Preview of 'Sunset Boulevard' at the Warner Theatre

Winner of seven Tony awards and based on the Billy Wilder film, Andrew Lloyd Weber's SUNSET BOULEVARD weaves a magnificent tale of faded glory and unfulfilled ambition. Having been discarded by tinsel town with the advent of "talkies," silent movie star Norma Desmond longs for a return to the big screen. By the time she meets struggling Hollywood screenwriter Joe Gillis, the glitz and glamour of her Hollywood life has faded in all but her mind. Their passionate and volatile relationship leads to an unforeseen and tragic curtain call, perfectly captured by Andrew Lloyd Webber's sweeping score including "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye."

The storyline begins dramatically with a death, and through narration, backtracks to the series of events that led to that fateful night. Joe Gillis is a struggling scriptwriter trying to make it in the movie capital who finds himself on the run from debt collectors. While being chased he turns into the driveway of a mansion on Sunset Boulevard and due to mistaken identity, not only meets the famed Norma Desmond, but manages to get himself a job helping her complete her script of Salome – the 'return' that she desperately wants to star in for Cecil B DeMille.

Norma is of course delusional, middle-aged and living in a reality that is being kept alive by her faithful butler, Max. She falls in love with the handsome young writer, but when he spurns her and threatens to leave, her fragile mind slips into madness and tragedy orchestrates that now famous final line – "Mr DeMille, I am ready for my close-up".

Directed & Choreographed by Sharon A. Wilcox
Music Direction by Aaron J. Bunel

Saturday, November 3 - Sunday, November 11, 2012
Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00pm | Sundays at 2:00pm

Featuring Marilyn Olsen as Norma Desmond, Dan Porri as Joe Gillis, John Lino Ponzini as Max Von Meyerling, Erin O'Luanaigh as Betty Schaefer, Joe Harding as Cecile B. Demille, Shane McCarthy as Artie Green, Chuck Stango as Sheldrake and Pat Spaulding as Manfred; with Alyssa Fontana, Erica Greco, Susan Hackel, Lucien Harton, Mary Johnson, Chris Kovacs, Susan Kulp, Jack Levis, Casey McKenna, Carol Merrill, Kerri Morris, Ron Nasseff, Lana Peck, Ted Schwartz, Randy Sittler, Dianna Waller and Jim Wood.

Tickets are $20 / $26 / $33.50 and can be purchased by calling the Warner box office at 860-489-7180 or online at www.warnertheatre.org

Media Sponsors FM 97.3 WZBG and Republican-American newspaper.

Also available for all performances are tickets for dinner and a show at Backstage Restaurant and at Ritz’s Crystal Room at Remember When for the Saturday, November 11 show only. Call the box office for more information.