‘Sunset Boulevard’ Broadway Review: Glenn Close Leads an Awkward Comeback

Close gives a bravura performance — funny, over-the-top, ridiculous — but her silent film star is never vulnerable except when she attempts to sing

sunset boulevard glenn close
Photo: Joan Marcus

Nearly a quarter of a century ago, Glenn Close famously wore a turban on stage in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” first in Los Angeles, followed by a Tony-winning run on Broadway. The turban, as well as her Kabuki white face, also graced the show’s poster.

The turban is back for the 2017 Broadway revival, which opened Thursday at the Palace Theatre, but appears in only one brief scene. Close instead wears a variety of hats (her flashy, sometimes ridiculous, costumes are by Tracy Christensen after Anthony Powell’s original designs), but what you will remember is her hair. I don’t recall the color back in 1994, but it’s definitely red this time around.

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