Pajama Game Deserved to Win Over Sweeney

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 2:18am

For me, this was the biggest surprise and delight of the night. I thought, like everyone else, that Sweeney Todd would take the revival Tony. It features extraordinarily talented people, and takes a brilliant new approach to a classic musical. I, however, felt that it was boring, and difficult to understand for people who don't know the show. It got bogged down in its own concept, and thus wasn't that interesting to watch.

I felt The Pajama Game was playing in Sweeney's shadow. I think people wrote it off because it's a comedy. People forget that musical comedy is ridiculously difficult to pull off, and this Pajama revival brought a whole new shine to a show we thought we were tired of. It was my favorite experience at a musical this year.

Anyone else feel this way? And please, while I welcome dissent from Sweeney lovers I don't want or intend to turn this into a bitchy flame match where we rudely argue back and forth. We had two awesome revivals this year. Let's celebrate!
Updated On: 6/12/06 at 02:18 AM

[Elphie]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 2:24am

I am just dissapointed for the cast of Sweeny Todd- Who many of them learned to play instruments for the show and overcomed incredible challenges to be able to present Sweeny Todd in this new light. None of their performances were recognized as brilliant with the Tonys.
I personally really enjoyed Sweeny Todd due to the performances. I thought they were sublte, but amazing and completly inticing. I was also in the front row, so I was captured the entire time. I thought the show was very strong....and I dont know...I'm tired and its late- I was just very dissapointed. But I respect your opinion....

[Elphie]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 2:24am

I am just dissapointed for the cast of Sweeny Todd- Who many of them learned to play instruments for the show and overcomed incredible challenges to be able to present Sweeny Todd in this new light. None of their performances were recognized as brilliant with the Tonys.
I personally really enjoyed Sweeny Todd due to the performances. I thought they were sublte, but amazing and completly inticing. I was also in the front row, so I was captured the entire time. I thought the show was very strong....and I dont know...I'm tired and its late- I was just very dissapointed. But I respect your opinion....

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 2:27am

Well, not should've , love, it actually did...

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 2:29am

Good call. Title changed and noted.

[maybethistime]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 2:31am

I really did enjoy SWEENEY, but I totally agree that was totally swallowed by its' concept and was pleasantly surprised to see PAJAMA GAME win.

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 2:36am

It is possible that Sweeney might have been identified more of a very well done "director's gimmick" than an overall accomplishment in the voter's opinions, but both were very good productions, after all.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 2:40am

I'm still disappointed... How awful the producers and everybody that is working with Sweeney Todd felt, when everyone was sure they were going to win, but didn't...

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 2:42am

You can never be sure in things like this. Awards should never be expected by anyone, and no one should produce anything hoping to win an award.
Besides, the Sweeney cast and creatives have already been praised by everyone, they will go on to great things because of it.

[CurtainUp]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 3:12am

I just wanted to say that I'm happy that someone mentioned the challenges of comedy, because it is NOT easier than drama.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 3:21am

I'm reminded of the Sondheim lyrics "Unworthy of Your Love" because The Pajama Game assassinated the most-worthy nominee, Sweeney Todd.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 3:32am

The award is "Best Revival" friends. Sweeny Todd isn't a revival. The show has never gone away. It isn't a hoary old chestnut. I personally have seen at least six productions since the original in that barn of a theater, The Uris. All Sweeny Todd is is a clever gimmick created by a director who appears to have one clever gimmick and is playing it all over again in a few months in Company. The show doesn't do anything to breath new life into Sweeny Todd, it just shows us a clever production with, as I said, a clever gimmick.

Pajama Game is suddenly a fresh daisy. It would play for another 1000 performances if they could get the leads to stay. Kathleen Marshall has recussitated a show that, frankly before it opened was assumed to be a yawn. She has given the show new clothes and a haircut, some clever moves and a witty patter. She has breathed new life into a show that was relegated to high school productions.

That, it seems to me, is the very definition of "Best Revival."

[DG]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 3:34am

I don't know when I have been so happy with an award.

So VERY well deserved!!!

[sondwisenheimer]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 3:37am

Deserved or not, this show is a much better sell on the road, and that's of major interest to the voters.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 3:40am

How good it felt to finally have the category filled with capable shows that nobody knew what to expect! I can't say that I think this deserved it over the others, but certainly a fun show. I'd imagine it must have been quite an invigorating production to beat out a re-invented classic this season and another historic musical that is well-known with many old school theater fans of the original.

[that opera diva]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 3:47am

I just found it so thrilling that an old fashioned musical was finally re-done right. Every single cast member of Pajama Game was a triple threat. The sets and costumes were delightful. The choreography and orchestrations were not at all campy or cheesy, they just added to the fun of the production. It's nice to see a cast love the production the way PG's cast does. Pajama Game did something that Sweeney did not. It took an older musical and didn't alter it completely, it just made it better. Something that is VERY hard to accomplish in theatre. Sweeney was a brand new production, a fantastic one at that, but I didn't leave the theatre saying, "Gosh. This is the ONLY way I'd like to see this show done!" After Pajama I thought, "This is the real thing. This is the return to the golden age of Broadway...only better." Just my two cents.

[Eileen2]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 7:05am

I completely respect your opinion... even more until Friday when I catch the Pajama Game.

