed as “soul-baring and roof raising” (Daily Mail) and Lloyd’s “tour de force of a show” (Evening Standard) became the talk of both sides of the Atlantic and was called “the show of the year” (Time Out) and went on to win a record seven Olivier Awards including Best Musical Revival, Best Director for Lloyd, Best Actress in a Musical for Scherzinger, and Best Actor in a Musical for Francis.

Lloyd Webber’s thrillingly atmospheric Sunset Blvd. features an iconic score including the songs “With One Look,” “The Perfect Year,” and “As If We Never Said Goodbye.”

Haunted by her memories and dreams, movie star Norma Desmond (Nicole Scherzinger) yearns to return to the big screen. A struggling screenwriter (Tom Francis) who can’t sell his scripts to the Hollywood studios may be her only hope, until their dangerous and compelling relationship leads to disaster. Drenched in champagne and cynicism, Sunset Blvd. focuses the lens of ambitions and frustrations of its characters and puts their intoxicating need for fame and adoration in stark close-up.

The creative team for Sunset Blvd. includes Soutra Gilmour (set and costume design), Fabian Aloise (choreography), Alan Williams (music supervisor and music director), Jack Knowles (lighting design), Adam Fisher (sound design), Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom (video design and cinematography), Cheryl Thomas (hair and makeup design), Ann James (intimacy coordinator), Jim Carnahan CSA and Jason Thinger CSA (U.S. casting director), Stuart Burt CDG (U.K. casting director), and Johnny Milani (production stage manager). 101 Productions, Ltd. serves as the General Manager for Sunset Blvd. The creative team also includes Rupert Hands (U.K. associate director), Benita de Wit (U.S. associate director), Paris Green (U.K. associate choreographer), Ashley Andrews (U.S. associate choreographer), and Fred Lassen (associate musical director).

Sunset Blvd. is produced by The Jamie Lloyd Company, ATG Productions, Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals, and Gavin Kalin Productions by arrangement with The Really Useful Group Ltd and based on the Paramount Pictures film directed by Billy Wilder.

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