ARTICLE: Melbourne     Rush to avoid Sunset on show By: GREG BURCHALL, The Age 23 October 1996 Preparations for this weekend's Melbourne premiere of Sunset Boulevard were in disarray last night, with the show's female lead taken ill, her two understudies not ready for the role and the director out of town. The immediate fate of the $15 million production will rest on a doctor's examination today of Debra Byrne, who fell heavily on stage during a preview performance of the musical on Monday night. Byrne's fall, which has been blamed on a middle-ear infection, forced the cancellation of the rest of Monday's performance and another scheduled preview last night. Byrne did not appear in public yesterday, but publicists for the show denied that she had injured a leg. With just three days before the premiere, Byrne's illness could not have come at a worse time for the Sunset producers, the Really Useful Company. The show's director, Trevor Nunn, left town on Friday. Meanwhile, neither Maria Mercedes nor Suzanne Lee - the designated understudies for Byrne's character of Norma Desmond - is sufficiently prepared yet to play the role. Really Useful's managing director, Mr Tim McFarlane, was in the audience on Monday with the Governor, Mr Richard McGarvie, and Melbourne's Lord Mayor, Cr Ivan Deveson, when Byrne lost her balance and fell. Fellow cast members Hugh Jackman and Norbert Lamla tried to cover the incident and keep the show going until it became obvious the actor-singer could not carry on. "It's been a timely reminder that we are dealing with live theatre, that there is a human element," Mr McFarlane said yesterday after announcing that audiences for the cancelled previews could get refunds or exchange tickets for another performance. "It really is awful, and nobody is feeling it more keenly than Debra," he said. Mr McFarlane said it was regrettable that neither understudy was ready to go on, but that was not unusual during the preview run. The actors had both begun work on the part earlier this week. But some theatrical observers yesterday expressed puzzlement that Trevor Nunn had left town without putting the alternate Normas through their paces.