Groban & Ashford in SWEENEY TODD On Broadway - Reviews & News Thread- Page 46

[yyys]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 5:50pm

Perhaps he just wants Nicholas Christopher a chance to perform?

 

ACL2006 said: "ChorusKitty said: "Josh Groban is out for today's matinee (4/26). Nothing posted about the evening performance at this time."

Curious what his issue is. Hopefully nothing serious but is it time to question whether he can handle singing this score 7x week?"

 

[yyys]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 6:17pm

Groban out at 8 PM show too

[dan94]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 6:29pm

I was there this afternoon. I thought I'd give the show another try since I so vehemently disagreed with the critics here. And it turned out Groban was out.

The production remains an utter disaster. Great lighting but the director has nothing to say and heavily distrusts the material. The story here - Nicholas Christopher was PHENOMENAL. No, he is in no way a baritone or bass, and that is unfortunate (although Josh Groban isn't either so level playing field on that count). But he is sincerely TERRIFYING and gives the production an established tone that was previously missing. I've seldom seen something as intense as his Epiphany was. 

If Groban is out, run to see it. IMO Christopher is unmissable.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 6:34pm

Josh Groban is the Golden Retriever of Sweeneys. And I love Josh Groban.

Nicholas Christopher' Sweeney f*cks and scares the hell out of everyone. Like on all of 46th Street. RUN YOU GUYS. 

Updated On: 4/26/23 at 06:34 PM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 11:13pm

Was there tonight.  Christopher's astonishing. His  Epiphany electrifying. 

[ChorusKitty]

Posted: 4/27/23 at 12:09am

I also saw the matinee today. To each their own, but I completely disagree that the show is a "complete disaster."  I had no issues hearing any of the actors, but I was also very close to the stage, close enough that a fair portion of the final scene couldn't be seen in fact. (I'm guessing the set has little to no rake?)  And despite being barely able to see, one of the best choices the show makes is to slow the breakneck speed of the second act and let the tragedy take hold. (Unlike the God-awful Tim Burton disaster that literally cuts away(!!!) from Sweeney when he realizes what most unthinkable act he committed in his haste to get Judge Turpin in his chair.)

 

I did enjoy Nicholas Christopher in the title role, but like George Hearn's interpretation, I felt it started and stayed at 100% angry intensity.  I doubt I'll be back in NY to see Groban's interpretation before he leaves, but overall I felt the show I saw today was strong.  And even without the leading star on, it seemed as though most of the audience agreed: they were rapturous throughout. 

 

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 4/27/23 at 12:12am

I saw Christopher on his second performance and I'm still thinking about it.  He towered over the production.

I wished his Ephipany had a couple more verses i never wanted it to end.  He was sweating and shaking and could hardly breathe he was so worked up.  Stunning!

[Ricey2]

Posted: 4/27/23 at 1:18am

I am still waiting patiently for Ashford to be out. She was brilliant. I just would love NOTHING more than to see de Waal as Lovett.  

[52889j]

Posted: 4/29/23 at 11:50am

I desperately wanted to love this, but found it tragically uninspired.

Groban is more or less a blank slate with some highlights, but ultimately doesn't seem to have any sort of take or passion for the role. 

Fisher is a huge letdown. He no doubt has the vocal range for the part, but he's attempting a legit sound that somehow, seem to be uncomfortable for him. He seems to be holding on for dear life as he sustains notes rather than letting them ring out. His spoken dialect, while maybe not the most accurate, was surprisingly one of the more consistent of the night. He must've worked on it.

Matarazzo and Miles were the standouts, to me. Miles sounds dynamite throughout, and her choice to use a northern dialect gives a unique spin on the character. It 'others' her in a new way in addition to the destitution in the text. Matarazzo attacks the role with a star quality and really brought home the finale in a new and exciting way.

