For all you Sweeny Todd experts

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:30pm

Hello all, I am buying a copy of Sweeny Todd, but I would like everyone's personal opinion as to which one. If I like it I very well might go out and buy all the versions out there but for now, since I don't know the show at all. Need your expert opionions...

Oh and what are your favorite songs from that show?

[Mattio98]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:32pm

I think that the concert version with Patti LuPone and George Hearn is the most complete and the one with the fullest orchestrations. It also includes the "Judge's Song" which is not in the original. Updated On: 8/21/04 at 10:32 PM

[MusicMan]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:37pm

Actually, the original Broadway cast CD does contain the Judge's Song.
I prefer first conceptions so I say go for the original cast with Cariou and Lansbury.

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:37pm

I'd recommend the OBC starring Lansbury and Cariou.

By they way, the DVD with Lansbury and George Hearn is quite good, too, if you'd like to see it. It was the National touring company. Lupone and the concert version is quite good as well. My fondness however is for the OBC and I do think it is the closest to how the creators saw the show. It is a shame they cut "The Judge's Song" from that recording.

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:38pm

I opted for the filmed stage version that was recently released. It does not include the Judges Song "Johanna" but it is the stage version. I listen to the soundtrack and can hear Johanna. And who can beat Angela Lansbury?!!

[Plum]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:39pm

OBC!

I personally can't stand Patti LuPone- Angela Lansbury will always be my Mrs. Lovett. And Len Cariou, though often rejected in favor of George Hearn by many Sweeney fans, is brilliant.

And what "Judge's Song" are you talking about, Eponine? I know that the Judge's "Johanna" isn't on the DVD of the tour with Lansbury and Hearn, but it's definitely in the OBC.

The biggest reason I prefer the OBC to the DVD is because Sarah Rice is a much better Johanna than Betty Joslyn, and I love Victor Garber's Anthony. Updated On: 8/21/04 at 10:39 PM

[jayem1968]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:39pm

OBC is my vote. Rent the DVD as well - George Hearn gives quite a performance.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:42pm

OBC all the way! Lansbury is definitive.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:45pm

OBC most definately. It has the "Judge's Song" which I am not particularly fond of, but still an experience to hear. Lansbury, Cariou, Garber, and Rice all have incredible voices. Also, I forgot his name but the guy who plays Tobias is really good too. I enjoy "Green Finch and linnett Bird", "Worst Pies in London", "Not While I'm Around", Anthony's "Johanna" and Sweeney's "Johanna" the most on it.

Updated On: 8/21/04 at 10:45 PM

[Craig]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:48pm

Without question, the OBC. And I second the DVD - love it!

[NuggetMonkeys]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:49pm

EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!!!
I.
HATE.
PATTI LUPONE.
eeesspecciaallyyy as Mrs. Lovett.
UGH!
Original, not a doubt in the world.
-d.b.j-

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:49pm

I think they're all good. I'm more fond of the touring cast because George Hearn was the first Todd I saw and when I heard Cariou on the OBC, I was a little disappointed. I haven't heard the whole concert CD with Lupone and Hearn, but I've heard "A Little Priest" and it's very good.

Some of my favorite songs are "Epiphany," "Johanna (Act II)," "Ladies in their Sensitivities/Kiss Me," "The Worst Pies in London," "By the Sea," and "God, That's Good!"

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:49pm

Isn't there one song by Judge Turpin that was not recorded on the OBC? I need to refresh my memory.

As for Cariou, he is the best Sweeney in my opinion. Great voice, a large dose of sex appeal and menacing, too. One could see why Mrs. Lovett and the sailor and Tobias, et. al., are attracted to Cariou's Sweeney.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:52pm

No, Judge Turpin sang a version of "Johanna" that was much darker and stranger than Anthony's and Sweeney's. He ended up whipping himself numerously throughout. It was cut during previews but was still recorded on the OBC.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:52pm

It's about time Judge Turpin's "Johanna" get a little respect. Besides being an important piece of character development, it may go down in the record books as the song with the most consistently awkward audience reaction at song's end. Usually you'll get dead silence except for a few lonely claps and some nervous laughs.

The song is on the Hearn/Lupone concert DVD from the SF Symphony, which I was lucky enough to see live on one of the nights they filmed. I recommend it for the excellent supporting work of Davis Gaines, Lisa Vroman, and Victoria Clark.

[Plum]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 10:59pm

Oh, Turpin's "Johanna" always gets my respect. It's the single most disturbing musical theater song I've ever heard. Brr.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 11:01pm

"and how sweet you look in that white muslin gown..."

Updated On: 8/21/04 at 11:01 PM

Posted: 8/21/04 at 11:04pm

OK. I had it backwards.

MusicMan and Plum are correct about "Johanna" as sung by Judge Turpin being on the OBC. It comes after the sentencing scene and begins with "Mea culpa..."

The number is deleted from the printed version of the show and in some productions.

BwayMatt's assessment is on the mark. It is a crucial number of character. It was powerfull in the original production and still causes a gasps from the audience as I witnessed in the recent NYCO production.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 11:09pm

StickToPriest is going to be furious he hasn't seen this yet!

[amasis]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 11:16pm

My vote is for the OBC recording as well. And where's SticktoPriest?? :)

Edit to add: and even though I can't single out a song from Sweeney Todd as my favorite, Johanna is one of the most beatiful songs ever written. Not the judge's version, though. The judge's version is just creepy. Updated On: 8/21/04 at 11:16 PM

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 11:21pm

It seems like Johanna is really the popular song.

[Plum]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 11:25pm

Uh, I like the big 4-part "Johanna" in Act II. :)

[MusicMan]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 11:30pm

Jose, FYI, the Judge's Song is printed out-of-sequence as an addenda at the very end of the score. Its inclusion is optional.

[Plum]

Posted: 8/21/04 at 11:48pm

Just listened to the end of "Ladies in Their Sensitivities." That is Sondheim at his absolute finest. So. Good.

-Plum, being pointless

Posted: 8/22/04 at 12:13am

Thanks MusicMan. Now I do recall that it is at the back of the book.

By coincidence we've been watching the Lansbury-Hearn production on DVD this week.