By Katherine Beeson
Bombshell Theatre Co. has been bringing large-scale musicals to small performance spaces and doing a fantastic job. This tradition continues with its spring show, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” directed by Eric Welch with musical direction by Tracy Garon.
The show is a fast-paced behind-the-scenes peak at changing 1940s Hollywood. I really enjoyed Bombshell’s treatment of this musical. The story unfolds smoothly and the audience is quickly mesmerized by the entertainment industry that is moving into the modern era and a star it leaves behind.
Norma Desmond used to be a silent-movie star, but, with the advent of talkies, her career ended. Joe Gillis is a poor, struggling Hollywood writer who stumbled onto Norma’s sprawling estate, where she lives with her devoted attendant, Max. When the actress discovers that Joe is a writer, she convinces him to work on the screenplay she has written – a massive tome that she is sure will prove to be her comeback. Joe, who faces the repo man, and needs money desperately, moves in and moves from the guest house, to the main house and, finally, to Norma’s bed. As much as he values his integrity, Joe opts to enjoy her luxuries while he secretly works on movie projects with a young writer he met on the Paramount studio grounds. Things begin to unravel as time goes on and Norma finds that a movie comeback is not what the studio has in mind and that Joe has another life outside the gates of her mansion.
Kara Ernst-Schalk and Eric Welch in Bombshell Theatre Company’s “Sunset Boulevard.”
Kara Ernst-Schalk is a fantastic Norma. A part like this can easily become a caricature but Ernst-Schalk keeps her in check. One was drawn in instantly as she describes her former life in the movies (“With One Look”.) Eric Welch is very good as Joe, but he could project a bit more angst
and self-loathing as he wrestles with the compromises he is willing to make for his comfortable life. Rae Pare (Betty Schaffer) does a nice job as the other struggling writer who falls in love with Joe. I would have liked a bit more chemistry between this couple as it seems they take the leap from the friend zone to singing “Too Much in Love to Care” without much evident passion. Brent Allen (Max, the manservant) is wonderfully severe as he makes it known that “madam’s” welfare is his only purpose.
Other great characters include Glenn Villa (Cecil B. DeMille) and Karl Miller (Sheldrake/John.) The music is wonderful as are the voices.
Kara Ernst-Schalk in Bombshell Theatre Company’s “Sunset Boulevard.”
Costuming, however, was a bit uneven. Mary Seigel pulled out all the stops when she outfitted Norma. Her turbans, her jacket/capes, her long gowns all reflected the 1920s of Desmond’s heyday. Joe and Max also appear suitably turned out. However, when the scenes include the modern women of the late 1940s/early 1950s, less care is taken. This was the era of the long-lined bras and high-waisted girdles, which did serve to lift it up and hold it in. A few of the women are clad in ill-fitting clothing in sizes a bit too small and it is distracting. The chorus men fared no better; as five male salesmen singing “The Lady’s Paying” they appear downstage in suits of various styles and fit – more consignment store than atelier.
“Sunset Boulevard” runs at the Broadway Theatre Center until May 7.