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Nicole Scherzinger Receives a 6-Minute Standing Ovation for Her Triumphant Performance at the Opening of Broadway’s Sunset Blvd.Linh

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Jamie Lloyd’s spectacular revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic musical is now playing at the St. James Theatre in New York City

SUNSET BLVD on Broadway at the St. James Theatre
Nicole Scherzinger in ‘Sunset Blvd.’ on Broadway. Photo: Marc Brenner

If you’re lucky enough to get a ticket to see Nicole Scherzinger in the Broadway revival of Sunset Boulevard, you might want to wear comfortable shoes.

The Grammy nominee gives a chilling, career-defining performance in the musical that’s so commanding, so seductive and so magnificent, she’s receiving multiple mid-show standing ovations — including one that lasted 6 minutes on Sunday, Oct. 20, when the show officially opened at the St. James Theatre in New York City.

It’s an incredible moment to witness, and one that fans of the former Pussycat Doll frontwoman feel is long-overdue. After years of cutting her teeth in the music industry and failing to connect as a solo artist in the states, Scherzinger is finally getting the flowers she deserves as she makes her Broadway debut.

She even lingers on the word “home” in the lyric “I’ve come home at last” from “As If We Never Said Goodbye,” as if to remind everyone that the stage is where she belongs.

SUNSET BLVD on Broadway at the St. James Theatre

But Scherzinger will surely be getting way more than flowers for playing faded silent movie star Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, styled as Sunset Blvd. this time around. Already the recipient of the Olivier Award after the musical’s run in London’s West End, the X-Factor and Masked Singer judge should be making space on her shelf for a Tony Award, with many considering her the frontrunner for the prize.

Not only is Scherzinger’s powerful voice in top form, but she’s given layers to the character audiences have never seen before (and that’s not counting the trendy dance moves choreographer Fabian Aloise has arranged). Scherzinger’s Desmond is charismatic, funny, sensual, intelligent, dramatic, conniving and monstrous — all at the same time. She flirts her way into the hearts of everyone around her in a way that has you rooting for her, even when her behavior becomes ugly and outrageous.

Let’s just say, she’d make a fantastic Real Housewife of Beverly Hills.

SUNSET BLVD on Broadway at the St. James Theatre

The show, adapted from Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning 1950 film for the stage by book writers and lyricists Don Black and Christopher Hampton, follows Desmond as she hires young screenwriter Joe Gillis (Tom Francis) to help her stage a comeback to the silver screen after Hollywood deems her too old for the industry. Desmond, however, begins to feel threatened when she discovers Gillis’ relationship with young writer Betty Schaefer (the bright Grace Hodgett Young). And in her desperation, not even Desmond’s steadfast butler Max von Mayerling (theater veteran David Thaxton, better than ever) can stop what she does next.

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SUNSET BLVD on Broadway at the St. James Theatre
The cast of ‘Sunset Blvd.’ on Broadway.Marc Brenner

Those who have seen previous versions of Sunset Boulevard may think they’ve seen it before, but Lloyd’s bold vision makes this story feel completely fresh. Though the story may be set in 1940s Hollywood, he sees it told through the eyes a 21st century, with a production that’s so technically marvelous, it’s impossible to look away.

Set on a bare stage designed by Soutra Gilmour surrounded by rows of lights, everything is completely in black and white (which makes the red blood oozing from Desmond’s face all the show’s finale more striking). A tilted black screen anchors the center back wall, where live footage captured by steadicams on stage is broadcast, showing audiences new angles to each performance.

Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom’s are responsible for the inventive video design and cinematography.

It’s a wildly effective technique, and one that allows new statements to be made about the show’s topics, like when the camera fades between close-ups of Scherzinger and Hannah Yun Chamberlain (who plays Young Norma) as Desmond contemplates her faded youth. There’s even an opening title sequence and closing credits, fitting for a story about the allure of the cinema.