RACHEL TUCKER JOINS THE CAST OF
THE JAMIE LLOYD COMPANY’S
NEW WEST END PRODUCTION OF
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S
SUNSET BOULEVARD
The Jamie Lloyd Company, the successful partnership between Ambassador Theatre Group and Artistic Director Jamie Lloyd, alongside Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals, today announce that Rachel Tucker joins the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard directed by Jamie Lloyd with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, based on the Billy Wilder film.
Rachel Tucker guest stars as Norma Desmond on Thursday 12 October matinee, and Monday performances, 16 October 2023 – 6 January 2024. Tucker joins the previously announced Nicole Scherzinger (Norma Desmond), who as scheduled will not be playing these performances. Full cast and creatives to be announced.
Rachel Tucker said today, “I’ve wanted to work with Jamie for a long time and to collaborate with him on a brand new version of one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best scores, whilst getting to play such an iconic role, is a career high for me.”
Opening 30 years after the original West End production, Sunset Boulevard runs for a strictly limited 16 weeks at the Savoy Theatre from Thursday 21 September 2023 – Saturday 6 January 2024, with press night on Thursday 12 October at 7.30pm.
The Jamie Lloyd Company continues its commitment to accessibility, with 5,000 stalls and dress circle tickets priced at £20 available across the run exclusively for under 30s, key workers and those receiving government benefits. These tickets will be released weekly from September, with further information to be announced.
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Book and Lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton
Based on the Billy Wilder film
Directed by Jamie Lloyd
Savoy Theatre
21 September 2023 – 6 January 2024
Nicole Scherzinger stars as the immortal Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary Sunset Boulevard. This thrillingly atmospheric musical, which features an iconic score including the songs With One Look, The Perfect Year and As If We Never Said Goodbye, is reimagined by visionary director Jamie Lloyd for a new generation.
Haunted by her memories and dreams, movie star Norma Desmond (Scherzinger) yearns to return to the big screen. A struggling screenwriter who can’t sell his scripts to the Hollywood studios may be her only hope, until their dangerous and compelling relationship leads to disastrous circumstances.
Drenched in champagne and cynicism, Sunset Boulevard scrutinizes the ambitions and frustrations of its characters and their intoxicating need for fame and adoration.
The Jamie Lloyd Company production of Sunset Boulevard is produced by Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals, Gavin Kalin Productions, Wessex Grove, David Mirvish and Nick Thomas.
Sunset Boulevard is produced by arrangement with The Really Useful Group Ltd and is based on the original Paramount film by Billy Wilder.
Instagram: @sunsetblvdmusical
Twitter: @sunsetblvd
Facebook: @SunsetBoulevardTheMusical
Nicole Scherzinger (Norma Desmond)
Sheis a multiple award-winning, multi-platinum selling performer, singer, actress, dancer and television personality, selling over 37 million singles worldwide and 16 million records as a solo artist. Formerly a member of one of the world’s best-selling music groups of all time, selling over 55 million record worldwide, she has graced the stages of London’s West End, performed at Madison Square Garden, voiced the character Sina in Disney’s animated blockbuster ‘Moana,’ starred in ABC’s remake of ‘Dirty Dancing,’ and most recently was the resident panellist on the runaway TV phenomenon, The Masked Singer on FOX. On May 7, 2023 Nicole Scherzinger performed at Windsor Castle for the official concert for the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla. Accompanied on stage by esteemed pianist Lang Lang, the pair performed the Disney Mulan classic “Reflection.”
Rachel Tucker (Norma Desmond at certain performances)
Theatre credits include: Come From Away (Gerald Schoenfeld, NY/ Phoenix Theatre – Olivier Award Nomination for Best Actress; WhatsOnStage Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical); Songs For a New World (London Palladium/ Stream); Wicked (Apollo Victoria/ Gershwin); The Last Ship (Neil Simon, NY/ Chicago Bank of America); Communicating Doors (Menier Chocolate Factory); John and Jen (Southwark Playhouse – OFFIES Award for Best Lead Performance in a Musical); Farragut North (Southwark Playhouse) and We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre). Television credits include: Hope Street; Informer and I’d Do Anything.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed the scores of some of the world’s most famous musicals. From Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1969) to Bad Cinderella (2022). Lloyd Webber has had shows running continually in the West End for 50 years and on Broadway for 43.
When Sunset Boulevard joined School of Rock, CATS, and The Phantom of the Opera he equalled Rodgers & Hammerstein’s record of four shows running simultaneously on Broadway. He is one of the select group of artists with EGOT status, having received Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.
Lloyd Webber owns six London theatres including the iconic London Palladium and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Reopened in July 2021, the latter was completely restored and renovated at a cost of over £60 million. It was one of the biggest projects ever undertaken by a private theatre owner in recent times. His mantra is that every penny of profit made from his theatres is ploughed back into the buildings.
