"The Normas from St Louis"
by Kristine Kulage

If you are visiting this site and viewing this page, then I do not need to explain to you what it means to be an undying, devoted, even obsessed fan of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard. The fact is, as with the character of Norma Desmond herself, there is no middle ground for a fan of Sunset. You either do not like the show, brushing it off as a shallow, overly ornate, grandiose spectacle or…you will be enthralled with it and forever devoted to it.

This is a story of two sisters who are completely and forever "Devoted to Sunset", loving it, worshipping it for all of those same reasons so many claim as reasons for disliking it. For it is one’s admiration of its grandeur and gaudiness, its eccentric, over-the-top, insane heroine, and her tragic, touching fall from reality that makes someone truly devoted to Sunset.

Many things in life fail to live up to one’s expectations. At the same time, it is extremely rare for something to actually surpass one’s expectations. But that is exactly what happened when my sister and I were finally able to see Sunset Boulevard after waiting over 3 ½ long years.

Wishing to display our love and enthusiasm for Sunset Boulevard and the character of Norma Desmond to everyone in the theatre (including the entire cast), my sister and I attended the show for our first time in our front row center seats at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis in full costume. Clothed in our completely home-made "With One Look" costumes including a turban, sunglasses, and dripping jewelry, we were proudly escorted by a group of impressed ushers to our front row seats to nervously await the moment when Norma Desmond (brilliantly portrayed by Linda Balgord) would first descend the staircase of her mansion.
The experience took our breath away. At the end of the show, my sister and I sat in the front row both crying. It was wonderful. We knew we had to see it again. And again. And again.

We attended Sunset Boulevard at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis two more times in full costume, each time making a futile attempt to meet Ms. Balgord and Ron Bohmer (Joe Gillis) after the show to get photos and autographs. But we hardly knew how much we were noticed by the entire cast and orchestra…

Knowing that the tour of Sunset Boulevard would be closing after its run in Chicago, and being in deep mourning that it had left St. Louis, my sister and I decided we had to make the road trip to Chicago to see the show again. We bought tickets for both the matinee and evening performance of Sunset Boulevard at the Chicago Civic Opera House on May 31, 1997, my 27th birthday and packed our Norma Desmond costumes one last time.

As we were crossing the street after completing our "photo session" in front of the Civic Opera House that afternoon, one of the Sunset orchestra members recognized us from St. Louis and invited us for a backstage tour after the matinee show. And that was just the beginning.
With help from the ushers (who insisted that we deserved to have front row center seats), we had our seats upgraded to front row center for both performances. The treat was like a hot fudge sundae with extra hot fudge; we indulged ourselves, devouring, and treasuring, every moment of the show. Before both performances we chatted with orchestra members, many of whom remembered us from St. Louis, and one of them even took a few pictures of us for his scrapbook.

During the intermission of the matinee performance we were able to meet and talk with cast members who were selling signed posters and other collectibles for BC/EFA. Many of them remembered us from St. Louis as well and told us how thrilled they were when they first went on stage and saw us in the front row. We actually meant something to the performers! One of them told me they had a special item they would bring out for me during the intermission of the evening show (little did I know what was in store).

After the matinee performance, we were treated to a backstage tour. Luckily, Ms. Balgord was standing just inside the door, still in full make-up, and we were able to meet her and had the pleasure of expressing our admiration for her performance to her personally. Backstage, I ran my hands across every single Norma Desmond dress (something I was told that very few people ever did). My hands were shaking. Those gorgeous gowns were even more fabulous close-up. I lifted the "New Ways to Dream" gown and was shocked at how incredibly heavy it was (at least 30 pounds). I fingered the head piece worn in the final scene. I was touching musical theatre history. And soon after I was standing on the stage in the very midst of musical theatre history. The mansion was so ornate and it was obvious that much more attention to detail was given to every last thing than would ever been seen by anyone in the audience (even the first row I will attest to). Shiny gemstones in the black velvet curtains, woven patterns in the cushions, black and white photos of Ms. Balgord herself sprinkled everywhere - all a reflection of the excess of Norma Desmond.

