Kevin Adams made a 500-kilometre round trip from Wangaratta specifically to see Brightman as Norma Desmond. “It wasn’t until we were actually in the theatre, sitting down, the lights were about to dim that they announced she wouldn’t be performing,” he said.
“The show was terrific,” he adds, “but it was very disappointing, when it’s been plugged as a star attraction, to go and then find they’re not on.”
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Julie Baker and three friends planned a weekend trip around the production – Baker and another friend travelled from Sydney while another travelled from New Zealand. Brightman was the main drawcard for the group, who booked tickets several months in advance at $250 a head. Like Adams, they also only found out about the cast change once already seated, “literally before curtain up”, says Baker. Baker emphasises that Silvie Paladino, who has been filling in for Brightman, was “amazing”, but that the group’s visit “was built around Sarah Brightman”.
The production’s website says that the company reserves the right “to add, withdraw or substitute cast as necessary”, but the sustained absence of a headliner is highly unusual.
Australia’s premiere season of Sunset Boulevard in 1996, starring Debra Byrne and Hugh Jackman at the Regent Theatre, was plagued with the absence of its own star. Byrne – who was also performing the role of Desmond – was frequently and unexpectedly absent, the season ran shorter than expected, and plans to take the production to Sydney were abandoned.
Recently, the lavish production has both pared back the number of shows happening per week and dropped ticket prices. At present, it is running a 72-hour promotion where all remaining tickets are available for $72.
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Musicals are a significant source of income for the national opera company, with last year’s productions of Miss Saigon and The Phantom of the Opera accounting for nearly half of the entire 2023 audience.
On the night Adams attended, he noted many empty seats: “It wasn’t one or two, there were quite a lot.”
He also points to the discounted tickets currently on sale. “It’s a huge production and I think people should go and see it for sure.”
Despite the cast changes, Adams says he enjoyed the show and would be keen to watch it again, with Brightman in the role. “I did want to hear her voice. I did want to see her in the role, and just see what she could do.”
Having previously seen the premiere Australian season in the mid-1990s he feels that this version is better. “The staging was just incredible. The sets and the stagecraft, everyone in it … we are very lucky to have such high-standard shows here in Melbourne.”
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