Lloyd Webber is passionate about the importance of musical education and diversity in the arts. Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation provides 30 performing arts scholarships every year for talented students with financial need and supports a range of projects such as the Music In Secondary School Trust and commissioning research into diversity in theatre.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed anthems for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina and for two Olympic ceremonies, including “Amigos Para Siempre” the official song of the 1992 summer games in Barcelona. He wrote “Let Us Love In Peace” for the aftermath of the attacks on The World Trade Centre, and wrote and performed “Sing” with Gary Barlow at Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond in 2012. Lloyd Webber curated musical theatre performances for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert in June 2022.
Andrew Lloyd Webber was knighted in 1992 and created an honorary life peer in 1997.
Don Black received two Tony Awards for Best Book and Lyrics of a Musical for his work (with Christopher Hampton) on Sunset Boulevard, which marked his third collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber. They first joined forces to write the song cycle ‘Tell Me On A Sunday,’ which developed to form the basis of the stage show Song and Dance. They were reunited again for Aspects of Love. He also wrote the lyrics for the Andrew Lloyd Webber produced Bombay Dreams. Awards include an Oscar for his song ‘Born Free;’ five Academy Award nominations; two Tony Awards and three Tony nominations; six Ivor Novello Awards; a Golden Globe, and many platinum and gold discs. He has written a quintet of James Bond theme songs: ‘Thunderball,’ ‘Diamonds Are Forever,’ ‘The Man With The Golden Gun,’ ‘Surrender’ from Tomorrow Never Dies and ‘The World Is Not Enough’. Among his many popular songs are two U.S. number ones – ‘Ben’ for Michael Jackson and ‘To Sir With Love’ for Lulu. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. In The Queen’s Honours List he received the Order of the British Empire. Earlier this year he was awarded an Olivier award for his outstanding services to theatre. Most recently he wrote his critically acclaimed memoir ‘The Sanest Guy In The Room,’ which featured in the Sunday Times Bestsellers list. His musical of Bonnie and Clyde had a successful West End run at the Garrick Theatre and his next project which he wrote with Christopher Hampton and George Fenton is a musical version of the classic film The Third Man.
Christopher Hampton became involved in theatre while studying French and German at Oxford University, and wrote a play in his first year. The Royal Court’s subsequent production was so successful that it transferred to the Comedy Theatre while he was still a student, making him the youngest writer ever to have a play performed in the West End – a record which still stands. He said at the time that he also hoped to become the oldest writer to have a play in the West End, an ambition he has yet to achieve.
His plays, musicals and translations have so far garnered four Tony Awards, three Olivier Awards, four Evening Standard Awards and the New York Theatre Critics; Circle Award; prizes for his film and television work include two Oscars, three BAFTAs, a Writer’s Guild of America Award, the Prix Italia, a Special Jury Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Hollywood Screenwriter of the Year, and The Collateral Award at the Venice Film Festival for Best Literary Adaptation. His musicals include Sunset Boulevard, Dracula: The Musical, Stephen Ward and most recently, The Third Man, all with Don Black. Many translations include the German musical based on Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, opening September 2023. Hampton’s screenplays include The Son, The Father, Perfect Mothers, A Dangerous Method, Chéri, Atonement, Imagining Argentina (which he also directed), The Quiet American, The Secret Agent (which he also directed), Mary Reilly, Total Eclipse and Carrington (the first film he also directed).
Jamie Lloyd directs. His credits for the company include A Doll’s House (Hudson Theatre, New York – nominated for six 2023 Tony Awards including Best Direction of a Play and Best Revival of a Play), The Seagull (Harold Pinter Theatre), Cyrano de Bergerac (Playhouse Theatre/Harold Pinter Theatre/Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York – Olivier Award for Best Revival), Betrayal (Pinter at the Pinter, Harold Pinter Theatre/ Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre – nominated for four 2021 Tony Awards including Best Direction of a Play and Best Revival of a Play), Pinter One, Two, Three, Six and Seven (Pinter at the Pinter, Harold Pinter Theatre), The Maids, The Homecoming, The Ruling Class, Richard III, The Pride, The Hothouse and Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios).
SUNSET BOULEVARD
LISTINGS
Savoy Theatre: 21 September 2023 – 6 January 2024
Savoy Court, The Strand, London WC2R 0ET
Performance Schedule:
Monday – Saturday, 7.30pm (excluding Monday 25 December)
Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm (excluding Thursday 21, Saturday 23, Thursday 28 September and Thursday 5 October)
Nicole Scherzinger will not be performing on Thursday 12 October (2.30pm performance), and Monday performances from 16 October. The role of Norma Desmond for these performances will be played by Rachel Tucker.
Access Performances:
Audio Described: Wednesday 8 November, 7.30pm
Captioned and BSL interpreted: Wednesday 15 November, 7.30pm