Groban & Ashford in SWEENEY TODD On Broadway - Reviews & News Thread- Page 4

[LuPita2]

Posted: 12/15/22 at 6:40pm

Jordan Fisher is popular with the gaming, dance, music, film, and theater community. So, he will definitely be a reason many people see this show. Behind Josh, he is the most famous and known. 

Annaleigh, Ruthie Ann, and Jeanna though? With a 26 piece orchestra? Take alllll my money!

 

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/15/22 at 8:08pm

I’m excited to see Mimi Lien’s stage design as well. Given what she did for Natasha Pierre I hope they go all out at the Lunt-Fontanne for this revival.

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 12/15/22 at 8:36pm

How'd I miss MIMI LIEN? WOOHOO!

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/16/22 at 12:16pm

This is a very interesting cast across the board, this revival isn't kidding around! It's the kind of production that sounds very interesting from a cast and crew perspective.

[B212323]

Posted: 12/16/22 at 8:04pm

I'm so excited she's in this! 

[DrewJoseph]

Posted: 12/17/22 at 7:12pm

Wouldve loved patrick page in this, but im very happy with this cast. Also crossing my fingers for a lavish and big set. Cant wait to hear the score with that large orchestra.

Praying they’ll all be playing on my date, bc i only got one shot at seeing this.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/17/22 at 7:36pm

I can only imagine the ensemble for this will be nothing be top-notch Broadway vets. I mean, who wouldn't want to perform this score with a 28-piece orchestra?

[BarnabyTucker]

Posted: 12/18/22 at 8:18pm

The Distinctive Baritone said: "Dan6 said: "Already have my tickets and am liking this cast, though I confess I’m a bit disappointed that the Patrick Page-as-Turpin rumors I saw on this site didn’t pan out."

Evidently both he and George Hearn were offered it. Page is busy with King Lear and Hearn I guess felt like he was too old. What happened to Matt Doyle as Anthony? Although that would have been THREE cast members from the recent Off-Broadway production, which would have been odd.

BTW I find it fascinating that so many Judge Turpins tend to be former Sweeneys. Jamie Jackson played the title role at the Gateway Playhouse a decade or so ago."

And Jackson was brilliant in the role! Not since Hearn have I seen a Sweeney who bled  undeserving poor who has become self-aware of his lot in life. It added a whole other layer to a man who has lost his wife and daughter; a man who is a victim of the world at large.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/18/22 at 11:04pm

Cannot wait to see the design for this!! 

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 12/19/22 at 8:10am

I know there are hesitant people about this, and I'm trying to be cautiously optimistic, but I'm just so excited. Groban, I think, will bring a woundedness and humanity to the part that I'm not sure we've seen fully before, and will make the turn all the more terrifying. I think Ashford gets a lot of hate for some of her work and not enough love for some of her other work -- she did really touching stuff in Sunday. And just thinking of the "swing your razor wide, sweeney" at the beginning... with the full-throated company and the 26-piece orchestra... I'm swooning. 

[Valentina3]

Posted: 12/19/22 at 8:45am

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "aliceripleyofficial said: "This casting overall, excluding Ruthie Ann Miles, seems to lack any edge."

There was a chance for some edge, very early on, but Thomas Kail won the race instead of me. I had a brilliant idea, if a little too charged for the current Broadway atmosphere (but then what isn't)..."

Lol, ever so cryptic!

[inception]

Posted: 12/19/22 at 9:55am

Valentina3 said: "g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "aliceripleyofficial said: "This casting overall, excluding Ruthie Ann Miles, seems to lack any edge."

There was a chance for some edge, very early on, but Thomas Kail won the race instead of me. I had a brilliant idea, if a little too charged for the current Broadway atmosphere (but then what isn't)..."

Lol, ever so cryptic!"

Maybe they wanted to do a gender flip with Ashford as Sweeney & Groban as Lovett?

 

[Valentina3]

Posted: 12/19/22 at 10:27am

A gender flipped Sweeney is hardly what I'd call "charged" though. A bit hokey and "been there, done that" considering current Broadway atmosphere. Except, I think if the victims had all been made female, it would heighten the actual brutality of what Todd was really doing.

Unrelated, but Audra as Sweeney (which happens to be one of her dreams roles) would've been delicious.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 12/19/22 at 10:39am

Agreed that “gender flipped” is gimmick that would not make sense with this show, although Audra in the title role would be pretty cool. I don’t see how a man playing Mrs. Lovett could be anything but pure camp though.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 12/19/22 at 10:45am

The Distinctive Baritone said: "Agreed that “gender flipped” is gimmick that would not make sense with this show, although Audra in the title role would be pretty cool. I don’t see how a man playing Mrs. Lovett could be anything but pure camp though."

Haha, true. Mrs Lovett is already pure camp, the character work to have it be played by a man would be... interesting. Andrew Scott's manic energy in Sherlock comes to mind.

Anyway, I'd love to know what g.d.e.l.g.i. was thinking.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 12/19/22 at 1:42pm

Oh, I posted about it back in September, before the fuller casting announcement was made. You can read more about it here. I'm just glad Steve knew about the idea and liked it. (Granted, it took some convincing.)

As for my reaction to the current cast, I'm very excited to see what comes out of Gaten, and I'm glad they did sprinkle in some POC leads, however tokenistic the attention, but I largely consider this "old before it even opened the door."

Updated On: 12/19/22 at 01:42 PM

[Voter]

Posted: 12/28/22 at 3:09pm

Any updates/whispers on ensemble casting yet? Rehearsals start next month... 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 12/28/22 at 3:30pm

I saw on Patricia Phillips instagram that she has left Phantom and will be in Sweeney :)

[Voter]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 11:24am

Rehearsals start Wednesday 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 11:37am

Excited to see who else will be in this.

Also: is Alex Lac conducting? or just the Music Supervisor and handing the conducting duties off to someone else?

Updated On: 1/1/23 at 11:37 AM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 2:18pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Excited to see who else will be in this.

Also: is Alex Lac conducting? or just the Music Supervisor and handing the conducting duties off to someone else?"

I asked him that question on Instagram a while ago, and he said yes, he will be conducting a little bit. 

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 3:42pm

What are people thinking the design and staging will be for this production? Will it be naturalistic or abstract? What is Kail's style normally? 

[inception]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 6:37pm

I'm hoping for something more naturalistic, especially in a smaller Btoadway theatre.  The last professional production I saw was in 2015 with opera singer Greer Grimsley, who is more well known for Wagner roles, as Todd.  He was fantastic. But the staging was more abstract, with a huge scaffolding like set on wheels that stage hands kept spinning around & it continually took me out of the show - more worried for everyone on stage's safety than anything else.

[UrNotAMachine]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 7:42pm

Musicaldudepeter said: "What are people thinking the design and staging will be for this production? Will it be naturalistic or abstract? What is Kail's style normally?"

The set is being designed by the brilliant Mimi Lien, who is probably most famous for designing the set for Great Comet. I wouldn't be surprised if the show's design fell more on the metaphorical/immersive side of the spectrum than the realistic/representational side.

As for Tommy Kail, I'm not really sure what he'll end up doing with the material. I've always found it a little difficult to pin down his directorial style, particularly in his work with Lin-Manuel. In general, he strikes me as more of a traditionalist than someone like Rachel Chavkin, but I'll be very curious to see what he does with the material. 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 9:39pm

No matter the style, I'm hoping for something large and at least slightly immersive. I find the Lunt Fontanne to be one of the ugliest theatres on Broadway so I'd love for it to be covered in scenery of some sort.