There's no denying that Ashford is an exceptionally gifted performer, but I found her performance insufferable. It's the kind of performance that every director desperately wants to see on the first day of rehearsal, but Kail clearly had no vision for how to work her into the fabric of the story he wants to tell. She reads like a character from a Mad TV sketch about Sweeney Todd.

It was still a pleasure to hear the score with a full orchestra, but ultimately I found it to be disappointing.

[bear88]

Posted: 4/30/23 at 4:13am

I'm trying to think of a revival that's comparable to this one. Sellouts every night with big box office (of a Sondheim musical, no less), very favorable reviews (even if most had various complaints), coupled with a lot of withering criticism on this board. Not just, "I was kind of disappointed," but a pretty thorough trashing of the show and especially its direction.

The most obvious recent analogy is The Music Man, but that doesn't really work. That revival got a mixture of mixed to negative reviews, along with a few stray raves, and it was pretty much critic-proof (and certainly message board-proof) anyway. It won no Tonys and the audience didn't care. They wanted to see Hugh Jackman in a beloved musical. Funny Girl doesn't work either, because Lea Michele has been lauded both by critics and folks here. 

If Sweeney Todd was playing eight shows a week, it would easily clear $2 million. That's astounding, even for an admittedly famous revival. Maybe it will perform like a lot of anticipated revivals and fall off a cliff this summer. I realize it's got some star power behind it (I've learned not to underestimate the drawing power of Josh Groban at this point) but the audience I saw it with absolutely loved the show. (I advised my daughter, who wanted to see the show during her June trip, to snag tickets nine weeks in advance lest anything semi-reasonable be gone.)

I realize that some of the criticism of the revival stems from high expectations. People are very protective of Sweeney Todd and react harshly to a performance they regard as a disappointment. 

But I'm trying to think of a major revival that's drawn near-unanimous critical acclaim, big box office, and a very, very mixed reaction here. 

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/30/23 at 10:08am

Question.  A Little Priest was so much fun and so lighthearted with Christopher and Annaleigh, they were cracking each other up and it worked.  Wasn't sure if this was of the moment or if it's staged like that every night with Josh.

[binau]

Posted: 4/30/23 at 10:45am

Mmm Groban and Ashford also 'have a good time' during Priest, but what I thought Christopher and Ashford had together during that song was genuine sexual chemistry, which I wouldn't say is something I saw between her and Groban. 

[Listener]

Posted: 4/30/23 at 2:28pm

Groban and AA were definitely cracking each other up during Priest when I saw it, but you could tell it was part of the performance, and I personally felt they went too hard at it. The lines are funny enough, you don't have to double over yourself saying them, or act each one out. It just seemed like AA was told "sell this or they won't get it!" and Groban just followed her lead.

Fake laughing in any show is annoying. That you felt they were genuinely laughing is a good thing, but I felt it was forced and too much and kind of rolled my eyes. Everyone who does this number is supposed to laugh a bit - Mrs L is deliberately trying to get Sweeney to laugh and go along with her plan after all - but less is more, I think.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/30/23 at 2:34pm

I am so tired of actors doing the "staged-break-character-laughing" schticks. It's not amusing, in my opinion. It's old and annoying. It wasn't funny when Hugh and Sutton did it during The Music Man, and it's not funny when Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford do it during Sweeney.

Annaleigh Ashford's performance was so over the top when I saw it, and she really should have been directed to reign it in and dial it back. It's a broad performance that milks every line and moment for a quick laugh. Clearly, the audience is eating it up, though, so maybe it's just me.

[Show Me]

Posted: 5/1/23 at 12:19am

bear88 said: "I'm trying to think of a revival that's comparable to this one. Sellouts every night with big box office (of a Sondheim musical, no less), very favorable reviews (even if most had various complaints), coupled with a lot of withering criticism on this board. Not just, "I was kind of disappointed," but a pretty thorough trashing of the show and especially its direction.

