Sarah Brightman will star in Sunset Boulevard,premiering in Melbourne in May 2024.Credit:Simon Fowler
Sunset Boulevard tells the story of Norma Desmond,a star of the silent film era who,as the years pass,refuses to believe that she has faded into obscurity. Her desperation to return to her former level of fame and glory leads both Desmond and those around her down a progressively more tumultuous path.
When the opportunity to star in a revamped version of the famous production came up “it took me completely by surprise,” says Brightman. “I had to think about it for a while”. Ultimately,however,it was the complexity and darkness of Desmond that clinched things for her.
“You can bring interesting things to the role that may be a little different,but psychologically the character is what she is,and I just found that a really interesting thing to veer towards,” she says. “So that’s why I wanted to take it on.”
Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in Phantom of the Opera,June 1997.Credit:Archive
It’s also the perfect point in her career to take on a character like Desmond,she reflects,because she can bring both her own experience and empathy to the role. “At this point there are all sorts of changes happening. You’re thinking about how things are going to be in the future,how much future youdo have ... and also the thought that at some point,it’s not going to be there any more because you can only go on physically for so long.”
The character of Desmond is eventually driven mad by the huge shifts in her social standing. “In one moment she was the biggest thing in the world and the biggest star,” explains Brightman. But when “talkies” came in,Desmond’s career didn’t survive the transition. Her story is inspired by the experience of several different actresses from the era. “It’s all taken from fact,” says Brightman. “They hid themselves in their homes and they probably became depressed,I’m sure,because to have all of that and suddenly be nobody – or somebody that was from the past in people’s minds – must have been quite a thing to get through.”
She pauses. “I’m obviously not at that stage in my career,but I can imagine what it may be like.”