#1
Posted: 11/7/05 at 2:48pm
My first review thread. Be kind.
Sweeney Todd, Nov. 7 evening performance
I had the pleasure of seeing this show very early in the previews and was blown away by it. I didn't expect to be blown away again, but I was.
I think this show almost has to be seen at least twice. The first time, I was almost distracted by the "Wow! They're really playing the instruments" factor to the point that I wasn't sure where to focus on the stage at times. This time, I was used to the convention from the moment the curtain opened, and it was like seeing a completely different show than the first time.
I won't speak too broadly on why I loved this show and every actor in it. There's already been ample reviews that have touched on that. I'll just touch on a few specifics. And let me caveat -- I'm not nearly old enough to have seen the Lansbury/Cariou version, and my only connection with that time is the cast recording and the Lansbury/Hearn DVD, so I am making no comparisons between the two.
The first scene between Sweeney and Lovett is electric. Traditionally, we see Sweeney transform from a sullen, wronged yet disturbed man into a violent monster. In this show -- with the way he treats Lovett as she tells him what happened to Lucy and Johanna -- the transition is almost the opposite. But by the time we get to "By the Sea," any sign of a soul, good or bad, is gone. He's become a machine. And I know that's always been the intent of the show, the dehumanization of Sweeney with the razor making "his right arm whole again," but I think this production really brings that out.
To compare the broad characterization Patti LuPone gave to Lovett in the concert version to what she's doing now is astonishing. And FTR, I liked her in the concert version, too -- I thought the broadness was needed in that format.
And just a few other subtleties I noticed this time that I'd missed before (sorry if someone else has already mentioned these):
-The tall shelf at the back of the stage. It took me awhile to figure out that certain items were being spotlighted on the wall during certain times in the show. A cross during Judge Turpin's Johanna, for example, or a doll in a cage during "Green Finch and Linnet Bird."
-When Sweeney talks, Tobias is often mouthing his words with him. Given the set-up at the beginning of the show, it's an interesting choice.
-The keyboard is the musical backbone for this show, of course, but I didn't notice before how many in the cast actually had to play it.
-I'd noticed the additional business between Lovett and the Beggar Woman the first time, and loved that. But this time, I also noticed a similar "off-stage" relationship between Tobias and Pirelli. Donna Lynne Champlin is often ordering him about the stage, and it kind of combines her role as the abusive Pirelli and her "doctor" role at the beginning of the show.
-And while I'm speaking of Tobias, his final "gag" at the end of the show is the muffler Lovett knitted for him. Nice touch.
Sweeney Todd, Nov. 7 evening performance
I had the pleasure of seeing this show very early in the previews and was blown away by it. I didn't expect to be blown away again, but I was.
I think this show almost has to be seen at least twice. The first time, I was almost distracted by the "Wow! They're really playing the instruments" factor to the point that I wasn't sure where to focus on the stage at times. This time, I was used to the convention from the moment the curtain opened, and it was like seeing a completely different show than the first time.
I won't speak too broadly on why I loved this show and every actor in it. There's already been ample reviews that have touched on that. I'll just touch on a few specifics. And let me caveat -- I'm not nearly old enough to have seen the Lansbury/Cariou version, and my only connection with that time is the cast recording and the Lansbury/Hearn DVD, so I am making no comparisons between the two.
The first scene between Sweeney and Lovett is electric. Traditionally, we see Sweeney transform from a sullen, wronged yet disturbed man into a violent monster. In this show -- with the way he treats Lovett as she tells him what happened to Lucy and Johanna -- the transition is almost the opposite. But by the time we get to "By the Sea," any sign of a soul, good or bad, is gone. He's become a machine. And I know that's always been the intent of the show, the dehumanization of Sweeney with the razor making "his right arm whole again," but I think this production really brings that out.
To compare the broad characterization Patti LuPone gave to Lovett in the concert version to what she's doing now is astonishing. And FTR, I liked her in the concert version, too -- I thought the broadness was needed in that format.
And just a few other subtleties I noticed this time that I'd missed before (sorry if someone else has already mentioned these):
-The tall shelf at the back of the stage. It took me awhile to figure out that certain items were being spotlighted on the wall during certain times in the show. A cross during Judge Turpin's Johanna, for example, or a doll in a cage during "Green Finch and Linnet Bird."
-When Sweeney talks, Tobias is often mouthing his words with him. Given the set-up at the beginning of the show, it's an interesting choice.
-The keyboard is the musical backbone for this show, of course, but I didn't notice before how many in the cast actually had to play it.
-I'd noticed the additional business between Lovett and the Beggar Woman the first time, and loved that. But this time, I also noticed a similar "off-stage" relationship between Tobias and Pirelli. Donna Lynne Champlin is often ordering him about the stage, and it kind of combines her role as the abusive Pirelli and her "doctor" role at the beginning of the show.
-And while I'm speaking of Tobias, his final "gag" at the end of the show is the muffler Lovett knitted for him. Nice touch.
