Nicole Scherzinger Sets Broadway Debut as Fame-Hungry Norma Desmond in ‘Sunset Boulevard’

Being on Broadway wasn’t one of the goals Nicole Scherzinger set when she was listing off her dreams on the Pussycat Dolls single “When I Grow Up,” but the fame-hungry song is a perfect companion to her latest achievement. When Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard heads to New York from London’s West End, Scherzinger will make her Broadway debut in the lead role as Norma Desmond.

Scherzinger first entered the role during its third West End revival in 2023. It had been seven years since the production was revived there, and its return to Broadway marks its first since 2017. The singer will be joined by other members of the West End cast, including Tom Francis, Grace Hodgett-Young, and David Thaxton.

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Norma Desmond, a former silent movie star forever chasing the heights of her early fame, has been played by Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Betty Buckley, Elaine Paige, Rita Morena, and more throughout the production’s 30-year history.

“Haunted by her memories and dreams, movie star Norma Desmond yearns to return to the big screen,” an official synopsis reads. “A struggling screenwriter who can’t sell his scripts to the Hollywood studios may be her only hope, until their dangerous and compelling relationship leads to disastrous circumstances.”

The West End run of Sunset Boulevard closes on Jan. 16 after 16 weeks at the Savoy Theatre in London. West End and Broadway director Jamie Lloyd reimagined the musical, adapted from Billy Wilder’s 1950 film, for the production. Scherzinger joined in her first return to the stage since appearing in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 2015 production of Cats.

With book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, Sunset Boulevard features an essential score, including the songs “The Perfect Year,” “With One Look,” and “As If We Never Said Goodbye.”

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