Too much in love (with Joe) to care

The way people talk about Sunset Blvd, you'd think it was the story of Norma Desmond. After all, she's the one with the big songs ("With One Look," "As If We Never Said Goodbye," "New Ways to Dream"), the role played by big names (Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Elaine Paige, Betty Buckley), the final curtain call.

The thing is, She's not the most interesting character in the show. Not by far.

The show should belong to Joe Gillis. It's his story--the story of the down-on-his-luck Hollywood writer who winds up being the kept man of an aging silent movie star.

It's an easier role to play--an attractive guy making a lot of snide comments ("Did you say you were a writer?" "That's what it says on my guild card."). But because of those two elements, I'm totally in love with him. Playing Norma requires a delicate balance--there's a mix of vulnerability and manipulation that could easily descend into camp--but for my money, the most fascinating scene of the show is the climactic scene between Joe and Betty Schaefer. That scene belongs to Joe; it's both his downfall and his redemption, and I could listen to that track over and over. The other great scene? Joe's decision at the end of Act I.

I can see Norma being an interesting character to play, but ultimately, I'm really not that interested in her. Which is an issue when you're investing money to see Sunset Blvd., as I did when I saw the Signature production the other night.

I can't complain about the production itself; the cast, the set, the orchestra (20 pieces!) were all fantastic. D.B. Bonds more than made me swoon as Joe ("She read DeMille's horoscope; she read mine..." "Did she read the script?"), Florence Lacey was a better Norma than Glenn Close, whom I saw back on Broadway in 1995. The only casting issue I might have would be that Bonds and Susan Derry, who plays Betty Schaefer, appear too close in age, making his treatment of her seem somewhat odd ("You remind me of me long ago..." "Stop it, you're making me feel old"). (For reference, in the film, William Holden was 32 at time of release; Nancy Olson was 22. And you could see it.)

Bonds, by and large, is a fantastic Joe. The two scenes I mentioned were fabulous; it was subtle, but you can see him make a decision and go for it...and then see his ambivalence about what he's done. For each show I see, I usually have a few moments burned into my memory, and those are it for this show.

I put Norma in the same category as Fantine in Les Mis (though, again, I will admit that it is a complicated role that Lacey pulls off very well!)--necessary, but not particularly interesting to me.

Of course, there are others who feel differently. And by "others," I mean "most people" because God knows the reviews of this show focus on her and are all, "And yeah, Bonds and Ed Dixon [Max von Mayerling] are good, too."

And then there's the woman I sat next to. When this show closes February 13, she will have seen it eight times. God knows that I shouldn't judge; there are plenty of shows that I want to see over and over--I just don't have the means. (This woman is a volunteer, so she's only paying for four of those tickets.) But this show isn't one of them. I'm going back Saturday to usher, but really, there isn't the emotional core to this show that makes me want to come back time and again. I admit that I really wanted to see it more out of curiosity for how Signature would stage than out of a fondness for the music (though I certainly was obsessed in the day; I own the Broadway and London cast recordings). And, of course, Signature didn't disappoint.

But not one of my favorites. You know what someone around here needs to stage? Evita. Get on it, DC theaters.