Run, do not walk, to see Sunset Blvd

And for what it's worth (zero disrespect intended to Audra McDonald who I realize we haven't even seen take the stage for Gypsy yet) you might as well just give the Tony to Nicole Scherzinger. Just hand it over and forget that category at the next Tony awards.

First Friday night preview, I sat second to last row of the Mezz and had an outstanding experience. There's hardly a set at all but the show looks amazing, the singers sound impeccable, the choreography from the dancers feels modern and slick, and the use of the massive black and white video screen gave it all a fitting film noir vibe with homage to the original film from 1950. It was nice for people like me sitting in the back because most often when the video screen was being used, you were supposed to be watching that like a movie and not what was happening on stage.

Tom Francis fully lived up to the hype for his performance in London. What a voice, and I never thought acting that deliberately exhibited so little emotion could be so compelling (side note, does anyone think he looked eerily like that guy who's in The Bear and Shameless when his face is up close on that video screen?). Grace Hodgett Young nails it as the timid, tragic Betty Schaefer, the biggest victim of this story if you ask me, and when listening to David Thaxton sing it felt like I was at the Metropolitan Opera instead of the St James Theater.

I feel like the less I say about Nicole Scherzinger's performance as Norma Desmond the better. It's a type of legendary with such passion, wit, and sheer insanity that descriptive words in the English language can't properly do it justice, and that's before you even get to the singing. When you see her look into the camera on the big screen for the first time you'll already know what I mean.

Not one, not two, but three mid-show standing ovations last night leaves me no choice but to happily award Jamie Lloyd's 2024 revival of Sunset Blvd on Broadway a full 10 stars out of 10. My one negative experience was despite being one of the first people out of the theater after the show, like two dozen people had already crowded at the stage door to get autographs! I'll be back. This was a very unique exhibition of immense talent, and a tremendous accomplishment for theater in general.

$45 rush tickets available in person at the box office, digitally on the TodayTix app, and I believe the lottery on Telecharge is $45 as well. $45 is a steal for a production like this, guys, it doesn't matter where you sit. I can tell this is going to be running for a very long time, but between now and the end of the year the hype is only going to increase, and if you ask me: the sooner you get to see this one, the better.