Broadway’s finest were captivated by Nicole Scherzinger’s performance at the 78th Tony Awards.
The Sunset Boulevard star received a standing ovation from the audience at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 8, after singing a show-stopping performance from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
Wearing a modest black dress amid stage smoke, Scherzinger, 46, in character as cinematic actress Norma Desmond, the lead of the popular Jamie Lloyd-directed production, screamed “As If We Never Said Goodbye.”
Glenn Close, who created the character of Norma Desmond and earned a Tony for the show’s 1993 Broadway premiere, delivered an emotional welcome before the musical moment. Close, 78, witnessed the current Sunset Blvd. performance in April and later saw Scherzinger backstage.
“As If We Never Said Goodbye,” written by Don Black, Christopher Hampton, Amy Powers, and Webber, is regarded as one of the latter’s most memorable songs. Close, Barbara Streisand, Chris Colfer, are some of those who have made the song popular.
Scherzinger is nominated for her first Tony Award for her Broadway debut performance, having already won the Laurence Olivier Award for Sunset Blvd.’s West End run in 2023. Costar Tom Francis, who plays young screenwriter Joe Gillis, is also one of the production’s seven nominees.
Audra McDonald for Gypsy and Jasmine Amy Rogers for Boop! were both selected in this year’s to-be-announced top musical actress category, joining the former Pussycat Doll. Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard star in the musical Death Becomes Her.
This year’s Cynthia Erivo-hosted Tony Awards presentation will also feature new musicals Buena Vista Social Club and Maybe Happy Ending, as well as new plays John Proctor is the Villain and The Hills of California.
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Sunset Blvd., which also stars David Thaxton and Grace Hodgett Young, will play its last performance at the St. James Theatre on July 13. Close and Patti LuPone, another actress who has previously played Norma on stage, have both lauded the production and Scherzinger’s starring performance.
See PEOPLE’s complete coverage of the 78th annual Tony Awards, presented by Erivo at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall and broadcast on CBS and Paramount+.