The most obvious recent analogy isThe Music Man, but that doesn't really work. That revival got a mixture of mixed to negative reviews, along with a few stray raves, and it was pretty much critic-proof (and certainly message board-proof) anyway. It won no Tonys and the audience didn't care. They wanted to see Hugh Jackman in a beloved musical.Funny Girldoesn't work either, because Lea Michele has been lauded both by critics and folks here.

IfSweeney Toddwas playing eight shows a week, it would easily clear $2 million. That's astounding, even for an admittedly famous revival. Maybe it will perform like a lot of anticipated revivals and fall off a cliff this summer. I realize it's got some star power behind it (I've learned not to underestimate the drawing power of Josh Groban at this point) but the audience I saw it with absolutely loved the show. (I advised my daughter, who wanted to see the show during her June trip, to snag tickets nine weeks in advance lest anything semi-reasonable be gone.)

I realize that some of the criticism of the revival stems from high expectations. People are very protective ofSweeney Toddand react harshly to a performance they regard as a disappointment.

But I'm trying to think of a major revival that's drawn near-unanimous critical acclaim, big box office, and a very, very mixed reaction here."

Since every poster above hasn’t addressed bear88’s valid question, I think I have some observations that might frame why this particular chat board and Sweeney Todd 2023 are not friends.

There are chat boards for every form of both popular and those considered the ‘higher’ performing arts. Opera, symphony orchestras, movies and ballet all have at least a couple of active social media messaging forums that are either independent or embedded in larger sites with chat  being a component.

This chat board would fall under the category of a ‘club’ in that there are many repeat posters, often with ongoing conversation between members of several years where there is acknowledgment of one another and their agreement or disagreement on all things theater.

Sites like Rotten Tomatoes give users the opportunity to write their own movie reviews, but not interact in a back and forth between other registered users. RT also has a running tally of the positive professional critics alongside of members. I mention RT because it is the most comprehensive rating website that shows the clear distinction between professional opinions and those of registered members. The disparity in some cases is negligible, but there are many cases where the critical consensus and those of its members are dramatically different.

So why is this particular chat board so critical of Sweeney Todd? The general popular opinion ratings from other aggregate theater sites, critic tally’s, ongoing SRO business and an overwhelmingly enthusiastic audience response reported even by those who hate the production are in stark contrast to this chat board. Again, why?

I think there are a variety of reasons, some of which are rather simple and others that are more difficult to quantify.

The first significant BW chat topic that always paves the way for all significant conversation is the preview thread. Every show gets one, either on its own or as an extension of pre opening talk of a show well before its first performance.

The preview threads obviously run from the outset and continue to Opening Night, then adding professional reviews, or a new thread created consisting only of reviews and the BW posters appraisals of the professional appraisers.

This process is important in that all the preview threads are sort of a social media parlor game about every show that comes to Broadway. Who likes it and who doesn’t? What are the show’s prospects? How many Tony nominations should be expected? What will the critics say? This is where the first general consensus among BW early attendees are cemented. And there are a significant number of people on this board who are early attendees.

In the case of Sweeney Todd, the first preview posts were mostly favorable, but as the days and weeks progressed reaction had become mostly mixed, with a significant number of very negative reviews that continue weeks after its opening.

And the opening. With overwhelmingly favorable to rave reviews, the professional press ran counter to the BW prognosticators. The preview parlor game left BW in a minority. And then it wasn’t just the reviews. The show quickly went SRO. Love letters continued to be written and the PR for the show became constant and spread through an unusually wide variety of publications. What’s most interesting to me is that much of the post opening PR has very little to do with Groban. The producers have the luxury to make  the entire ensemble and creative team available to the press, who are seemingly more than willing to pick up on and write about any number of ST topics.

The world at large responding so favorably to ST in direct opposition to BW posters seems to have had a completely understandable outcome. Dismay, followed by doubling down on negativity are where the BW chatters have landed. And that isn’t right or wrong. It’s human nature.

