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I hate Sweeney Todd...

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#1

I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/8/05 at 10:59pm

....but LOVE the musical....
I figure that title would attract more people.
Well, we have so many Wicked and Avenue Q threads, but hardly any devoted to loving Sweeney Todd.
So, what're your favorite songs, scenes, characters, perfromers, etc....?

What parts (if any) don't you like? Every musical has flaws....

Updated On: 2/8/05 at 10:59 PM

#2

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:04pm

i love the songs: Prelude, worst pies in london, poor thing, A little priest

"Chicago is it's own incredible theater town right there smack down in the middle of the heartland. What a great city! I can see why Oprah likes to live there!" - Dee Hoty :-D

#3

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:05pm

I think the character of Sweeney is the greatest to ever walk to Broadway stage. He's my favorite character in it.

I love all the music but there are little bits that just are incredible:

-"Not While I'm Around" after "No one's gonna dare" theres this horn solo that seems to sum up the entire show for me.
-Final Sequence: The muscial in the background after Sweeney figures out it's Lucy, soooo powerful.
-Epiphany(Sp?): "No nor ten men..nor a hundred!" right after hundred, theres that horn blast, wowwowowow!
-And the finale is amamamamamazing!

its all good, we'll leave it at that

#4

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:06pm

No Place Like London
God Thats Good
Legend of Sweeny Todd

three WONDERFUL songs

"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

#5

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:08pm

So many. I love Sweeney's Johanna. I saw Bryn Terfel (sp)at the Lyric and also George Hearn and Patti at Ravinia - lovely performances for all.

#6

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:20pm

i love sweeney..favorite song would be not while i'm around and favorite character would be Mrs. Lovett

#7

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:20pm

It's so well-crafted. It's a real prime example of the musical theater form.

#8

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:24pm

I should prolly put in my opinions, too....

Worst Pies in London and Mrs. Lovett...

OK, this is really stupid, but between BKLYN and Sweeney (not that I am comparing them) it really makes you think about the homeless people you see on the street, no?

#9

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:45pm

i Like Sweeney...But...

I have a problem with some of the music.

I HATE anything the Beadle and Pirelli sing.
Anytime Sweeney and Mrs. lovett sing about the Barber and his wife...(too slow), i find it dragging.
I also can't stand Sweeney's soliloqouy.

Sorry, I know I'm the odd man out here...

What I do love about the show - The Beggar Woman (A role that, if I were a woman, would LOVE to play), Johanna - though her character is annoying, she does have some of the best songs, the Ensemble - there is nothing more chilling than the opening number and the Finale (City on Fire), and I love singing the song "Johanna" - I think it's one of Sondheim's most beautiful songs.

"Do you know what pledge time is, Andrew"? said the PBS Executive. "Yes", Lloyd Webber replied. "My 50th birthday special must be one program that gets done a lot." "No", mused the man from PBS heedlessy. "Not so much. Our Stephen Sondheim Carnegie Hall concert. That's a big one." Spoons, forks and knives seemed suddenly to suspend their motion in horror, all around the table.

#10

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:07am

Why would you try and kill me like that?!?!?!

I love almost every single thing about Sweeney. My favorite character is Tobias, my favorite songs are Johanna and A Little Priest, George Hearn is my favorite Sweeney, Patti LuPone is my favorite Mrs. Lovett! I HATE HATE HATE Johanna the character, but when done right I love the song Green Finch and Linnet Bird.

"The stage is where I live and come alive and act out all the things that go on in my life. It's not just what I do for a living, it's my shrink and my love affair. No one in my life has ever or ever will kiss me on the mouth like this lover called my relationship with my performance."

#11

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:08am

Why would you try and kill me like that?!?!?!

I'm in a Sweeney kind of mood....

BWAHAHAHAHA::cough::::cough::HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

#12

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:10am

Clever, VERY clever!

"The stage is where I live and come alive and act out all the things that go on in my life. It's not just what I do for a living, it's my shrink and my love affair. No one in my life has ever or ever will kiss me on the mouth like this lover called my relationship with my performance."

#13

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:12am

Thank you.

#14

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 1:03am

I love Sweeney Todd, I bought Sweeney Todd in concert live at the New York Philharmonic for almost $60.00 and it was worth it. I love the songs "Worst Pies in London", "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" "Not While I'm Around" and those two duets between Anothy and Johanna about getting Married......Also I saw that Sweeney Todd is being done where the actors play instruments(similar to Cabaret 199

. The character for me is Tobias and he has to play the flute and the piano and I play the flute and the piano.

#15

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 1:33am

Sweeney is no doubt brialliant. I think it's my favorite Sondheim. I'm so lucky I'll be able to do it in May. It's amazing all of it. Sondheim is a master composer. He really does make use of all the themes that he establishes. This is why everyone thinks Sweeneys an opera. I've only seen George Hearn's Sweeney. I have yet to see a bad Ms Lovett, but you can't beat Angela Lansbury. That woman is A-MAZING to me. PS Does anyone notice how on the Lansbury-Hearn video, that Joanna goes cross-eyed and a bit sharp when ever she sings a high note in "Green Finch"? Just an observation...

