Family splits on Sweeney Todd

I recently had the privalege of seeing Sweeney Todd with my wife, daughter (16) and son (12). I will not attempt to write a complete review as most of the posters on the boards write awesomely detailed reviews and I am a bit intimidated.

I thought the show was incredible. I am a huge Sondheim fan and had been looking forward to this show ever since it was announced. I was not dissapointed. I have never seen a more multi-talented cast, period. The playing of instruments by cast members did not turn out to be distarcting at all. It actually added another layer to the characters and most definitely the score. Sweeney has never sounded so good. Cerveris is awesome. Creepy does not begin to describe it. Patti Lupone was also quite good. She has made Mrs. Lovett her own. Far better portrayal then Angela Landsbury IMHO. To see her strut around with that tuba in her short skirt was a moment I will never forget. She also adds a new dimension to the love story with Sweeney. You could feel the longing for him in anything she did. I could go on and on about the rest of the cast, suffice to say this show must be seen.

My daughter also loved the show. She said the first twenty minutes were boring, because she had trouble following the story, but after that she was seriously hooked. You forget what a great story Sweeney is. She said it was very tense and exciting. She thought the music was OK.

My son was dissapointed. He was the one most looking forward to the show after seeing it on PBS. The problem was the minimalist staging. He wanted the barber chair,the gaint razor, the chute and the oven. He said it was more like a bunch of people walking around and singing. Then again he is only 12.

My wife was the least favorable. After the first twenty minutes she turned to me and said "How long is this anyway, it's kind of boring" Being unfamiliar with the plot, she also took awhile to get into the show. She gave it a half-hearted thums up.

All in all it was a nice afternoon in the city. I am looking forward to hopefully getting another pair of tix on TDF so my daugher and I can go again.

Just a thought- my daughter and I probably see 3X as many shows as my wife and son. Do you think being a "theater snob" had something to do with us liking it so much. My wife was disapointed with the lack of choreography and the set design. She tends to favor shows that are a bit flashier. I on the other hand was totally drawn into this production and so was the audience. I can honestly say I have never heard a theater so quiet during a performance.
Sorry to ramble...just my two cents.
And my first attempt at a review.

Unfortunately being a theatre snob is not your reason for liking the show. I am 27 and see every broadway show that opens during a season and many of the off broadway plays as well. I disliked this Sweeney version very much. There was a lack of cohearance of what was going on. Like your daughter the first 20 minutes were torture as I couldn't understand what was going on... and I've seen the original. After the show my friend and I stood outside the stage door and when Michael Cerveris came out we asked him what the white coffin represented... He couldn't answer us. He gave a us this I don't F_ing know look. He then replied that it means different things to different people. Thats a horrible answer to someone and it kinda made him look clueless. A horrible problem... obviously the director hasn't directed. THe show overall was mediocre at best and for me a huge sondheim fan it was a tragedy. Broadway really deserved a full revival production of Sweeney Todd, not this stripped down lump of crap.
for me A TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT.
From the overall feedback I've heard its about 50/50 on if people really like the show or not.

I saw it this afternoon and it was amazing. It didn't hit me until like 2 hours after I saw it to realize how good it was.

However, the story was kind of hard to follow.
I definitely plan on seeing it again not only because I loved it, but because I think its that kind of show you have to see more than once in order to understand it all.

But if you have to see the show more than once to "understand it all" than the director has not done his job effectively. Not everyone has $100 or whatever it is to plunk down multiple times to see the show. If the show cannot be effective after the first viewing, then there is a MAJOR problem.

is the diction still terrible?

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Though Caberet and Chicago sort of have the material and the set up to begin with to allow a striped down version.

"Though Cabaret and Chicago sort of have the material and the set up to begin with to allow a striped down version."

I would have thought Sweeney was a better candidate, in that the composer originally conceived it as a chamber piece, it was the original director who needed to give it the size that it had.

I saw the show in London and it played in a studio theatre and i thought really worked well,although i must admit it did take me a while to get into it. The second act is brilliant.
What kind of theatre is it playing in now? I can't see it working really in a large venue,maybe off-broadway would have been more suitable?
Musicals Chat!!

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Where did you sit? I have row AA tickets seats 105-106 coming up in Dec, hoping the stage isn't raised much so we have to look up all the time.

I saw it this weekend for the first time (going on opening night too) and while I had some issues with things, like the little white coffin and some of the acting and directing choices (which I learned later are being worked out), I thought it was a pretty amazing way of reviving a show so that it's surprising again. This goes beyond the usual revival and for that, I admired it. Should be interesting to see how it grows in the next ten days.

I would not go see this version unless you had previously seen it. Taking someone who hasn't is an extremely bad idea.

I mean.... I'm sure I can follow the story. I'm fairly familiar with the Cast Recording. I'm just wondering if a more traditional production would be better for somebody who has never seen it performed.

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Prior to seeing it, I'd only been familiar with some of the cast recording tracks. From that, I had a pretty good idea of the story. I didn't think it was hard to follow. I was blown away by the cast! I loved the simplicity of the set. I didn't realize that this production of Sweeney has been scaled down so much. Hearing that, I don't think I'll ever watch the old dvd. I love having nothing to compare it to. The show was perfection to me. So, yes, put me in that catagory of people who loved the show passionately.

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