If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Musicaldudepeter
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/18/10
#1If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/21/14 at 7:49pmI've often wondered if the original productions of Evita and Sweeney Todd opened the same season, and competed against each other at the same Tony Awards ceremony, what would the outcome have been. Would Patti or Angela have won, would Sondheim or Lloyd Webber have won...? Which show would've won the Best Musical prize?
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#2If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/21/14 at 8:02pm
Evita would have won Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor(Patinkin), Best Musical, Best Score and Book
Sweeney would have won Best Actor, Best Set, Best Costumes, Best Lighting
Evita was one of the first "British" musicals and Americans were nuts for a pop opera from across the pond.
I sort of compare it to a few years before this, A Chorus Line trouncing Chicago. Both were great musicals, but the public went nuts for ACL.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#2If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 7:52am
Well, I may be prejudiced — as my avatar here may suggest — but I think that Sweeney would have won pretty much everything it did win in 1979. Now if Cariou had been up against Jim Dale (who won Best Actor the season of Evita), he might not have won (even though I think he gave the greatest male musical theatre performance I've ever seen).
Sweeney got much better reviews than Evita. And if in 1988, Sondheim could win best score for Into the Woods over Phantom, then I sure think that Sweeney would have won score over Evita.
But as the Dale point suggests, certain things would depend on what year they competed against each other. Would Patinkin have won against vet Henderson Forsythe? Maybe but not certainly.
Anyway, Hal Prince would have done everything within his power to prevent the two shows from being in competition.
Musicaldudepeter
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/18/10
#3If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 8:44amI think Sondheim would have won best score over Lloyd Webber, but I really struggle to think who would have won best actress - LuPone or Lansbury, both electric, iconic performances... My gut tells me LuPone because it was her breakout role, and the character has more of a 'journey' going from young wide-eyed Eva to crumbling First Lady... All the same, Lansbury was ferocious in Sweeney, so who knows ?
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#4If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 9:09am
Nothing, and I mean, NOTHING, was going to deprive Sondheim or his show of any of the Tonys he and it won.
It was Sondheim.
Nuff said.
#5If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 9:20amI think Evita would fight for the poor, struggling Beggar Woman's rights due to the injustices brought on by the judge and beadle. Che would sing the Ballad of Sweeney Todd throughout the show, and ultimately Sweeney would slash Eva's throat, shove her down the shoot, and Mrs. Lovett would bake her into a meat pie.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Wynbish
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/27/12
#6If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 9:46amWhat if the original Evita went up against the revival Sweeney?
FishermanBob
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/9/12
#7If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 9:48am
"and ultimately Sweeney would slash Eva's throat, shove her down the shoot, and Mrs. Lovett would bake her into a meat pie."
Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never ate you
We made the meat pies
But they were Brazilians
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance.
Musicaldudepeter
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/18/10
#8If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 9:52am^ "But they were Brazilians" doesn't fit the rhythm of the music, so you may want to change that line.
FishermanBob
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/9/12
#9If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 9:57amGood point. I'll work on it.
#10If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 10:16am
Maybe:
Don't cry for me, Argentina
The truth is I never ate you
We made the meat pies
Just from Brazilians
I kept my promise
Give me your millions.
FishermanBob
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/9/12
#12If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 11:06am
Attend the tale of Juan Peron
with Sweeney Todd in the Twilight Zone.
He married Eva, but woe is me!
She died in a meat pie at just thirty-three.
Her Rainbow Tour was lots of fun.
Now she's a bun,
served up to patrons on Fleet Street!
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Updated On: 2/22/14 at 11:06 AM
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Wynbish
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/27/12
#14If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 11:26am"Fling your arms up high, Eva!"
#15If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 2:57pm
Okay, she didn't DIE in a meat pie. Haste makes confusion. How 'bout this instead:
Attend the tale of Juan Peron
with Sweeney Todd in the Twilight Zone.
He married Eva, but woe is me!
Ground up in a meat pie at just thirty-three.
Her Rainbow Tour was lots of fun.
Now she's a bun,
The blue plate special on Fleet Street!
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
FishermanBob
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/9/12
#16If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 3:28pmWe should get all this stuff copyrighted right away otherwise we may see included as part of Jim Colyer's next big hit "Meat Pies" which of course will be off the "Girl" album.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#17If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 3:44pm
What's new, cockney London?
I'm new, I want to say Latinas are in the que
You'll get used to a few
Stand back, cockney London
because you oughta know
how your boys become manly
Just spend one night with me
Fill me up with your pies
Feast your eyes, criticize
overdo me
Demons prowl
beggars scowl
judges foul
barbers tow'l
Brits are so twee
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
mjohnson2
Broadway Star Joined: 11/2/13
#18If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 3:54pmBest12Bars, that's actually freaking brilliant.
Anything regarding shows stated by this account is an attempt to convey opinion and not fact.
#19If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 4:22pm
Merci!
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#20If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 8:11pm
The "public" doesn't vote for the Tonys.
At the time, there was quite a bit of backlash from progressives who felt EVITA was glorifying fascists. (I don't agree with the argument, but it was a common one.)
Meanwhile, Lansbury surprised even her biggest fans (including me) with the range she showed in SWEENEY TODD.
I can't prove those factors would have swung the vote in Lansbury's direction, but I also wouldn't assume she would have lost to LuPone.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#21If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/22/14 at 9:57pm
"The "public" doesn't vote for the Tonys."
Not directly, but if the public doesn't go, the show closes and sometimes a show closes before the Tony voters can get to see it.
Take 1987 for example. Les Miserables and Rags were two musicals about people struggling. Both musicals have deaths in them. Which musical closed early and which musical won the Tony? Now I'm not saying that if Rags had remained open, that it would have won, but how many Tony voters do you think go to see it in 18 previews and 4 performances?
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#22If Evita and Sweeney competed at the Tonys the same year
Posted: 2/23/14 at 8:26pm
I understand that, Goth, but I thought the argument above was that the public preferred EVITA and therefore LuPone would have won. I don't think that's true unless EVITA fans could somehow conspire to close SWEENEY prematurely. I just don't think popularity among non-voters is an issue in this particular thread.
Both performances were and are considered iconic among industry workers; I don't think there's any way to know for sure who would have won a dead heat.
Updated On: 2/23/14 at 08:26 PM
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