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Torien’s Montecasino Theatre on August 21, is not the sort of thing audiences will find themselves clapping along to, a la Dirty Dancing or Starlight Express. It’s more real than that in a potentially discomfiting way for those involved in the theatre industry.

The stage musical is based on Billie Wilder’s famous 1950 movie about a huge silent film star named Norma Desmond (Angela Killian in this version), who has been completely marginalised thanks to the arrival of “talkies”. Disgruntled screenwriter Joe Gillis (Jonathan Roxmouth) sees in Desmond an opportunity to get his own career back on the rails, but the pair’s collective bitterness and cynicism (tempered only slightly by Bethany Dickson’s character, Betty Schaefer, a script editor who offers to help Gillis with his current project), make Sunset Boulevard a dark, challenging piece.

“It’s about something bigger than the artist,” says Roxmouth, during a break in rehearsals. “It’s about the underbelly of showbiz – something we know about but which nobody likes to reveal. The message of the musical is this: once the superficiality of the business is gone, what’s left?

Bethany Dickson and Jonathan Roxmouth during rehearsal for Sunset Boulevard at the Brixton Community center in Brixton, 8 August 2013.Picture – Neil McCartney

Roxmouth and many of his co-stars are writers, sometimes struggling to get projects developed, so Gillis’ situation will be familiar. And the opportunism shown by all the major characters in Sunset Boulevard will also ring true – it’s a necessary skill if you’re going to succeed as an entertainer, though it can result in others getting their toes trodden on.

“It’s been a mindshift for me; I had to do some soul searching to understand the steel in this character,” confesses Dickson, a kind, cheerful sort whose personality seems out of keeping with the shadows cast by the themes of the piece.

“As I watch Angela play Norma, I connect on a personal level. The character lived for her work, and I’m a lot like that.

“And the words in the song As If We Never Said Goodbye [which include: ‘The atmosphere as thrilling here as always; Feel the early morning madness; Feel the magic in the making’] really underline that for me.”

Roxmouth and Dickson have worked together in a musical before as Danny and Sandy in Grease and are clearly relishing the challenge and excitement of doing so again.

“We’re generally bound to brand names here,” says Roxmouth, referring to Sunset Boulevard being a relatively lesser-known entity for an audience gorged on The Lion King, Cats, Grease and Dirty Dancing among others.

“For this show, there is no frame of reference. “I’ve inherited all of the lead musical roles I’ve had, except in Beauty And The Beast. Here I have the process to enjoy it’s great.” “We get to shape the journey, as well as just being a part of it,” adds Dickson.

“With these banzai musicals [the term for downscaled productions that can play in smaller venues and which chew up less budget – Chess, Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar are just a few examples of success stories in the Montecasino Theatre], we’re all freed to become more of an ensemble, moving sets around and being involved on every level,” says Roxmouth.

The show’s cast will be acutely aware of actors – friends, colleagues and relatives who currently find themselves in a “Norma Desmond” situation. Does that make this production an extension of some tough realities, plus tunes? “It’s not the typical formula for a musical,” Roxmouth concedes.

“There’s a 20-minute opening block before you can really find an opportunity to clap.” “It’s subliminally different,” Dickson agrees. “Most audiences will expect a big opening number, with plenty of pizzazz. Instead, they get educated in the world the characters live in.”

“It establishes its conventions very quickly,” elaborates Roxmouth. “Like a good film noir, there has to be a genuine root of reality. It’s a very dark show, and this one’s even darker because it doesn’t have the distractions of the original’s enormous set.

“I’ll be interested to see audiences’ reactions to it – I think they resonate with far more than we sometimes give them credit for. “It’s been called a ‘Dear John letter to showbiz’, and people will understand that theme. I understand it. I wish I didn’t …

“Plus, whatever else you think of him, Andrew Lloyd Webber knows how to write a hummable tune.”