Big-name musicals to hit the stage

Soothing melodies and soaring high notes are set to fill the air, as the coming year brings along a host of musicals to the Lion City.

- Benson Ang

At least six big-name musicals are confirmed to be hitting the stage here, of which four will be staged by live entertainment company Base Entertainment Asia.

First up will be the tragedy Sunset Boulevard, with its tale of faded glory and unfulfilled ambition. It makes its Asian premiere at Sands Theatre from Feb 7 to 23. Featuring music by famed English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, and songs such as With One Look, The Perfect Year and As If We Never Said Goodbye, the production first opened in London in 1993.

It centres on fictional silent movie star Norma Desmond, who is discarded by Hollywood after silent movies gave way to "talkies", but longs to return to the big screen.

The eccentric character will be played by English singer-actress Sarah Brightman, who is one of the world's best-known sopranos. She was the first actress to play the role of Christine in The Phantom Of The Opera, another Lloyd Webber musical, both in West End in 1986 and on Broadway in 1988.

The production will mark the first time that the 64-year-old is performing in a musical theatre production in Asia and her first theatrical role in almost three decades. She last performed here in 2022, during a concert at The Star Theatre, as part of her A Christmas Symphony Christmas tour.

When March rolls around, the stage is set to turn Emerald green, as the award-winning musical Wicked returns from March 19 to April 20.

The production is set in the Land of Oz before and after Dorothy's arrival, and explores the complex friendship between two witches, the fiery Elphaba and bubbly Glinda. It was first performed in San Francisco in 2003, and features earworms such as Popular, Defying Gravity and For Good.