Nicole Scherzinger did not go to her Sunset Blvd. predecessors Patti LuPone or Glenn Close before taking on the role of Norma in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
“I think I’d be too nervous to speak to Patti LuPone and Glenn Close. I absolutely love them,” Scherzinger, 46, told Luxury Handbag Shopping exclusively during the Sunset Blvd. opening night on Sunday, October 20. “They’re idols of mine that I’ve looked up to.”
The singer explained that she tried “not to look at anybody’s interpretation” of the character before making her Broadway debut. (LuPone originated the role on the West End in 1993. Close took over once the production came to America for the Los Angeles and New York stage shows from 1993 to 1994. Close also reprised her role for the West End and Broadway revival in 2016 to 2017.)
“I’ve never seen their interpretation,” Scherzinger continued. “[Director] Jamie [Lloyd] asked me in the beginning when he asked me to do this, to read the script, read the story, and when I did, I looked at the words and they just penetrated my heart and soul, and they spoke to me.”
She continued, “I’ve lived a life. Then I was able to bring my own life to these words, and my own breath to this story.”
The musical tells the story of Scherzinger’s Norma, an actress who hires screenwriter Joe Gillis (Tom Francis) to help craft her return to the screen.
Scherzinger told Us that initially, this wasn’t her “dream role” but has transformed into something that changed her life.
“I honestly feel like it was written for me. I feel like it was meant for me,” she said of the musical. “Everybody should keep an open mind no matter what you do in life, because you never know where your answered prayers and dreams are going to come from.”
Scherzinger and Francis’ version of Sunset Blvd. is modernized in a way that other productions weren’t. For example, Francis, 25, starts the musical’s second act outside on the busy New York City streets. He told Us that was director Lloyd’s idea.
“It’s gone crazy [on social media],” Francis told Us. Videos of him singing the song’s opening number have since gone viral as security moves the public out of the way during Francis’ performance.
“The security are great. The security are the best,” he added. “The security are dense. It’s pretty hard to get close to us. The security are amazing. We’ve got quite a few security guards. It is protected. We’ve got a bubble around us.”
Reporting by Lexi Carson
