“I am big. Movies are small ones.” This famous line echoes through a tale about a map of fame, a fading star, and a Broadway dream that refused to stay buried in the past. Norma Desmond and the actress who embodied her, Gloria Swanson, stand at the center of a Hollywood chapter when silent cinema ruled and a sudden shift to sound left many stars searching for a new place in the sun. The question remains: what happened next when the industry turned away from its brightest icons and a legendary screen presence sought a fresh chance on stage and screen alike? The ambition was to generate a musical adaptation of a Wilder creation that once shone on Broadway and in the mind of many who adored his work.
This is a compelling story that has not always received its due attention. A documentary project, Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, brings into focus the evolving relationship between the creators of the musical libretto, and the untold path this project might have taken were it ever realized. The film journey unfolds as part of a broader look at how a classic era can inspire a modern attempt to revive a legacy on stage and screen.
Unable to recapture the same magic in talking pictures, Swanson settled in New York around the 1940s and reinvented herself in advertising and fashion. The dream of Twilight of the Gods, a concept Wilder and Paramount had once considered, faced new uncertainties with the changing fortunes of the industry. In this moment, a curious spark appeared: two young musical writers, inspired by Time magazine, proposed bringing their freshly penned play About Time to Broadway. Swanson, initially skeptical, began to entertain the possibility of transforming her own life story into a musical narrative.
For three months in 1955, the trio locked themselves away in a Palm Springs house to develop the project. In the early stages, the creative team – Swanson, the two writers, and the music and lyrics collaborators – wrestled with the direction of a work that many believed carried a darkness ill-suited for a big musical stage. Yet Swanson kept the flame alive, cultivating the belief that a dramatic, operatic arc could resonate with audiences and offer a new kind of emotional depth. The tension between ambition and feasibility defined the process, as Paramount held the rights in question and later allowed a shift in ownership that altered the project’s fate.
cloudy business
The venture faced disheartening odds in an era when ambitious musicals often struggled to take root. Wilder had long envisioned a grand, operatic tragedy, and Swanson’s energy kept the idea moving forward even as challenges mounted. The relationship dynamics among the writers added further strain, and personal histories began to color the creative journey. Anecdotes from the Palm Springs gathering, including moments of high drama and the intense drive to complete a transformative work, illustrate how personal and professional lives intertwined in the making of a passion project.
The path was not smooth: rights issues, shifting partnerships, and the pressures of the industry all converged to stall progress. A public performance on a television program years later offered a glimpse of the musical’s themes, while demos and rehearsal recordings preserved the essence of what the project might have become. Though the full musical never materialized as originally imagined, the fragments of its creation reveal the stubborn spirit behind a dream that dared to keep singing beyond the initial setback.
Swanson’s journey, including artistic collaborations, personal discoveries, and the complicated dynamics of romance and work, adds a layer of human drama to the music and theatre story. The narrative hints at a broader truth about creative partnerships: that genius often travels through rough terrain, facing missteps and miscommunications before any triumph can be claimed. The arc of Hughes and Stapley, the songwriting pair, shows how partnerships can rise and dissolve, leaving behind a textured legacy that peers into a time when stage dreams clashed with real-world obstacles.
Andrew Lloyd Weber on stage
As time moved on, the landscape of musical theatre shifted again. A later chapter touched on a fresh interpretation of the same inspire-cause. A new generation of audiences came to know the core characters and the emotional pull of a life changed by fame and longing. The idea found renewed energy in the hands of artists who could translate old passions into contemporary performance, underlining how a single narrative can cross the boundaries of time and style. The revival of the core themes, the tension between art and commerce, and the pursuit of artistic integrity remain central to this enduring tale. The work’s legacy invites reflection on how creative collaborations can leave a lasting imprint, even if the original project itself never reached its intended stage.