However, I had never seen Sweeny Todd before this production and I didn't find it that difficult to follow and thought it was a wonderful production. I was disappointed for Patti Lupone as I felt it was a Tony winning performance.

Eileen

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 7:06am

Ok, what is the point of this thread if Pajama Game already won?

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 8:35am

I am VERY dissapointed.

I thought Pajama Game was a great revival, but overall I thought Sweeney was much better.

When it comes down to it, did PG REALLY need this award? Absolutely not. The show is almost done, and with all the success of this run, I'm sure the fall run would've been fine. Sweeney is in major danger right now, it needed this award to keep going.

It just sucks big time.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 8:38am

I love both shows and was happy to have it go either way. There are sentimental things and wonderfully differnt things about each show. I have no problem with PJ winning

[Stagedoor2]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 8:41am

I saw both Sweeney and Pajama Game in the same weeked and I really liked the Pajama Game a lot -- I had a smile on my face the entire time.

But the show that I was still thinking about weeks later? Sweeney Todd. I had never seen a production of the show before (unless you count the snippet in the movie "Jersey Girl"), and thought it was just beautifully done. I admit to not seeing "Jersey Boys" (not for lack of trying -- it was always sold out the weekends I was there), but I can't imagine how good John Lloyd Young must be to have won the award over Michael Cerveris because his performance still haunts me.

I can only hope that Sweeney stays open through July so that I'll have a chance to go again.

[Mills]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 9:08am

I can't say which show should have won because I didn't see Pajama Game (or Sweeney Todd on Bway for that matter). However, I did see the Doyle Sweeney twice in its London run, and thought it was excellent. One of the main points I've heard against ST is that it is hard to follow for newcomers. Pretty much everyone I know that saw it didn't know anything about the show beforehand, and they all loved it. Many of them say it is now their favourite musical.

Basically, I'm not trying to say ST should have won, as I obviously can't make that judgement based on what I've seen, but in my experience stating that the Doyle version of Sweeney is hard to follow is inaccurate.

Anyway, congrats to Pajama Game, I really wanted to see it and it sounds like I've missed out on an excellent production.

[Nokros]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 9:16am

I agree that comedy is harder than drama, and I commend the Pajama Game because it looks like something fantastic. But I think Sweeney had far more to overcome than the Pajama Game.

The problem with reviving Sweeney is that the original Broadway production was so legendary. There will always be people out there who believe that the massive, original Hal Prince style is the only way Sweeney should be done. Especially before the revival opened and gained such notoriety, these people were everywhere. So the choice that is faced with reviving something with Sweeney's status is this: 1) Do it in the Original Broadway fashion, or 2) Do it in a way that is completely new and different. If they'd chosen to revive Sweeney the same way, it would probably have paled in comparison with the original - after all, how can you compete with Hal Prince, Len Cariou, and Angela Lansbury? But the difficulty with what they did chose to do, revive it in a completely different way so the two cannot be compared is just that - they did it completely differently (and yes, I am aware that this production was not designed for Broadway - but there are many recent original Broadway style productions that could have transferred instead of Doyle's). Sondheim's backing of it showed a lot of confidence, but they still had to overcome the original Broadway purists and sell a new concept. There are still people who call the instruments a "gimmick" - which if you did ANY research about the show and why Doyle uses instruments the way he does, you'd find out it is not (Doyle originally used actors playing instruments when he did not have enough money to have actors and an orchestra for a production of Candide - he ended up liking it and has been trying to develop it as a style). And regardless of whether or not it is a gimmick, it works extremely well and adds another dimension to the show (example: Toby playing a dissonant violin line in "Not While I'm Around" while Lovett is singing, it makes it like dialogue, like he's arguing back at her that he's being serious and she is in danger).

And think about it: how many obstacles did Pajama Game have to overcome? Did it have to worry as much as Sweeney about its reception? Did it have such a legendary original production to be held up to?

Furthermore, this production of Sweeney represents a new spirit on Broadway. I'm all for big, old fashioned musicals, really I am, but Sweeney is something that has not been seen on Broadway before. Instruments aside, the detail of the performances, the complete reimagining of the original, the experimental quality, is top notch and new. This revival has been very well received by audiences and critics. I had hoped that would have been echoed by the Tonys, so more people would be brought in to attend the tale (not winning much as the Tonys is surely going to affect its run), and hope for experimental productions on Broadway could flourish. It seems the Tony voters have not caught up yet.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 10:05am

"The award is "Best Revival" friends. Sweeny Todd isn't a revival. The show has never gone away. It isn't a hoary old chestnut. I personally have seen at least six productions since the original in that barn of a theater, The Uris

and Pajama Game has been playing for years too and has never gone away, we did it in Karlsruhe, West Germany in 1975..and many local groups and high schools do PG..so sorry, but Sweeny IS a revival.

I would have been happy with either winning, but on is dark, one is light.....and I think many people get bogged down in the dar. I did see Sweeny, didn't see PG, but do find Sweeny much more interesting of a story

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 6/12/06 at 10:15am

I think the voters figured everyone else was voting for Sweeney, so they went with Pajama Game. Same thing with La Chanze winning over Patti. It sucks that Sweeney lost, but I do love me a good awards show jaw-dropping moment (or 2). It's boring when it all plays out like it should...