It is based on the film. The plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the fabled Los Angeles street. When young screenwriter Joe Gillis accidentally crosses her path, she sees in him an opportunity to make her return to the big screen, with romance and tragedy to follow.
Opening first in London in , the musical has had several long runs internationally and enjoyed extensive tours. However, it has been the subject of several legal battles and ultimately lost money due to its extraordinary running costs.
From approximately to , Gloria Swanson worked with actor Richard Stapley aka Richard Wyler and cabaret singer and pianist Dickson Hughes on a musical adaptation originally entitled Starring Norma Desmond , then Boulevard!
Rights holder Paramount Pictures originally had given Swanson verbal permission to proceed with the musical, but there had been no formal legal arrangement. On 20 February , Paramount executive Russell Holman wrote to Swanson asking her to cease work on the project because "it would be damaging for the property to be offered to the entertainment public in another form as a stage musical. A recording of the entire score, which had been housed in the Gloria Swanson archives at the University of Texas at Austin , was released on CD in In the early s, Stephen Sondheim outlined a musical stage adaptation and went so far as to compose the first scene with librettist Burt Shevelove.
A chance encounter with Billy Wilder at a cocktail party gave Sondheim the opportunity to introduce himself and ask the original film's co-screenwriter and director his opinion of the project which was to star Jeanette MacDonald.
