The first attempt to turn the iconic film Sunset Boulevard into a Broadway musical is finally getting a close-up.
The first musical adaptation of Sunset Boulevard is finally getting a close-up. Next month, a new documentary about the earliest efforts to bring the iconic film to the Broadway stage will premiere at the Outfest Los Angeles Film Festival. Named Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, the film expands upon a little-known footnote in musical theatre history, and “it is very weird how close to the original movie this whole thing played out,” stated the director Jeffrey Schwarz. In 1953, two songwriters named Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley were putting together a musical revue about Time magazine, and they wanted a well-known performer for the lead role. They approached Gloria Swanson, who portrayed the forgotten film actress “Norma Desmond” in the Paramount Pictures movie Sunset Boulevard. Swanson had appeared on Broadway in the play Nina a year earlier, and the critics did not like her performance. She was still upset with the poor reviews, and told that the team that “I just will not ever do another Broadway show.” “Well,” she continued, “not unless somebody writes a musical adaptation of Sunset Boulevard. ” Swanson was not ready for her swan song. Like how Desmond hired the struggling screenwriter “Joe Gillis” to work on the screenplay for her big return to the silver screen, Swanson hired the struggling songwriters to work on the book, music, and lyrics for her big return to the stage. “We were wildly excited about this incredible project,” recalled Dickson. After the pair prepared some songs, Swanson excitedly called up her old pals at Paramount to tell them about the new project and secure the live stage rights.
