London Sweeney Todd May Be Heading To Broadway

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 2:54pm

From Broadway.com:

"Will the Demon Barber of Fleet Street sing again on the Great White Way? Broadway.com has learned that the Roundabout Theatre Company is in talks to bring the acclaimed London production of Sweeney Todd, currently running at the New Ambassadors Theatre in the West End, to New York.

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Directed and designed by John Doyle, this production of Sweeney Todd began performances at the New Ambassadors Theatre on October 13, after a national tour and a run at the Whitehall Theatre. Matt Wolf of Variety said of the production: "The first thing to be said about director-designer John Doyle's simply thrilling new West End production--the venture began earlier this year at the tiny Watermill Theater in Newbury, west of London--is that it sounds, looks, indeed plays like no Sweeney you have ever seen before. It isn't just the scaled-down nature of the staging that's worthy of note: comparable Teeny Todds have been done before, on Broadway and elsewhere. But as socked across the footlights by a uniformly dazzling nine-person cast, all of whom pretty much play at least one instrument if not more, this Sweeney seems, to paraphrase the famous Sondheim lyric, 'to hear music that nobody's heard,' in the process turning a potentially over-familiar piece--at least in Britain--into something entirely fresh."

The show, headlined by Paul Hegarty as Sweeney Todd and Karen Mann as Mrs. Lovett, ends its run at the New Ambassadors on February 5. There is no word on whether any of the production's current cast members would make the trip to Broadway."
http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=505370

[Plum]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 2:56pm

I read this earlier today and it sounds great, but...um, hasn't Broadway.com proven to be less than totally reliable before?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:00pm

I'd heard about this from a reliable source a few days ago (before Broadway.com even had the info) so I believe it's true.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:01pm

Yeah...I knew about Roundabout wanting to do Sweeney next season for a while and figured it would be this.

[Plum]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:06pm

Oh, good. :) But geez, will they stick it in Studio 54? Updated On: 1/19/05 at 03:06 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:12pm

Perhaps it would be better in their AA Theatre, since it only seats 740.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:14pm

'I got sprayed with blood and it was glorious!'

Sounds like my last Saturday night.

Good times.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:18pm

Let the casting speculation begin! GO!!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:20pm

A cast of 9 that doubles as the orchestra. In other words, VERY different from the Prince production, but apparently extremely effective in its own right.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:22pm

I'm wondering if they're going to try and bring over at least some of the London cast. Trying find nine actor/singer/musicians of that caliber isn't easy on either side of the Atlantic.

Updated On: 1/19/05 at 03:22 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:24pm

I'm sure at least the 2, if not the 4, principals will be cast here, unless they get British names that are also stars here. Anyone know if Brenda sings?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:24pm

Sounds interesting. Although, hasnt Broadway already had a "teeney sweeney?"

[Plum]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:28pm

I think it did, with Beth Fowler as Mrs. Lovett.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:30pm

Yes, Susan Shulman's "Teeny Todd" played Circle in the Square about 15 years ago -- but even that production had a larger cast than this one.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:32pm

I guess this is more Micro Todd.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:33pm

I wonder if some of the Kit Kat ensemble from the Cabaret revival will be grabbed for this show, since they had to play instruments and sing too?

[poodleboy]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:34pm

I saw this production last month, it is very interesting and unlike any Sweeney I have seen (original,bway revival,NYCO and concert).
Studio 54 would suit this production much better than the AA theater, it is small and for me a little too gimmickie. No fear of spraying blood.
The actors play the music, so when Mrs. Lovett is not singing, she is playing the trumpet.
The story in a story is much more played up here, you can seperate the actors for their characters.
Simple set with a coffin as the center piece. Sweeny wears a leather jacket and a white shirt.
As I said, interesting, a new take on the show. Much darker.
The Roundabout is the perfect place to do this.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:39pm

I saw that Teeny Sweeney. It's the only one I've seen onstage. I loved it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:40pm

I'd rather they mount the huge revival the material deserves.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:43pm

Does anyone have pictures from this new staging?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:49pm

I've been looking. There was a link with about a dozen production photos that I can't seem to locate now, but I'll keep searching. It looked fascinating.

[maybethistime]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 5:30pm

I'm SO excited now! **CROSSES FINGERS**
Sweeney is one of my favorite shows, but I haven't been able to see it live in a professional production... YAY

[magruder]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 6:41pm

I doubt that we'll ever see Sweeney Todd performed on Broadway in anything quite like the size and scale of the original Broadway production. Production photos really do not do justice to what was going on with that original set, with all of the sinister looking machinery on the side levels, the pipe organ, that murky glass roof, the grave diggers, the steel girders moving about. It was really one of a kind - the traveling set seen in the VHS/DVD version with Hearn and Lansbury is a mere fraction of the original Broadway set.

That said, Hal Prince has commented that he threw all of that set at Sweeney Todd because he was so nervous about the material. It's clear from the small productions the show has received that the writing is so strong, it withstands the scrutiny of an intimate production.

The original Broadway production was physically and emotionally overwhelming, but the '89 revival really put the emotions of the characters right into your lap in a way the original Broadway production could not have done. It works with either treatment, but let's face it, any Sweeney is better than no Sweeney!

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 6:46pm

The only grand scale productions of Sweeney seem to be coming from opera houses... Like NYC Opera's production with Mark Devlan and Elaine Paige last year....

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 6:55pm

I've heard great things about this production; maybe if it happens I could see it with Nugget and Priest; oh, how exciting! :)