Profile for cpking

For what it's worth, I'm in a production of Sweeney playing Turpin. We staged it delicately, with all of the the self flagellation and orgasm. I believe the song is important as it informs the audience about the tortured pathos in the judge. By doing the song, and handling his dialogue differently, as an actor you have the opportunity to show the true hypocrisy of the character. It also helps explain Sweeney's being driven to mass murder in an attempt to kill his nemisis.

For what it's worth, I'm currently playing Turpin in a local production in Sweeney. It was decided last night (2 nights before opening) to cut the song. I was told it was because of pacing. That said...

I believe the song embodies everything the judge is really about. Without it, he's a sort of moustache twirling villain. But the song informs much of the character, IMO. How vile a creature must Turpin be to motivate Sweeney to be what he is? We know Turpin is mean. But the