This Curve staging of Sunset Boulevard successfully manages to keep the glamour and scale required of a show documenting the golden age of Hollywood whilst making it suitable for a touring company.
‘Ria Jones gives a powerhouse performance’: SUNSET BOULEVARD – Touring ★★★★
Ria Jones, so resplendent when she stepped into Norma’s shoes at the Coliseum in 2016 (we were lucky enough to be at one of those shows is once again in the title role and she gives a powerhouse performance.
SUNSET BOULEVARD – Touring ★★★★★
Ria Jones dazzles in the poignant, wonderfully melodramatic and tragic Sunset Boulevard that is both a love letter to movies and a eulogy to Hollywood’s silent era.
SUNSET BOULEVARD – Touring ★★★★
Sunset Boulevard is a thrilling ride through the film industry of mid-century America, filled with the song, dance and cultural ephemera of the era. It’s an intoxicating spectacle that is both entrancing and, in parts, exhausting.
SUNSET BOULEVARD – Touring ★★★★★
There is no doubt that Ria Jones, as Norma Desmond, owns the Curve theatre’s production of Sunset Boulevard that lights into the Edinburgh Playhouse on the first date of its major UK tour.
SUNSET BOULEVARD – Touring
Ria Jones’ extraordinary history with Sunset Boulevard might well be entitled The Norma Conquests… And, 26 years on, was it worth the wait?
SUNSET BOULEVARD – Touring ★★★★★
There is a magic that pervades Nikolai Foster’s production of Sunset Boulevard, and it flows from leading lady Ria Jones. Twenty-six years after creating the role of Norma Desmond for Andrew Lloyd Webber at the composer’s Sydmonton Festival, Jones now leads the show and never has a casting been more perfect.
NEWS: Danny Mac stars opposite Ria Jones in Sunset Boulevard tour
Danny Mac will play Joe Gillis to Ria Jones’ Norma Desmond in the upcoming UK tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard.
NEWS: Ria Jones leads Leicester’s Sunset Boulevard on major UK tour
Michael Harrison and David Ian are delighted to present the UK and Ireland tour of the Curve production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s award-winning musical SUNSET BOULEVARD. Starring Ria Jones as Norma Desmond and directed by Nikolai Foster, SUNSET BOULEVARD will open at Leicester Curve, where it runs from 16 to 30 September 2017 with a press night on 28 September, …
42nd STREET – Paris
A stunning new large-scale production, 42nd Street deservedly enjoyed a sold-out season at Théâtre du Châtelet, where it finished yesterday.
Year in Review: Jonathan Baz’s top shows of 2016
My favourite moments of the shows that I saw in 2016 are below and include performances from across the UK, together with the USA and also Europe. Theatre, cabaret, dance and concert performances are all included and there’s no ranking.
42nd STREET – Paris
It may be in the English language but this production of 42nd Street is in a French theatre, the glorious Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris which, under Jean-Luc Choplin’s artistic directorship, has arguably entirely reshaped the Parisian relationship with musical theatre.
42nd STREET – Paris
Dan Burton who plays Sawyer’s love interest Billy Lawlor is another of Mear’s regular ingénues, last seen in the West End’s Gypsy. Arguably the best of his generation in musical theatre dance, Burton has a grace in his movement that has to be seen to be believed alongside perfectly pitched, mellifluous vocals. Other Brits in the cast include Alexander Hanson, Ria Jones and Jenny Dale.
INTERVIEW: Cheap Seats chat with director Michael Strassen
The Union Theatre’s founder Sasha Regan, who is a wonderful facilitator and supporter of young talent and vital to a growing industry, doesn’t have to play by the normal rules
NEWS: Natasha J Barnes & Ria Jones nominated for Best Understudy in Wilma Awards
Nominations have been announced in the third annual West End Wilma Awards, which will be held, once again, in association with London’s Hippodrome Casino. Public voting to decide the winners opens online on 2 September 2016 at westendwilma.com
Should audiences get refunds for understudy performances?
‘At this evening’s performance, the title role will be played by …’ Understudy. Somewhere between a trending topic and a dirty word as arguments rage over whether or not audiences should be compensated for missing a favourite star.
SUNSET BOULEVARD (with Ria Jones as Norma Desmond) – London Coliseum
Before today I knew she was good but by the time I left the theatre I was sure of one thing… Ria Jones is a star!
SUNSET BOULEVARD (with Ria Jones as Norma Desmond) – London Coliseum
At the curtain call, co-star Michael Xavier bowed down before Ria on stage and producer Michael Grade was first to grab her in the wings as the sound of the cast applauding her enveloped her. A class act, indeed and one I am so privileged to say I witnessed up close and personal from the front row. It was a night I will never forget.
SUNSET BOULEVARD – London Coliseum
The evening has to be given to Close, who exceeded every expectation and was every ounce the Hollywood star she is. Charisma, dramatisation, characterisation, timing and delivery, all outstandingly perfect.
MISS-LEADING LADIES – St James Studio
Before launching into a sassy opening routine of Irving Berlin’s Sisters, Ria Jones and Ceri Dupree tease their audience with a hint of Gypsy’s act one Let Me Entertain You – sung of course originally by that show’s child sisters June and Louise. And in that moment these two gifted performers achieve a rare and elusive vanishing point that sees dramatic irony fade into reality. For Dupree and Jones really are siblings, Dupree by a few years being Jones’ elder brother.