Downsizing Sweeney
Downsizing Sweeney
#1Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:30pm
My pet project of mounting SWEENEY is getting off the ground, happily enough. In regards to 'making use of my venue' and 'keeping true to the score' -- If I had to downsize the orchestrations (due to budget problems), which instruments could I possibly 'cut' without ruining the entire show?
BASS
CELLO
HORN
PIANO
PERCUSSION
REED 1
REED 2
TRUMPET
VIOLIN
Any and all insight appreciated.
Best,
- Mike 
#2re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:32pmumm, I'd say get rid of bass, but if you do that you HAVE to keep cello, I find it more versatile :) and def. keep violin
#2re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:35pmmaybe a reed?
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#3re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:44pmbut whatever you do get rid of make sure you have piano! its crucial, and usually piano has keys for other instruments but yeah, piano is def the most crucial
#4re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:46pmIf you happen to have the 05 cast recording read the information by the orchestrator and it might give you some inspiration of what instruments to keep/go.
"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
sabrelady
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#7re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:25pmI believe that MTI offers downsized orchestrations.
#8re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:39pm
Attend the tale of Teeny Todd
The cast is small and the staging odd.
Although the musical's barely ten
Somebody decided to do it again.
For intrigue brought a promenade
It's Teeny Todd
The smaller version of Sweeney!
There is no shop in London town.
Except two flats that are painted brown.
But think of all of the cash they'll save
The physical budget impeccably shaved
It's Teeny It's Teeny Todd
The smaller version of Sweeney.
Swing your razor low, teeny
Keep it under-sized.
And what's more
The Sondheim score Is synthesized!
Our needs are few the stage is bare
We use a miniature barber chair
The mug of suds and the leather strop
Are tiny toy props from a tiny toy shop
For cheapness we deserve a nod
It's Teeny Todd
The smaller version of Sweeney.
Big and epic-like Sweeney was
Huge and bulky the scenery was
Twenty ton bridge
Twenty ton barge
Hal prince's version was ugly but large.
Now the bigger guy Sweeney's gone
And his kid brother Teeny's on
Teeny is smooth
Even more subtle
When teeny blinks the roaches scuttle.
Teeny!
Attend the tale of Teeny Todd
Tho' Stephen Sondheim's a demigod
To bring back one of his shows today
No-one can afford the original way
They shrink it
Like Teeny Like Teeny Todd
The Sweeney version that's Tee-ny.
Ahahahaha!
Madame Morrible: "So you take the chicken, now it must be a white chicken. The corpse can be any color. And that is the spell for lost luggage!" - The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken
Parks
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/5/04
#9re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:42pm
That. Is. Awesome.
What is that from?!
"If it walks like a Parks, if it wobbles like a Parks, then it's definitely fat and nobody loves it." --MA
SweeneyPhanatic
Broadway Star Joined: 1/4/06
#11re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:45pmForbidden Broadway.
#12re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 11:09pmAre the lyrics accurate? I am always intrigued by that revival - are there any photos of the set?
"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
#13re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 11:18pm
It's a plain black set.
Yes, I believe those are the correct lyrics.
Madame Morrible: "So you take the chicken, now it must be a white chicken. The corpse can be any color. And that is the spell for lost luggage!" - The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken
#14re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 11:23pmWhen I mean accurate I mean is that really what the production was like :P. But you answered that anyway "Plain black set" - wow.
"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
#15re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 11:36pm
that's not ENTIRELY true. the set looked something like this
"Picture "The View," with the wisecracking, sympathetic sweethearts of that ABC television show replaced by a panel of embittered, suffering or enraged Arab women" -the Times review of Black Eyed
#16re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 11:39pm
Wait, is that song talking about the Doyle revival? It says "although the show is barely ten, somebody decided to do it again." In 2005, the show was WAY more than ten years old. "Teeny Todd" is listed as being in Volume 2 of Forbidden Broadway, in 1991.
RentBoy86
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
#17re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 11:40pm
Well, if you need a tobias or the other male lover, just let me know.
and I'd vote trumpet, but that's purely for superficial reasons. I think Sweeney has a dark vibe, and the strings just enhance that to me. Brass just seems to cheesy.
#18re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 11:40pm
Teeny Todd is definitely not the Doyle Revival, it talks about synthesisers etc. and of course it was recorded in 1991. It's the 89 revival with Bob Gunton. I'm looking for photos of that production if they are around :P.
"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
Updated On: 1/20/09 at 11:40 PM
#19re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/20/09 at 11:54pmNot surprising to confuse the two. The Teeny Todd lyrics could have very easily been talking about the Doyle revival save for a few lines.
gypsy4
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/07
#20re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/21/09 at 12:20am
I think in our production we had.
2 keyboards.
1 bass
1 guitar
precussion
#21re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/21/09 at 12:28am
That would be interesting to see. When you say keyboards what was each role? (And did you used synthesised settings?). What was the response to the production like?
"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
#23re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/21/09 at 12:32am
gypsy, would you mind shedding some light?
That sounds pretty gosh-darn perfect for what I'm trying to do. I want to bring a fresh approach to the material, breathe some life into a would-be bloated corpse of Victorian England. Any insight appreciated. I've already trimmed down a cast of 27-30 (traditional staging) to 16-18 performers (including the 9 mainstays). I'd LOVE your insight either through this thread or PM, whichever you prefer.
Many thanks!
gypsy4
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/07
#24re: Downsizing Sweeney
Posted: 1/21/09 at 12:54am
heres an article from are production there is allso a video clip you can hear the orchestra you can't see them because they are in the wings. by the way I wasn't in it but it is my local theatre where I perform. but it was a great production but the keyboards played reeds and strings there were no brass intruments.
sweeney todd.
Updated On: 1/21/09 at 12:54 AM
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