Laughter during Sweeney Todd

[singingwendy]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 8:52am

Yes...I know that there are plenty of places that are very funny in "Sweeney Todd", however, I'm currently in a production of "Sweeney Todd" and we're experiencing something I find very strange. During the Act 2 Johanna Quartet, when Sweeney is "dispatching" his victims, we're getting audience laughter and even applause. Now, I can almost understand the first one, since this is the first time they've seen "the chair" in action. But I would think that at least the second one and certainly the Beadle's death (which occurs later) would not provoke laughter. Some members of the cast think it's because Sweeney is singing so sweetly and lovingly about his daughter while slitting people's throats....that it's just so out of place. But to me, that's thought provoking, not laugh inducing.

Let me just say, I don't think it's the quality of the production. This is show is actually much higher quality than most community theatre I've been involved with....and that just adds to my confusion.

So.....just wondered if anyone else has experienced this phenomena during Sweeney or maybe another show.

[artscallion]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 9:00am

Some of it may e nervous laughter. Also, Sondheim shows often evoke inappropriate laughter. His writing is often so clever and witty that people can mistake that for funny. Once that's happened they often have the mistaken impression that Sondheim=comedy. The woman next to me at a performance of the Sweeney Todd revival thought the whole thing was a hoot and laughed at almost everything. I wanted to put her in the chair...er...that little white coffin that nobody understood.

People also laughed at Passion for, I think, the same reasons..

Updated On: 10/17/07 at 09:00 AM

[BrianS]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 9:18am

If you've ever done a show with a gun going off, you know the audience will laugh as a reaction to nerves. (Spoiler alert) I can't tell you how many times I've seen Chino run out and shoot Tony only to have the audience laugh at that moment. (End spoiler, but if you don't know how this show ends, you probably shouldn't be on this board. ha.)

I've seen Sweeney in 4 different productions and the more graphically violent the deaths, the more laughs they got. Sad but true.

[roseaddams]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 9:40am

When I saw a community production of the show, when it got to the Act II Johanna, what I found funny was the complete dichotomy between the beautiful music and the grisly acts happening on stage. Plus, when the third guy comes in with his family and Sweeney isn't quite sure what to do -- that's hilarious.

[Craig]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 9:42am

That spot is quite common for laughter - at least on Broadway with the original production and others I've seen. It's for the reason you mention. The scene is a complete contradiction. The score is so beautiful while such violent things are going on. Sondheim has a few of those moments in Sweeney Todd (which is why it's one of my favorites). Pretty Women works the same way and only "turns" when the confrontation at the end of the song builds to an intensity.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 10:54am

"People also laughed at Passion for, I think, the same reasons.."


The reasons people laughed at Passion are much more obvious. LOL it sucks

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 11:29am

Naw, you suck. LOL!

I'm pretty sure that there are many parts of that song that are meant to be funny. Also the scenes leading up to the beadles' death are pretty ludicrous and he's been established as a fairly comedic character. I can see why people would laugh. I don't know what's particularly thought provoking in the quartet though, unless you're thinking extensively about Sweeney and his decisions, I guess.

[singingwendy]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 11:58am

Ok....thanks....glad to know it's not just our show.

Now.....as for the gunshot during the asylum scene....the gun that worked so well during rehearsals is now being tempermental and sometimes decides not to fire. After it happened once in rehearsal, the director decided that the pit could play a "gunshot" sound from the keyboard if they needed to. Well.....they did it the next night and it sounded like a wild west shoot out! So......instead Mr. Fogg has been strangled by Anthony quite a few times. (Yes, I know this changes the impact of Joanna being the one who actually shoots Fogg, but trust me, it's better than the cartoony sound from the pit!)

[sondhead]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 12:22pm

Why don't you have the drummer do a rim shot?

[singingwendy]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 12:28pm

We don't have a drummer.

Our pit is three keyboards, flute, bass and some auxilliary percussion. They've basically divided up the score and are covering all the important parts. It's not the full symphonic sound but it's more than the revival. It's actually pretty well done for a small theatre.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 12:30pm

"Naw, you suck. LOL! "


Who told you I was a bottom?

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 2:51pm

Carly Jibson.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 4:10pm

Couldn't you just have Johanna beat Fogg to death with the gun?

[dramarama2]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 4:32pm

There are quite a few moments in Sweeney which ALWAYS make me laugh. "A Little Priest" is one of my favorite showtunes and always will be.
I saw an interesting production of Sweeney (Sydney Opera) where Fogg was just knocked out (I think) not killed. The whole production scared me ****less though, so a lot of the laughs in Act 2 were lost.

[singingwendy]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 6:51pm

Well, what's been happening, is they try the gun (it worked 2 out of 3 times last weekend) and if it doesn't go off, then he says "there's no time!" and strangles him. If you don't know the show that well.....and I'm surprised how many of our audience members don't.....you really wouldn't know the difference.

I think part of my confusion about laughter at what i consider inappropriate places is that I saw the revival, and there was NO laughter at all during that section. However, if I remember correctly, Sweeney also wasn't killing anyone during that song in the revival.

[EganFan2]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 10:12pm

Well, there were people laughing and clapping when I saw the tour of "Jekyll and Hyde" and Hyde was dispatching Lady Beaconsfield, Lord Savage, et al. Never could figure that one out.

[Rotel1026]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 10:34pm

There's no time to shoot him but enough time to strangle him? Funny...

[ByTheSea920]

Posted: 10/18/07 at 12:20am

When I first saw Sweeney, the audience laughed during that part! I remember that I giggled a little bit too, just because it's really funny the first time you see it, and you're not expecting it at all! Sweeney's just one of those shows that is so unpredictable that it almost encourages inappropriate laughter sometimes! Not that it's constantly meant to be funny. But it just is at certain parts.

And also, LOL to the gunshots sounding like a wild west shootout!