A fair question on sites like this is who are we? Given the dramatic minority opinion here on ST begs that question. Like other arts chat boards made up of those passionate about their opinions I think it’s fair to say that we are a subset of a subset within a niche occupied by even tighter subsets. 

Which is to say that there is an extraordinarily narrow group of individuals who both define the chat, and direct it in ways not necessarily in agreement with a general consensus. I would surmise that many people who read these posts and visit BW often have self selected out of ever contributing their opinions here.

Just as important are those who self select in, and post on a regular basis. The community is by nature limited, and the general tenor of any given topic seems to be extremely narrow in variety of opinion or reasoned disagreement. 
 
So Bear88, I am also interested in why a show that has an SRO audience on their feet before the first members of the ensemble even appear for their curtain call is deemed a disaster by BW chatters. 
 

 

[inception]

Posted: 5/1/23 at 1:08am

In response to Show Me, & Bear88, I don't think the consensus of regular/active member is that this production isn't good, but rather this thread seems to draw commentators who specifically are unhappy with this production.  Many names unrecognizable to longtime readers.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/1/23 at 1:10am

Except not everyone here thinks it IS a disaster. While imperfect, I liked it a great deal as did many others here.

Updated On: 5/2/23 at 01:10 AM

[JasonC3]

Posted: 5/1/23 at 2:54am

I think the number of posters here who find this production "a disaster'"  as suggested by Show Me is pretty small. 

Many of us, myself included, found the production to be pretty good and fairly enjoyable, but some specific elements to be lacking.  A lot of the earlier negative comments were about those individual elements, as well as some critical reactions that reflected how high expectations were for this production given the pedigree of everyone involved.

While many critics did mention them (inconsistent sound design, Ashford's mugging, Groban's level of sinister, Kail's direction/vision, et al), they still reacted more favorably to the production overall.

[Show Me]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 5:42pm

for those asserting that the ongoing negativity about this production on BW is a minority opinion, I share the very page on this site that compares the professional critical response to those of BW armchair prognosticators. With 85% of the critics being positive, versus 30% by readers, it’s pretty clear that this particular chat board sits in an extraordinarily and perhaps actuarially unprecedented spread regarding the disapproval of a hit show. And it’s so interesting that Sondheim was aware of this phenomenon and even has a lyric to commemorate it:

I saw My Fair Lady, I sort of enjoyed it.

I would guess that this board has a lot of folks who relate to Frank. The rest of the world seem to live in a less lofty, critical and relentlessly judgmental world

 

 

[binau]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 6:01pm

I guess speaking for myself, and I assume I'm not the only one - when you've practically heard and watched every recording of Sweeney Todd ever made both for public release and not (and every other Sondheim show for that matter), as well as seen many productions of this show and most of the Sondheim revivals of late of course you build pre-conceived notions about what you want the show to be - and of course I think it's harder to be impressed or thrilled because you've kind of milked this material for every dopamine release it can possibly give you lol. I recognise this is truly the minority and not at ALL the kind of people packing into the theatre every night though. And I would actually be happy if this production of Sweeney Todd were to remain open on Broadway forever as I think Sondheim and the show deserve it, even if it's not exactly my fav Sondheim revival ever. I also speculate/hope the cast recording will be amazing though and even better than seeing the production live.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 7:21pm

Show Me said: "for those asserting that the ongoing negativity about this production on BW is a minority opinion, I share the very page on this site that compares the professional critical response to those of BW armchair prognosticators. With 85% of the critics being positive, versus 30% by readers, it’s pretty clear that this particular chat board sits in an extraordinarily and perhaps actuarially unprecedented spread regarding the disapproval of a hit show. And it’s so interesting that Sondheim was aware of this phenomenon and even has a lyric to commemorate it:

I saw My Fair Lady, I sort of enjoyed it.

