Porchlight's Sunset Boulevard is Ready For Its Closeup


Chicago theater has long had a reputation for producing some of the best theater in the country.  As a result, Chicago audiences expect a high bar as they enter the theater doors.  Occasionally, audiences are blessed with productions that exceed that bar.  Warp (produced by the Organic Theater), Macbeth (starring Aidan Quinn at Northlight Theater), and True West, Balm in Gilead, and Of Mice and Men (Steppenwolf Theater) are examples Chicago theater productions people continue to talk about years, or even decades, after the lights go down.  Under the direction of Artistic Director Michael Weber, Porchlight Music Theatre kicks off its 25th season with their production of Sunset Boulevard that may well join the list of special productions that theater aficionados will boast “they were there when…”.

Based on the Academy Award winning Billy Wilder Film, Sunset Boulevard features music by Andrew Lloyd Weber with lyrics and book by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.  Winner of seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Book of Musicals, this landmark work has electrified audiences around the world. Sunset Boulevard weaves a magnificent tale of faded glory and unfulfilled ambition.  Silent movie star Norma Desmond longs for a return to the big screen, having been discarded by Hollywood with the advent of “Talkies”.  She refuses to accept that her stardom has ended. She hires a down-on-his-luck screenwriter to help her finish a script that will be the vehicle of her return.  The screenwriter believes he can manipulate her, but he soon finds out he is wrong.  The screenwriter’s ambivalence about their relationship and her unwillingness to let go leads to a situation of violence, madness, and death.

Chicago favorite Hollis Resnick plays the Norma Desmond to perfection.  This is a role with huge shoes to fill yet Resnick proves she is more than up to the task.  Her portrayal of the aging film star balances a fine line between arrogance, desperation, and madness.  She deftly displays Norma’s emotional struggles without stooping to making the former starlet a stereotypic caricature.  Within the first few lines of “With One Look”, Resnick shows us that, while faded, this star can make us believe anything with a simple raising of an eyebrow or broadening her dazzling smile.  Hollis Resnick as Norma Desmond is such a perfect match one wonders why she hasn’t played this role earlier in her illustrious career.

Weber has provided Resnick with talented supporting cast.  Max von Mayerling, Norma’s loyal butler and protector, is aptly played by Larry Adams. We learn through his rich and memorable “The Greatest Star of All” and “New Ways to Dream” how he willingly gave up his own promising directing career to serve Norma during her transition.  David Girolmo’s Cecil D. DeMille is tender and sad as he deals with Norma’s visit to his set to discuss her imaginary return to the big screen.  Billy Rude drives the play as the cynical and downtrodden screenwriter Joe Gillis.  He falls for Betty Schaefer (Michelle Lauto), a writer engaged to his best friend Artie (Joe Giovannetti).  Rude’s and Lauter’s vocals blend well during their duet “Too Much in Love to Care”, making their star-crossed love story believable.
Larry Adams and Billy Rude
Photo by Michael Courier

Everything in Norma Desmond’s world is big and the Porchlight Music Theatre’s creative team (Jeff Kmiec set design; Anthony Churchill projection design; Maggie Fullilove-Nugent lighting design; and Robert Hornbostel sound design ) collaborates smoothly, using multi-level, slide-in set pieces, arches, projections, and lighting to convert the intimate Ruth Page Center performance space into Norma’s grand (but grotesque) mansion, the famed Paramount Studio front gate, Hollywood sound stages, and Schwab’s drugstore.  Bill Morey’s costumes are period perfect.  There were times, however, where the sound mix overwhelmed the vocals.  Weber’s direction and Shanna VanDerwerker’s choreography work the small stage effectively, giving each of the talented ensemble members unique character stories.  Mandy Modic dancing as a “young Norma Desmond” inspired visions of Isadora Duncan.
Sunset Boulevard at Porchlight Music Theatre
Photo by Michael Courier

Sunset Boulevard is not an easy show to produce.  However, Weber and the Porchlight Music Theatre team have pulled it off, putting together a highly polished and performed production.   It is a worthy kickoff to their 25th season.  Chicago theater fans will be talking about this Sunset Boulevard for years to come.  This is a production that is definitely ready for its close up.
 
Michelle Lauto and Billy Rude
Photo by Michael Courier

Porchlight Music Theatre’s production of Sunset Boulevard, starring Hollis Resnick, at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, has been deservedly extended to run through December 8, 2019.  The theater is located at 1016 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago.  Details about performance times, ticket information, and future productions are available at www.PorchlightMusicTheatre.org. 

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