Aaron Tveit, Sutton Foster will next star in ‘Sweeney Todd’ — Page 15

Thx for those examples! If they re-reviewed MFL with Benanti, then I'd be surprised if they DIDN'T send someone to re-review Sweeney with Foster (even if it's not Jesse again).

But they'd better invite them quick before everyone's schedule gets too busy...

Perhaps a lesser famous example is Marin Mazzie in next to normal who was also re-reviewed. I would be surprised if they didn’t re-review with Sutton Foster.

Updated On: 2/16/24 at 11:51 PM

Broadway Flash said: "Oh that’s a pity. bizarre that they’re transferring everyone over tony. I heard even Rachel Tucker, Monday norma, is transferring. It’s unnecessary and probably more expensive."

Rachel Tucker is not transferring with Sunset.



Saw Tveit/Sutton last night and found it to be a mixed bag.

Sutton I think fares far better than Tveit. The vocals in the bootleg from her first show filled me with dread, but I thought she sounded pretty good last night. It's not necessarily "pretty," but her voice has a power and character to it that I thought Annaleigh's lacked. She's definitely doing a lot, largely to over-compensate for Aaron, but I found a lot of her bits genuinely funny and few, if any, of them felt pre-planned and canned. She works very well with Joe Locke, who makes a pretty spectacular Toby.

Aaron I think is just woefully miscast. He does not look old enough in any way, he looks maybe 5 years older than Anthony at most. Vocally, they've altered some of the keys which I don't have a problem with, but his lower notes are at the bottom of his range and lack any resonance, power, and occasionally volume. I don't think he ever comes across as especially terrifying, scary, insane, or vengeful, at most he's mildly irritated (he doesn't shout for Anthony to leave before Epiphany which then makes Lovett coming in saying "all this shouting!" make absolutely no sense).

If I'm being honest, I've never thought much of Aaron as an actor. I have not been impressed with a performance of his since Next to Normal (save Schmigadoon, which I thought suited him very well), and I felt similarly here. I get what he's going for--the sort of "every man driven mad by the situation he finds himself in--as it's a similar take to Groban's, but I just didn't think he made enough active choices for it to feel rewarding or satisfying to watch in anyway.

Overall, glad I saw it, don't feel the need to return. Still find this production to be just a barrel of missed opportunities and a shocking lack of clear direction or perspective from Kail.

Everyone Knows Sutton Foster Can Sing. Now We Know She Can Juggle. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/19/theater/sutton-foster-sweeney-todd.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Wk0.g91E.VnRbIZCqGVU0&smid=nytcore-android-share

halfhourcheckwithmerman said: "That article says the show "is expected" to close after Sutton and Aaron leave."

Which would leave the Lunt empty for the summer. Really thought they'd try and get replacements for them to keep the show open through the summer.

Definitely hoping at the very least for a Bernadette/ a little night music scenario.


certainly they would have by now announced if Old Friends was transferring. Maybe Bernadette would be free.

ACL2006 said: "Which would leave the Lunt empty for the summer. Really thought they'd try and get replacements for them to keep the show open through the summer."

By all accounts they already did an exhaustive search for replacements, and landed on Foster & Tveit after others said no. There's a difference between trying and succeeding, even when you have people with as much weight as Tommy Kail, Jeffrey Seller, and the legacy of Sondheim. As discussed ad nauseam, sometimes major stars just do not want to replace an acclaimed performance.

As for the NYT "expected to close" wording, this allows them to try to push casual buyers to go during Foster & Tveit's run, while allowing them to try a last-ditch effort at replacement casting with people who mean more than Foster/Tveit (or perhaps even coaxing Groban back, as with Midler/Dolly). That line isn't there by accident and was no doubt fed to Paulson by the production.

Updated On: 2/20/24 at 11:16 AM

They're closing May 5. If Aaron/Sutton were the biggest names they could get as a first replacement cast (they asked many others, including Sara Bareilles I'm told), then they aren't going to go another rung down in terms of star power. They did that experiment with the weeks between casts. The Nederlanders probably will try for a musical act to have a short residency over the Summer as they've done in the past.

I feel like they could probably find a duo on the level of Sutton and Aaron to replace if they wanted to. Playing Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett on Broadway is pretty enticing to most musical theatre actors, even as replacements. I'm thinking Jane Krakowski. Audra was my first choice, but it seems Gypsy may have taken that opportunity, which is absolutely fine.

I just don't understand why Sweeney has to be cast as classically ruggedly hot.

We have SO few Character actor leading musicals.

We have so few main characters that are fringe society off the beaten path intriguing DIFFERENT from the homogenized leading man.

I'm sure Aaron is good but that's not the point.

The interesting character musical theatre actor is dying.

Jarethan said: "rattleNwoolypenguin said: "I just don't understand why Sweeney has to be cast as classically ruggedly hot.

We have SO few Character actor leading musicals.

We have so few main characters that are fringe society off the beaten path intriguing DIFFERENT from the homogenized leading man.

I'm sure Aaron is good but that's not the point.

The interesting character musical theatre actor is dying."

I can't think of anyone who I would classify as a classic character actor who sells tickets. Sweeney Todd unfortunately needs stars to sell tickets IMO."

Also, I think Tveit (who admittedly defines classically ruggedly hot) is the exception not the rule when it comes to Sweeneys, and he's only doing it for a few months, so no cause for alarm among the character actor community.