I would guess that this board has a lot of folks who relate to Frank. The rest of the world seem to live in a less lofty, critical and relentlessly judgmental world"

In your posts when you reference this board or the chat thread I certainly didn't think of this Reader's Rating you've cited, something I did not know even existed.  Those of us who replied to you focused on contributions to this discussion thread. 

Since the image you provided doesn't tell us how many people are represented in the reader sample, I don't know how to interpret it.  And when I go to the Review link under the NEWS tab, Sweeney isn't one of the shows I'm seeing.

Regardless, let's not pretend that some number of random anonymous ratings are in any way representative of the overall sentiment of everyone using Broadway World. All it shows is the opinions of those who (1) knew the rating option exists, and (2) felt compelled enough to leave one.

 

[Show Me]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 9:18pm

Reread your post Jason. Because YOU were unaware of the aggregate review page it instantly becomes an unreliable gauge of BW consensus.  And it is made up of “random anonymous ratings” something clearly as unknowable as whether it IS representative of BW’s sentiment. Your reply to me was arrogant, and wouldn’t hold up in a high school debating team.

Of course all the BW Sweeney Todd threads are full of negative comments. In fact I would surmise that the average comments on these boards fairly matches that of the rating page. But most importantly, and my point from the outset is that every other site that has audience ratings for Broadway shows - and I mean all of them -  ST comments are almost entirely raves. The BW chat board has become an outlier in the past several years. 

 

[JasonC3]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 9:26pm

Show Me said: "Reread your post Jason. Because YOU were unaware of the aggregate review page it instantly becomes an unreliable gauge of BW consensus. And it is made up of “random anonymous ratings” something clearly as unknowable as whether it IS representative of BW’s sentiment. Your reply to me was arrogant, and wouldn’t hold up in a high school debating team.

Of course all the BW Sweeney Todd threads are full of negative comments. In fact I would surmise that the average comments on these boards fairly matches that of the rating page. But most importantly, and my point from the outset is that every other site that has audience ratings for Broadway shows - and I mean all of them - ST comments are almost entirely raves. The BW chat board has become an outlier in the past several years."

Nice of you to join the board and then go on the attack and keep slightly modifying the concerns you have about comments here.  I don't know what your issues are, but I was trying to engage in good faith and you seemingly are not.  You're twisting what I said and don't appear open to, or interested in, any perspectives but your own, so I'm out and putting you on Ignore.

 

Updated On: 5/3/23 at 09:26 PM

[MezzA101]

Posted: 5/4/23 at 8:12pm

As Tobias so wisely said. I saw this production for the third time yesterday and took it on its own terms. Just sat back and enjoyed the show. Also, the sound was quite good mid-Orchestra far right and I spent much time marveling at the crafting of those lyrics. How much time and research "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" and "Parlor Songs" must have taken, for example, to feel of that time. Also, the book/score mesh so well. I would love to read how Sondheim and Wheeler collaborated. 

This production was designed as a crowd pleaser and on those terms it succeeds. I continue to wish Prince had Toby witness at least the death of Mrs. Lovett. Ashford made it to the top of the table in A Little Priest" on her first attempt. She struggled but did not scream (writing that makes me think of a trial currently in progress in NYC).

There's been talk about inconsistencies in the days of the week. Tuesday in "Wait" while it's Friday in "Ah, Miss." Yesterday, Ashford said "It's only Friday." Is that new or a flub? And she's still saying "I loved you."

 

[binau]

Posted: 5/5/23 at 2:38am

This image here might be the one and only time I'll ever see Bernadette's face in front of a Sweeney set. I must admit, I absolutely love the look and think her Lovett already looks iconic on this stage. While of course I do hope the show has a long life, if sales start to taper in a years' time and contracts end/voices get tired I really hope they can bring in Bernadette and Mandy for a few months to close the show as a kind of special event. 

 

 



 

 

Updated On: 5/5/23 at 02:38 AM