With three of his musicals currently playing on Broadway, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is ready to make good on his previously stated desire to add a fourth, a transfer of the recent hit London revival of Sunset Boulevard.
The New York Post reported that the show “is definitely a go” for the Palace Theatre in January 2017. No source for the report was named, but, as previously reported by Playbill.com, producers Paul Blake and Mike Bosner (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) have expressed a desire to import the recent English National Opera production into Broadway's Palace Theatre for 20 weeks starting in January. However there has been no official announcement.
On the red carpet for the 70th Annual Tony Awards, Andrew Lloyd Webber had fueled speculation that Sunset Boulevard with original Broadway star Glenn Close would be heading to Broadway.
The composer is enjoying the new Broadway revival of his Cats, which opened at the Neil Simon Theatre July 31; he is also represented by School of Rock, playing the Winter Garden, and the long-running The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic.
“And, maybe, possibly Sunset, who knows?” Lloyd Webber said on Tony night. “It’s kind of like London buses, they either don’t come or they come altogether.” Though he couldn’t reveal too much information, he said, “It’s certainly [being] looked at.” Lloyd Webber was on the red carpet with his Tony-winning Norma, Close, who said she would love to revisit the role on Broadway.
The 2016 semi-staged English National Opera production of the Lloyd Webber-Don Black-Christopher Hampton musical starred Close reprising the leading role of Norma Desmond. The actress won the Tony Award as Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the role 21 years ago in the show's original Broadway engagement.
In the most recent staging, Lonny Price directed a cast at the London Coliseum that also included Michael Xavier as Joe Gillis, with Fred Johanson as Max Von Mayerling (a role he has previously played for Gothenburg Opera) and Siobhan Dillon as Betty Schaefer. The show opened April 4 and ran through May 7.
Lyricist Black told the New York Post in April there was a very good chance of the show heading to New York, though no official announcement had been made.
(Updated October 9, 2016)