That evening performance of Sunset Boulevard was and always will be the most spectacular performance of any musical I have ever seen. It was as if they were putting on the show for us alone - the cast constantly making eye contact with us; the orchestra pouring out their hearts into that beautiful, haunting score. After laughing until our sides hurt during the "This Time Next Year" number (where the drunken antics of the members of the party were accentuated with the hilarious use of props and passing out in the bathtub), when we met with the cast members in the lobby at intermission they admitted that they had been "pouring it on" for us. They told us that they could see us loving every minute of the show on a TV screen backstage. The screen was on the conductor constantly and we sat directly behind him. I had no idea that an audience could really have that much of an effect on the actors or quality of a performance.

During the intermission, cast members presented my sister and I with large Sunset Boulevard posters signed by the entire cast (free as a birthday present to me). Then they brought out the surprise - a Norma Desmond Barbie Doll created by the Sunset Boulevard costume department. The doll was created especially for an auction for charity which was cancelled, and the entire cast wanted to offer her to me if I would make a donation. They told me they wanted me to have her; how could I have refused? Her face was hand crafted and hand painted to look like Norma Desmond; she was dressed in the "As If We Never Said Goodbye" costume - dress, hat, gloves, and fur all made from scraps of material used to by the costume designers to make Ms. Balgord’s dress. Her authenticity was guaranteed, down to her black nylons which were actual nylon scraps sewn together at the back seam. And then I noticed something…Linda Balgord had autographed the base that the doll stands on. Cast members told me that when she learned that I was going to take the doll, she insisted on signing it for me. The one-of-a-kind, priceless treasure now stands as the centerpiece of my Sunset Boulevard shrine in my bedroom, a constant reminder of the best birthday presented I have ever received.

After bitterly weeping after the evening performance (and bowing to the cast with arms outstretched in a "We’re not worthy" fashion during the curtain calls), we waited at the stage door where each cast and orchestra member smiled at us and wished us a safe trip home and thanked us for coming. This is not a typo. They thanked us for coming to see their show. Amazing. We were hugged, and yes, even kissed by one of the cast members as they exited the stage door that evening. They seemed to love us as much as we loved them. And we finally got to meet Ron Bohmer and Linda Balgord (again).We got their autographs, had our pictures taken with them (courtesy of a dear friend and fellow Sunset Boulevard fanatic who spent the "Great day" with us), and most importantly we were able to express our admiration to them for their outstanding performances. And Ms. Balgord may have signed the Norma Desmond Barbie Doll for me, but at the stage door Mr. Bohmer personalized my poster by insisting that he write "Happy Birthday" on it for me.

"The 2 Norma's from St. Louis would like to express their sincere gratitude to the entire cast of the 1st National Tour of Sunset Boulevard for this priceless, one-of-a-kind Sunset Boulevard Collectible (face hand- painted and clothing made by the SB costume department out of scraps of Norma's real dress, feathers, nylons, fur, etc). They are forever grateful to the cast for making the events of May 31, 1997 a musical theatre lover's dream come true and a day they will never forget." My sister and I continually reminded the cast members that day that it is a musical theatre lover’s dream come true to be able to converse with and associate with members of the cast, and certainly to this degree was a wonderful, welcomed exception. This rarity is at the heart of the story.
But, what we remember most from our Sunset Boulevard adventure is what a remarkable, extraordinary gift it is for a show’s cast members to make individuals in the audience feel special and appreciated. And that is precisely the gift that the cast of the 1st National Tour of Sunset Boulevard gave to the 2 Norma’s from St. Louis. We are infinitely grateful to them and, in large part because of them, we are forever "Devoted to Sunset".

Next page of Sunset memories...