By JOHN COULBOURN
Toronto Sun 

Get ready for your close-up, Toronto.
  Sunset Boulevard, the latest mega-musical from the mind of Andrew Lloyd Webber - with a bow to film master Billy Wilder, of course - is coming to a theatre near you.
  Ending months of speculation as to which of Toronto's major musical theatre impresarios would land it, Live Entertainment's Garth Drabinsky announced yesterday that the musical will have its Canadian premiere in the North York Performing Arts Centre in November of 1995.
  Live Ent's Toronto production of Show Boat, slated to spin off a Broadway company this fall, will close its Toronto run in October of 1995 and re-open in a theatre to be determined. Live Ent's soon-to-be-constructed Vancouver facility is a likely contender as is a Chicago location.
  With a budget of $12-million, Sunset Boulevard is one of the largest and most lavish musicals ever staged. Based on the Wilder film, which starred Gloria Swanson and William Holden, the musical (book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton) had its world premiere in London's West End in 1993.
  It was directed by long-time Webber associate, Trevor Nunn, with musical staging by Bob Avian. Patti LuPone starred in that production and has since been replaced by Betty Buckley.
  A re-worked Los Angeles production, under the same creative team, opened last December, starring Glenn Close, who will also star in the Broadway production when it opens at New York's Minskoff Theatre. Faye Dunaway will replace Close in LA.
  Despite the fact Close was rumored to be part of the Canadian rights package for Sunset, Drabinsky had no cast announcements at yesterday's media conference.
  "We haven't had any serious casting discussions yet," he said, adding that major casting sessions are planned for Vancouver and Montreal to fill the 30+ cast positions the production entails.
  But he did confirm that the Canadian production will reunite the original creative team - "One of the finest creative teams ever assembled for a musical," Drabinsky said.
  And while there was no hint when tickets might go on sale, Drabinsky indicated that it would probably follow Live Ent's normal pattern.
  "Our market strategy typically stretches over a 12 month period," he said.