Glenn Close makes triumphant return to ‘Sunset Boulevard’

Glenn Close in “Sunset Boulevard,” 2017 —PHOTO COURTESY OF PLAYBILL

NEW YORK—Yes, Mr. DeMille. Glenn Close is still ready for her closeup—and she’s scary good!

Twenty-four years after she first portrayed silent-movie icon Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical staging of “Sunset Boulevard,” the Tony-winning actress returns to the Great White Way and demonstrates why an actress of her formidable thespic chops and caliber is needed to breathe life into the complex role.

The acclaimed musical is back on Broadway, this time at the Palace Theatre, for a 16-week “limited” run that officially began last Feb. 9. Based on Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning 1950 drama, the story revolves around an aging actress who refuses to believe that her star has long lost its stellar sheen.

When Norma crosses paths with struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis (Michael Xavier), she coaxes him into rewriting the script of a vanity project she had written for herself and sees in him the opportunity to make a grand comeback that she wants legendary director Cecil B. DeMille (Paul Schoeffler) to direct. But she falls head over heels in love with Joe, who isn’t ready to reciprocate her feelings for him.

The delusional actress’ descent into madness is exacerbated when Joe, who feels stifled by Norma’s insecurities, possessiveness and fits of jealousy, falls in love with lovely copygirl Betty Schaeffer (Siobhan Dillon). Then, tragedy ensues.

Glenn Close as Norma Desmond (1994)

We hold the actress in high regard, but we’d be lying if we said we didn’t have doubts if she could pull it off—because, while it’s true that Norma Desmond is a has-been, the actress portraying her is required to deliver money notes that don’t get drowned out in Webber’s lavish score, gloriously brought to life by a 40-piece orchestra.

After all, Glenn is 69 (she’ll turn 70 on March 19)—and, as Barbra Streisand would tell you, there are physiological limitations that the skill, passion, enthusiasm and experience of even seasoned sexagenarians and septuagenarians can’t avoid or ignore. Moreover, based on our experience acting in a Webber musical (“Aspects of Love”) in the mid-2000s, we know only too well that the famed composer’s songs aren’t easy to sing.

But when we attended a preview of the show last Feb. 7, we were only too happy to be proven wrong. There were shaky notes here and there, all right, but Glenn owned the stage from beginning to end. If anything, the fact that she’s much older now even added uncommon resonance to the pathos she oh-so-skillfully mined to stirring perfection.

Directed by Lonny Price, the show is framed by a set that is as minimalistic as it is functional—with a movable scrim that periodically flashes black-and-white projections of vintage Los Angeles, and winding staircases that help the audience imagine the grandiosity of Norma’s mansion on Sunset Boulevard.

It may not be as visually sumptuous as the original, but it compels viewers to focus on the story more than the pomp and pageantry of old Hollywood.

And it doesn’t hurt that the songs (“With One Look,” “The Perfect Year,” “New Ways to Dream” and “As If We Never Said Goodbye”) are movingly rendered and the production numbers (“Every Movie’s a Circus,” “This Time Next Year,” “Eternal Youth is Worth a Little Suffering”) more than proficiently staged.

The actress was greeted with resounding applause and impassioned shrieks the first time she made an entrance—and, at curtain call, she had to return to the stage thrice to take her much-deserved bow before she skipped triumphantly to stage left. Truly a grand exit for a great actress.