Le Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, which has recently been introducing Sondheim shows to France - starting last year with their gorgeous looking production of A Little Night Music with Leslie Caron, seems to have topped it with their current Sweeney Todd production.
As with Night Music, it's performed in English by a largely English speaking cast - Mrs Lovett here is played by a seemingly ideally cast Caroline O'Connor. After all the small and smaller recent revivals, THIS is how I like my Sweeney best--the stage design seems to be based relatively on the Eugene Lee original, but a bit darker
Thanks for posting. Looks (and sounds) like a great production. I love it large-scale and full of grand gestures, but also appreciate the intimacy and menacing feel of Doyle revival.
It's true Sweeney can work both ways--it just seems more and more rare to see it done BIG. I didn't see the Doyle production, just clips, but I loved the genuinely scary, intimate production the Royal National Theatre did in London in the 90s with Julia McKenzie--I was a young teen and it kinda traumatized me--in a good way. Updated On: 4/28/11 at 10:24 PM
The hair is cueing me to beat the dead horse that Bernadette Peters needs to play Lovett.
Perhaps Mandy Patinkin can be a revelatory, insane Sweeney - and they can reunite once more. I think their voices go well together.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
It's true I did hear mixed things about Night Music - from the Klimt inspired imagery on --this seems to be much more traditional, but in the best sense of the word.
"Legendary Sweeney Todd composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim attended the opening night of Sweeney Todd in Paris and declared Caroline, "the best Mrs Lovett he has ever heard." (Le Monde, Sweeney Todd review)."
Thats high praise indeed!
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
That looks like it would totally satisfy my desire to be treated to the original production but with just enough variation to give it fresh stylistic flair. Very, very nice. Sort of a cross between the original/film/Barcelona productions!
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
Tanya McCallin did the designs. As My oh My said--I think it's a perfect revision of the Lee original--I actually prefer it.
Updated On: 4/30/11 at 05:55 AM
I saw it opening night and I enjoyed seeing this for what it was, an opera version of a musical. Huge orchestra, amplified singers and a big set - and unlike A Little Night Music or Sound of Music at the same venue, not a great deal of elucidation - I liked the former and was left bemused by the latter. Caroline O'Connor was great, but not good enough to erase Hancock, McKenzie or Lansbury in the role - the Sweeney I saw, Rod Gilfry, was a little wooden but loosened up as he seemed to get into the swing of things. It wasn't foreign, in the same way as Harold Prince's version was but it was bloody and spectacular however it lost a lot in terms of the thriller aspect of the story and some of the humour, if you were relying on the surtitles. At least on the night I was there there were a lot of Brits and English-speakers who seemed to know the lyrics anyway, so the reaction was good.
The things that were lost were the labour-inducing scariness of the National and the threatening intimacy of the Bond or Doyle versions. I'm glad I saw it and rather like the Prince version it perhaps introduced the story in a palatable style to an audience unfamiliar with the story and, in this case, also, an opera-going audience but it was never going to persuade me it's the best way to do the show.
And please, keep Patinkin and Peters far away from this show.
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
Wow! The second to last picture especially! Wish I could see this!
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
I love how the photos were clearly taken during a run of the show and not staged. It gives them a much more authentic feel.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
I was in Paris on Friday and, while walking around, saw ONE (and only one) poster for the show... and the poster was in a niche behind a giant potted tree... it was such an afterthought. I love Sweeney Todd, so I made note of the show, but I had not heard of Théâtre du Châtelet, so I figured it was a small production.
THANK YOU ALL for your notes on this thread. I found this thread on Saturday and your comments and YouTube links made me decide to go see the show. If it weren't for you, I'd not have gone.
So I thought I'd share a review with you. I'm not a professional critic, so I can only tell you my reaction. I'll call out the things that I feel need calling out, but let me start with the conclusion: I'm VERY glad I went!
I arrived 15 minutes before curtain and, as a single seat, ended up front row mez, four seats off center. Couldn't have been a better seat.
So ST is my favorite work of art--period. I really adore the piece and the way it is crafted. It's also an insanely difficult piece to pull off. IMO, the best production *I* have seen is the Lyric Opera of Chicago's, followed by the Bway revival...
And it is always AWESOME to hear a full-blown production and this was definitely that! A gigantic, powerful orchestra and big, beautiful voices. For my ears, HEAVEN. For my eyes--the design (lights, sets, costumes) maybe the best I've seen (or at least as good as Chicago's).
Caroline O'Connor was really, really good. Mrs. Lovett is such a tough role--to capture the comedy, the romance, the eccentricity, and the evil. I've liked most of the Mrs. Lovett's I've seen, but I think hers will be the one I remember.
The rest of the cast provided *outstanding* voices, but the acting and directing fell just a tad short for me. Everyone was just one step short on their journey to find the truth in their characters, in my opinion, leaving me feeling disconnected from them. I hate to say anything bad about a cast that obviously worked INCREDIBLY hard on such a tough piece, but that's the case.
And in the role of Anthony, Nicholas Garrett was really miscast. His voice was glorious--perhaps *too* good and baritone for a young role that should (IMO) be more tenor sounding. But from my seat, he read VERY old--2-3 times the age of the 16-year-old Joanna (who also read somewhat older), and Garrett played the role too mature, too smarmy, and his never-ending fluid movements without any noticable intention caused me to simply close my eyes when he was on stage and listen, leaving the acting to my imagination... in which he was perfect
The direction had some brilliant moments, but the direction and use of the ensemble as a London crowd was awkward and distracting. I am not sure whether actors or director should be mentioned for some of the stiff, disconnected moments.
Small thing, but probably the best "kills" of any ST I've seen. The use of blood, both jugular and in the streets, was effective, and gruesomely beautiful.
The Chatelet and its team should be highly commended for pulling off a VERY solid production of this most-difficult piece in a town not accustomed to musical theatre. The audience was justifiably appreciative, with at least three encore curtain calls.
While I've mentioned the drawbacks of the production, I am THOROUGHLY glad I saw the show, EXTREMELY glad that this piece has once again been done justice in a full-sized production, and GRATEFUL that all you on BWW convinced me to invest $150 USD on an evening that was heaven to my ears.
Great to read both reviews, and I'm glad danholme that this thread helped you decide to go.
Someonementioned the surtitles losing some of the humour--I have to say in that clip I thought the translation of A Little Priest--a very hard song to translate--was pretty mediocre and not very funny...
Kudos to the producers for bringing it on stage in English. I am German and always appalled that we apparently have to translate everything until the last charm is sucked out of the piece. I mean, opera is sung in Italian for God's sake - do you really have to translate the Lion King?
In this context, how does the French audience react to the show? How big is the house? Is the run healthy? If yes, I think it could work in Berlin, too...
To Feldzieg: The theatre seats about 2500. I was there on opening night and the reaction was great - there were quite a few British accents in the theatre, so I can't say hand-on-heart that it was a completely French reaction, but the French friends I was with, enjoyed it. They had seen the Doyle version previously in London and were surprised by the operatic take on the show. The French press have given it good reviews and I know that there have been sell-out performances since.
On Saturday, the house was VERY full, though maybe not 100% sold out... close!
GREAT reaction!
Given that the German audience is accustomed to musical theatre in a way that the French audience is not, I believe that the success would be even greater in Germany.