WHEN the curtain rose in the McMillan Theatre for this production of the award-winning Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Sunset Boulevard, I could easily have been in London’sTheatreland.

From the very start, everything about Pinstripe Productions’ show was West End standard. The singing, the acting, the stage sets and the costumes were outstanding.

Edward Creswick (Joe Gillis) held the audience’s attention and sympathy as the ambitious but flawed scriptwriter. Maureen Wycherley (Norma Desmond) was suitably eccentric without going over the top as so many others in this role do, making Norma vulnerable and likeable.

Dannielle Redman (Betty Schaefer) was both gullible and beautiful, and Colin Martin (Max von Mayerling) was sinister in his devotion. All four sang superbly. In fact, the entire cast, under the direction of James Tucker (producer/director) Lynne Merrifield (musical director) Mike Purnell (assistant director) and Lucy Taylor (choreographer) were faultless.

With companies like Pinstripe Productions on your doorstep, why bother going to London?

Review by James Hastings