Video: Nicole Scherzinger Shares How She Kept SUNSET BLVD. Stage Blood Off Fans

Fresh off the conclusion of Sunset Blvd. on Broadway, Tony Award winner Nicole Scherzinger stopped by The Tonight Show to chat with Jimmy Fallon about the acclaimed run of the show, winning a Tony for her performance as Norma Desmond, and holding her 29-second note in the show.

During the conversation, she also shared her method for keeping the infamous stage blood off audience members when snapping photos with them after the show. "When I take pictures with people, I don't want to get my blood all over them, so I say, 'Give me your hand,' and we hold hands, and it creates a barrier. Then it doesn't look like we hate each other because I'm just standing in the picture without touching them."

In her lengthy note in "As If I Never Said Goodbye," Scherzinger recalled that she began holding it for a long time during performances in the West End production. "The orchestra would make a joke out of it because they have to hold the strings...They would time me and I think, on average, it would be around 23 seconds for the one breath of 'home at last.'" She goes on to recall how, on the closing night of the Broadway run, she broke her record with 29 seconds. Watch the full interview, where the Tony-winner sings the note for the first time since closing the show. 

In addition to her role as Norma Desmond, Scherzinger has appeared onscreen in the NBC musical television special, “Annie Live!” as ‘Grace Farrell.’ She won “Dancing with the Stars” in 2010 and served as a judge on several other television talent shows, including “The X Factor” US (2011), “The X Factor” UK (2012-2013, 2016-2017), and “The Masked Singer” (2019-2023). Scherzinger is also the voice of Sina in Disney’s Moana franchise.

Despite the run of Sunset Blvd. recently ending, Scherzinger has expressed her interest in reprising the role of Norma in the long-discussed potential film adaptation, also sharing that she hopes to do movie musicals in general. A film adaptation has been in development for years, most notably with Glenn Close, who won a Tony Award for originating the role on Broadway. Close originally stated that the film would go into production with Paramount in the summer of 2021, but Andrew Lloyd Webber later revealed that Paramount passed on the project.

Jamie Lloyd’s reimagination of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical was honored with three Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical for Nicole Scherzinger, and Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Jack Knowles. The production also received the Drama League Award for Distinguished Revival of a Musical, and Scherzinger received the Distinguished Performance Award. Check out Scherzinger holding a 29-second note in "As If We Never Said Goodbye," from her final performance in the show.

The creative team for Sunset Blvd. includes Soutra Gilmour (set and costume design), Fabian Aloise (choreography), Alan Williams (music supervisor and music director), 2025 Tony Award winner Jack Knowles (lighting design), 2025 Tony Award nominee Adam Fisher (sound design), Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom (video design and cinematography), Cheryl Thomas (hair and makeup design), Ann James (intimacy coordinator), Jim Carnahan CSA and Jason Thinger CSA (U.S. casting director), and Stuart Burt CDG (U.K. casting director). 101 Productions, Ltd. serves as the General Manager for Sunset Blvd.