Video: Watch Sarah Brightman Sing ‘As If We Never Say Goodbye’ in Australia’s Sunset Boulevard Revival

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Video: Watch Sarah Brightman Sing ‘As If We Never Say Goodbye’ in Australia’s Sunset Boulevard Revival

Following a limited engagement in Melbourne, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is now playing the Sydney Opera House.

The Phantom of the Opera‘s Sarah Brightman heads the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard,
which began performances at the Sydney Opera House August 28 following a spring engagement at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre. Coinciding with the Sydney arrival, the revival has released a video of its leading lady performing a portion of “As If We Never Said Goodbye.” Watch Brightman’s performance above; read the reviews for the Melbourne engagement by
clicking here.

Brightman has taken on her first theatrical role in more than three decades, with the
internationally acclaimed concert artist playing faded
silent screen star Norma Desmond opposite the Joe Gillis of Tim Draxl. (Meanwhile, the recent, minimalist, London revival of Sunset, starring Olivier winner Nicole Scherzinger with direction by Jamie Lloyd, arrives on Broadway in the fall.)

Get a Sneak Peek at Morgan Large’s Monochrome Set for Australian Sunset Boulevard

Brightman and Draxl are joined by Robert Grubb as Max Von Mayerling, Ashleigh Rubenach as Betty
Schaefer, Jarrod Draper as Artie Green, and Paul Hanlon as Cecil B.
DeMille. Silvie Paladino plays Norma at select performances.

The ensemble includes Regan Barber, Amy Berrisford, Billy Bourchier, Campbell Braithwaite,
Benjamin Colley, Grace Driscoll, Madison Green, Peter Ho, Leah Lim, Mary
McCorry, Charlotte Page, Morgan Palmer, Caity Plummer, Taylor Scanlan,
Tom Sharah, Lisa Sontag, Riley Sutton, and Dean Vince.

Brightman originated the role of Christine in Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera both in the West End and on Broadway and subsequently appeared in Aspects of Love.
Since then, she has become the world’s best-selling soprano, with
global sales of 30 million, more than 180 gold and platinum awards in
over 40 countries, and over 1 billion streams worldwide.

Video: Watch Title Song From Australian Sunset Boulevard

“I
am so delighted to be returning to Australia after many years, and to
be marking my return to the stage in a musical after so long, it is only
fitting for it to be with such an exquisite production as Sunset Boulevard.
I have always admired Andrew’s work on this musical and I very much
look forward to exploring the incredible score and also the iconic
character of Norma Desmond. ‘Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close up!’,” Brightman said in an earlier statement.

READ: Sarah Brightman Finally Travels to Deepspace… in Mobile Video Game

The Australian production is directed by Paul Warwick Griffin
with set and costume design by Morgan Large, choreography by Ashley
Wallen, and musical supervision by Kristen Blodgette.

Tony and Olivier Award winner Patti LuPone created the role of Norma
Desmond for the musical’s world-premiere production in London, earning
an Olivier nomination for her performance. Glenn Close played the role
in Los Angeles and later in New York, where she won a Tony Award for her
work as the aging actor. Other musical Normas include Tony winner Betty
Buckley (London and New York), Olivier winner Elaine Paige (London and
New York), Tony winner Diahann Carroll (Canada), Petula Clark (London
and U.S. tour), Debra Byrne (Australia), Helen Schneider (Germany), and
Linda Balgord (U.S. tour). After bringing her Norma to London, Close
starred in the 2017 Broadway revival of Sunset, while Tony winner Stephanie J. Block played Norma in a production at the Kennedy Center.

Performances continue in Sydney through November 1.

Sunset is presented in Australia by GWB Entertainment and Opera Australia by arrangement with The Really Useful Group.

Click here for more information.