You mention that you pitch this “Sunset Boulevard” production. What made you interest in playing Norma Desmond?
A: Well, I’ve been very fond, period, of this material. But a question mark, as a 50-year-old woman — which is how old Norma Desmond is in the text — is why this woman functions the way she does, why her mental health is the way it is. Back in the days of 1950, it just wasn’t discuss. But to me, if this woman happen to be on the right mications and in the right therapy, would we see a different woman? Would she not be this completely derang and maniacal actress obsess with being famous? Is there telegram database something far more human to her that has been overlook? That was important to me.
How else might this staging differ from past productions?
A: Even though our central figure is Norma Desmond, “Sunset Boulevard” is from the point of view of Joe Gillis, a young, White, cis male in his 20s. So how might that storytelling change if it was shift a bit? What if it wasn’t from the point of view of Joe but perhaps from a female point of view? With Andrew Lloyd Webber’s approval, we’re taking a how to prepare the company for the current scenario different tilt into the storytelling without having to change a lot of the text — actually, any of the text or the score.
Can you tell me a little more about that?
A: I cannot! [Laughs] You’re going to have to see it. But I can give you a hint: Because the narration reads very much like a screenplay, and both [Joe] and Betty, who is our female ingenue, are screenplay china data writers, that’s enough of a hint to let you know how this is being propell at the very beginning.
Q: The role of Norma Desmond was immortaliz on-screen by Gloria Swanson, and has been play onstage by the likes of Patti LuPone, Glenn Close and Rita Moreno. How do you approach a character like that.