Family splits on Sweeney Todd

[sciguy]

Posted: 10/22/05 at 4:12pm

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.

[Luvinbroadway]

Posted: 10/22/05 at 4:53pm

I agree with you and your daughter! I do think audiences expect to see flash...but give me these 10 actors together anyday...and I think reading the phonebook could be an event! Their talent is endless.
I also agree with how quiet the theater was...it was almost disconcerting..but added to the thrill. The two times I saw it, the audience fell under the actors "spell" within moments. Two great nights on broadway! Yeah!

[JohnnyJune]

Posted: 10/22/05 at 6:08pm

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.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/22/05 at 6:50pm

Count me among the regular theatregoers who was thoroughly confused by this revival. There were many parts of the story I never understood, including the first 20 minutes. I also thought that Tobias was Lovett's son for most of the show, based on the way "Not While I'm Around" was staged. I also had no idea what the white coffin meant. The biggest problem, however, to me is that it's very difficult to follow the show's plot if you haven't seen another version. This is the director's fault, IMHO. If the audience can't follow the narrative, that's a huge problem.

[admanrich]

Posted: 10/22/05 at 7:54pm

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.

[Isabella2]

Posted: 10/22/05 at 8:23pm

"Broadway really deserved a full revival production of Sweeney Todd, not this stripped down lump of crap."

oh, snap.

I wish i'd known the score or seen the original show. Then i'd know what ur talking about, lol.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/22/05 at 8:42pm

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.

[Isabella2]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 11:58pm

i understood everything pretty nicely and it was my first time.

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 12:02am

is the diction still terrible?

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:33am

Stripping down a production isn't bad. (Chicago & Cabaret anyone?)

The two longest running and most successful revivals of all time!

[Urban]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:43am

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

[JohnnyJune]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:58am

See though I don't really view either cabaret or chicago as stripped down versions. Nothing really is symbollic in those shows. Well except the brick LOL (cabaret). LOL
And chicago was a remount of the original production.

[fiatlux]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:10am

"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.

[neocomposer]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:28am

When I saw the show, I saw it with someone who had not seen anything of the original staging. I have the DVD, which is pretty much as close as I can get considering the year it opened. That being said, I throroughly enjoyed myself from the opening. I was, however, concerned that she was not "getting it", as it can be confusing to see this show on such a small, interpretive scale. To my surprise, she told me at intermission that she was really enjoying "Todd". Throughout the production, her only complaint was that darned whistle-which is understandable as I thought my eardrum would burst. That being said, I think it is definitley understandable for someone to have never seen the original staging of this musical and be confused to the point of discontent. However, as my friend proved, it can also be very likable.

[billy elliot]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 6:41am

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!!

[wickedobsessed]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 6:44am

I absolutely loved the show. It was a little confusing during the first five minutes for me, but once I got into, It was amazing.

[ken8631]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 8:18am

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.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 10:01am

It's playing the Eugene O'Neill, which although it is one of the smaller houses, it still feels too big for this show. They don't use the whole stage, and the immediacy that the London production had is apparently lost in this venue.

[pooryorick]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 11:49am

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.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:48pm

I am unsure of whether I want to see this or not. I have never seen a production of Sweeney before and would like to very much, but I'm not sure if I should hold off for a more traditional production for my first experience with the show.

What do you all think? Is this show accessible enough for someone new to the show?

[JohnnyJune]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:52pm

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

[fiatlux]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:33pm

Not that it's a scientific poll but I took 3 people whose first language is not English and who had no idea in advance what the story was - they understood what was going on.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:36pm

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.

[kgee30]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:53pm

People who hated it will likely tell you not to see it; people who loved it (me included), will likely tell you to see it.

I do think it's accessible for people who aren't familiar with the material -- it highlights the music and lyrics in ways that were new to me, and I found the presentation wholly effective. Is there the potential for confusion? Depends on how easily you're confused, I guess, and how much you're bothered by a little confusion.

Regardless, there are worse things than seeing a show that has people talking. The haters REALLY seem to hate it & the lovers REALLY seem to love it -- I haven't read a lot of middling reviews.

[chrrymn]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 7:24pm

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.