The revival of “Sunset Boulevard” starring Nicole Scherzinger has been drowned in praise since previews. But for many theatergoers, one of its more memorable moments is a stunning sequence in which its cast leave the theater entirely, parade down 44th Street while singing and dancing and then loop around Shubert Alley before appearing at the auditorium’s side door and taking the stage to conclude the number.
Now the hit show’s Olivier-nominated choreographer Fabian Aloise tells Page Six how the history-making moment came together.
Aloise says that director Jamie Lloyd first came up with idea when they were preparing for the London production of the show, as a way to highlight the unique feature of his staging of the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic: video.
Throughout the show, a camera wielded by a dancer-cum-camera-operator, Shayna McPherson, is visible to the audience, while the footage from her camera is beamed onto a huge screen, much like in a movie theater. The effect is that the audience can see the filming process and the film at the same time.
“We just thought, ‘How cool would it be if [lead actor Tom Francis] takes to the streets and we really feel this documentary idea, the camera following him outside,’” Aloise says.
But the geography around the Savoy Theatre, which hosted the West End production, allowed for Francis to duck out of building through the stage door and quickly duck back in through the audience’s entrance, making for an effective but fairly simple theatrical flourish.
When the production crossed the Pond to the St. James Theater, the layout didn’t allow for the same quick detour. But by that point, the production team had become attached to the al fresco interlude.
So they decided to “level up” Aloise — who has also worked on “Wicked,” “Cabaret,” and “Evita” among other shows — tell us. On Broadway, they decided to take not just Francis but the whole dance ensemble for the mid-performance walkabout — which turns out to be a major technical feat.
Not only must the audience be able to hear Francis’s microphone in the auditorium, but the performers must be able to hear the live orchestra while they’re 100 yards or so down the street from the band — so the route had to be planned to allow for a crystal-clear, uninterupted radio signal.
Meanwhile, the performers had to be able to perform safely out in the famously unpredictable environs of Times Square.
“Inside a theater, everything is cleaned, everything is mopped,” said Aloise, “On the streets of New York, if there’s all of a sudden a [new] pothole or if it’s all of a sudden slippery, there [had to be] someone guiding [the performers] saying ‘look out for this’ in [their] ear.” Then there whizzing ambulances — which can’t very well be halted for a musical, even one starring a member of the Pussycat Dolls — to think about.
We’re told a ring of trained security staff form “a protective bubble” around the performers as they move towards Broadway. “Everyone’s got their eyes and ears on what’s happening,” said the choreographer.
He also told us that as word about the nightly, open-air performance got around among Broadway fans, they began to show up every evening for the fleeting free show.
“But they were so respectful about it. They’d maybe wave or get out their phone, but they would never intrude,” said Aloise, “It’s really beautiful, actually.”
He told us that, as yet, there’s never been an unruly or aggressive passerby to deal with.
The show has been extended through July 13.
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