The cast of Sunset Boulevard in the theatre-cum-studio of Curve Leicester
Credit: Curve Leicester
Lights, camera, action – sensation! This recorded, streamed production of a gem from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s back-catalogue – a show not as famous as Phantom of the Opera, but bearing striking affinities in its darkness, lush score and obsessional romance – is revelatory. Theatre has gone digital this year as never before, but the best has been left to last.
Instead of opting for a standard capture of the intended staged concert, director Nikolai Foster and team have gone for broke. The show – based on the 1950 Billy Wilder black and white classic – luxuriates in the hustle and bustle, sparkle and savagery of Tinseltown. So this emptied-out palace of a regional venue has been reconceived as a cavernous film studio, cast and crew roaming free, the two auditoria unified as one.