#16

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 1:36am

Jazzy I have totally noticed her eyes going like that....Did you know that that was Sweeney's(George Hearns)wife?????

#17

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 4:41am

'A Little Priest' is a brilliant song.

"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"

#18

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 10:11am

Sweeney Todd is a brilliant show...

#19

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 10:15am

Epiphany and Little Priest

Lovette rocks!

When someone blunders, we say that he makes a misstep. Is it then not clear that all the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill our history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill in dancing. - Moliere

#20

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 10:17am

ditto: Brilliant.
When Sweeney is rocking Lucy's lifeless body in his arms at the end of the show, it's impossible not to feel totally emotionally wrecked. I think the writing is perhaps the best that musical theatre has seen in this country. Stephen Sondhiem, I've said it before and I'll say it again - you're a genius and I wish you'd write a role for me!

"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!" Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!

#21

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 10:38am

Ahh, I love this thread.
MTVMANN: So his wife was playing... his daughter? That's a little... odd.
Anyway, I adore all of the songs (except maybe "Wait," which I only like), but especially
-Kiss Me
-A Little Priest
-Epiphany
-Johanna
-The Worst Pies in London
-The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
-Green Finch and Linnet Bird
-Johanna (The Judge's Song)

Favorite character: All of them. Yes, even Johanna. I feel sorry for the girl, the man who's raised her as a father isn't letting her outside the house (practically), lusting after her, and then proposes marriage. Jeez.
Actually, maybe not ALL of them. Not too fond of the beadle, he just does absolutely nothing for me (I'm not sure if he should, or not, though).

The only Sweeney I've ever SEEN perform (not live, though) is George Hearn, so I can't really make any comparisons there, but that man is amazing. I enjoy Patti LuPone and Angela Lansbury equally as Mrs. Lovett, as they both had very different takes on the part, and I think it's hard to compare the two. However, I respect Angela Lansbury as the one who created the role, and she will remain the actress everyone associates the role with. I LOVED Lisa Vroman as Johanna in the concert DVD. Wasn't too fond of Hearn's wife(!) on the other (filmed) version. Was it just me, or was she scooping into almost every note she sang?

*Cough* I'll stop now.

#22

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 1:59pm

Now, I know more people like Sweeney than this...

#23

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 2:21pm

"Johanna" sung by Sweeny with Anthony singing in the backgorund...as Sweeny slits the throats of his customers-- I think that is the single greatest moment in a show, ever.

And there are so many wonderful moments: "Not While I'm Around", "Epiphany", Anthony's "Johanna", and my favorite line "To seek revenge may lead to hell, but everyone does it and seldom as well...."

#24

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 2:25pm

Like other Sondheim shows, SWEENEY is great, IF you are familiar with the score. IT IS NOT A SHOW one can enjoy LIVE in the theater without knowing the score or having seen a video of it before hand.

That is why its original Broadway run and other subsequent productions have been financial failures. A gorgeous score and Hal Prince's inspired direction of the original production did not keep theatergoers from once again, being terribly disappointed in a Sondheim show.

SWEENEY has a very slow beginning and the "average" theatergoer easily loses interest(remember, hearing Sweeney sing about "a barber and his wife" etc...it is hard to absorb and register all of that information while seeing a LIVE performance in the theater--it comes across as a very boring time) until Mrs. Lovett appears with The Worst Pies in London.

SWEENEY plays MUCH MUCH better on the television version directed brilliantly by Terry Hughes. Angela is of course magnificent as she was in the theater and thank goodness the magnificent George Hearn did Sweeney for the tv version and received a RICHY DESERVED Emmy award (once again Angela lost an Emmy==she and Hearn were nominated in the same category--I believe Lansbury holds the records for emmy acting nominations with no win.

Of course the SWEENEY recording is a great listen, despite Len Cariou being NO George Hearn.

I LOOOOOOOOOOVE Sweeney Todd, but it is CERTAINLY NOT a show one recommends to the casual theatergoer.

My least favorite Sweeney song is

Green Finch and Linnet Bird (sp?)

my favorites are:

Johanna
Pretty Women
Not While I'm Around

What a gorgeous score!!!

Hopefully, someday, with a revised book and direction, SWEENEY can be a thrilling LIVE theater experience for all theatergoers from beginning to end!

That would truly be musical heaven. :)

p.s. I suspect most of the folks writing effusively about SWEENEY know the show best from the video/dvd television production directed by Terry Hughes of THE GOLDEN GIRLS fame. THIS CLEARLY shows how a talented, brilliant director can bring a work to new heights of delight even when "simply" adapting in for television.

"Blow out the candles Robert and make a wish. Want something, want SOMETHING."

#25

re: I hate Sweeney Todd...

Posted: 2/9/05 at 2:39pm

Oh, I hate that song to IWISH

YEah, I've only seen the video....makes you want to see the show live!

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