Back last autumn when I did my Sunset Boulevard rewatching for my Yuletide story, I also checked out various bits and pieces of the musical based on the film because I was interested in how other actresses and actors interpreted the part. It's also interesting in what it says about adaption to another medium. I don't think I could stand a Sunset Boulevard remake: it's one of these films where a remake wouldn't just be unthinkable heresy, but also extremely impractical. Back in 1950, Billy Wilder made a contemporary film, not a costume drama, as any remake would invariably be. He also, and this is an advantage no one will ever have again, had actual stars from the silent age avalable to let them play against then-contemporary actors, and the clash in styles is as much part of the story as anything else. But a) theatre, and b) a musical is such a different form of expression that I don't mind in the same way I would a film remake.

Plus: watching the likes of Glenn Close, Barbra Streisand, Shirley Bassey et al having a go at Norma Desmond, or Hugh Jackman and John Barrowman try their hand at Joe Gilles is immensely entertaining, I have to admit.

( Check out the evidence )