"I told them I wanted to make it very personal," Schulman says - less grandiose, certainly, which had been much of the problem. "I decided to set it on a Hollywood sound stage and let it evolve as a movie does. We'd create each setting as in a movie, let the audience enter into the creation of the fantasy."
"Sunset" is set in the '50s, which Schulman describes as a great time for movies, even though producers were then running scared of the new beast, television. "The production numbers are right out of the '50s movie musical world. Norma is very film noir."
But first, Schulman needed a creative team. She made an unusual choice: "I chose my entire collaborative team from 'Violet,' " an intimate off-Broadway musical she directed that won the 1997 New York Drama Critics Circle Award as best musical, the same year "Titanic" won the Tony. "I wanted 'Sunset' to have that intimacy."
That brought in Marshall, who had choreographed "Violet." But their relationship has been a long one.
"She gave me my Equity card," Marshall says, remembering that first CLO season, then at Heinz Hall. "Now I realize how young she was then and what a huge deal her job was. She came into that season like Schwarzkopf - prepared, smart, but also open, nice. ... Her technical knowledge is so vast. She's right in there with the nuts and bolts."
Women rarely get to direct big stage musicals.
"It's the old stereotype," Schulman told the Post-Gazette in 1992, after she had broken through the gender barrier with "The Secret Garden" on Broadway. "So much money is involved - can the little woman do it?"
To prove you can do it, you need experience, but how to get that? What freed Schulman from this double-bind was her experience at the CLO, working with a skilled union crew and directing a new show every week. "After you've done that, a Broadway musical seems like a piece of cake."
Still, Schulman had once despaired of ever getting a big Broadway musical. But in 1990 she had been hired to do a "chamber" version of "Sweeney Todd" and ended up with a critical hit and a Tony nomination. That led to "The Secret Garden," a breakthrough in many ways with its dreamy, psychologically layered staging and, not coincidentally, a creative team almost entirely composed of women. For this extraordinary work, though, Schulman did not get a Tony nomination, partly because, even after the show opened, she continued to tighten and refine it. "Unprofessional," sniffed the old boys network, whereas civilians (and audiences!) would admire her perfectionist drive.
Now there are a few woman directors on Broadway - Graciela Daniele ("Once on This Island"), Schulman, "Lion King's" Julie Taymor and, in London, Gale Edwards of "Whistle Down the Wind." Marshall is making a move to join these slim ranks herself, directing outside New York, as Schulman once did.
Schulman and Marshall have worked together several times since the CLO, most notably on the award-winning "Violet" and on pre-Broadway stagings of "Time and Again." Then the mentee was able to turn mentor: When Marshall was appointed artistic director of New York City Center's Encores! Series of concert musicals, she hired Schulman to direct last year's "The Boys from Syracuse."
"I hired her," Marshall says, "and then she hired me. 'Do you want to direct it?' 'OK. Do you want to choreograph?'
They work well together. "On 'Violet,' " Marshall says, "the nicest compliment was that you couldn't tell where her work ended and mine began."
"We talk exactly the same way," says Schulman. "I felt that instantly doing both 'Boys' and 'Violet,' which are so different stylistically."
An observer can see the similarities - intense, focused, voluble. Schulman is more wry, more nervy, and Marshall maybe a shade cooler, though hardly cool. Marshall has the additional strength of a memory for detail that would challenge a computer. Both are Broadway insiders, now, who know the score.
"We're both great believers in pre-production," says Marshall. Schulman began to work on "Sunset" a year ago. (Maybe because women have had to struggle, they really do work harder.) Then Marshall came on board.
Together, they must be the equivalent of Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell and the Joint Chiefs combined.
"We both squinted our eyes at each other," Marshall recalls of starting on "Sunset." "What does this mean? What do they want us to do?"
It turns out that Really Useful and PACE wanted a practical way to tour, and they embraced the idea of giving a whole new look to the show. But they also wanted to use Petula Clark as their star.
"Sunset" had diva troubles from the start. It began with Lu Pone in London, then Close in L.A. When Lloyd Webber broke Lu Pone's contract by bringing Close to New York, it supposedly cost him a million, though the battle royal may have been worth that much in publicity. Betty Buckley followed Lu Pone in London and then Close in New York. Elaine Page played in both cities, and Clark was the last Norma in London. But there was another squabble over the tour: Buckley said she wanted to do it, but they opted for the cheaper Linda Balgord. Her lack of a star name is another reason sometimes given for the tour's failure.
So this time, the producers wanted Clark.
"I felt trepidation," Schulman admits. "I really wanted to start fresh. And Petula also felt trepidation. We spoke for a long time. Then she turned to me one day and said, 'You mean, we can create it together?' I saw the idea land all at once - she could create her own Norma."
Before, Clark had been doing the role as pioneered by others; now it is hers.
"You know, she was a major movie star as a child in London," Schulman points out, "so she has a lot to draw on for this role."
The director and choreographer bring a lot to the table, too.