PATTI LUPONE HEADLINING SWEENEY! — Page 2

I love that episode, almost as good as the "Chita Rivera and Michele Lee are lesbian lovers" episode.

So excited that Patti gets to do a full staged version of this spectacular show! I was in the NY concert production and seeing her perform this daily for a week solid is one thing I'll never forget. Accents aside, her performance was stunning, funny, sexy, powerfully sung. I think she has the sense of humor to take on this even more macabre setting. And..it gets Patti back where she belongs - on Broadway!

Princeton - thanks for reminding me of the W&G episode. that was too funny!

I believe the rule is that you can't be nominated for roles that you were eligible to be nominated for in the past (whether you were, in fact, nominated or not). Hearn was never eligible to be nominated as Sweeney Todd, thus I THINK he would be eligible to be nominated if he were cast in it this time (barring some crazy ruling by the Tony nominators).

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Personally, a former Sweeney I'd LOVE to hear wrap his cords around these songs is not Stokes...but Norm Lewis.

I don't know if you *have* to, but I do anyway! I wish I had seen him in DC playing Sweeney a few years back...he certainly has the vocal chops to pull it off 8 shows a week.

Thumbs down to this casting.

I love Patti and I think she has a real commanding presence on stage, but her Lovett just makes me CRINGE. I think it is possible that there are roles that even Patti just isn't right for. This is one of them. Hopefully, the director can make the most of her performance and hopefully, she can get the knack of the dialect because I really do adore her.

Ahhhhhh.......Norm Lewis.......Ahhhhhhhhh...thank you for mentioning him!

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can some please answer my question about the instruments.

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Im pshyced for Ms LuPone's return to Broadway. I expect her to be wonderful in this show. As always

Well according to Balletgirl, who seems to have been correct in her blind posts, LuPone will indeed be playing a brass instrument.

I adored the London production, but this kind of casting is going to really bastardize it. The show had no names in England. That's one of the reasons you could buy the abstract concept of the show.

I just don't understand the reason behind this casting. And it says LuPone is "expected" to play the role, which is different then "interested."

Updated On: 4/27/05 at 04:12 PM

Don't get wrong ME -- I love LuPone and I'd love to see her on Broadway, but not in this production of SWEENEY.

She's totally wrong for it.

Updated On: 4/27/05 at 04:21 PM

Theatreboy49: Spoilers ahead......



Saw the show in London. NOt your average Todd. Stripped down staging, almost bare bones. The actors do play instruments. No orchestra in the pit. Mrs. Lovett played the trumpet. The woman playing Pirelli played the piano. The actor playing Turpin played the flute, Joanna on cello...you get the idea.The show is set in a mental asylum, at least that is how I interpreted it. As the curtain rises at the top of Act One, one of the characters is receiving electro shock therapy. Karen Mann who played Mrs. Lovett wore a black nightgown with feather boa and a man's top hat for Act One. In Act Two Lovett wore a red beaded mini skirt, zebra striped top. I think she was the only actor that had a costume change. Mrs. Lovett always carried a small red purse that looked like something from the Kate Spade collection. The other actors were dressed in white, many in lab coats. The men wore black slacks and white shirts with ties. One character, Toby was wearing striped dingy grey pajamas that looked an awful lot like something from a concentration camp. In London there were actually thirteen or fourteen in the cast. Four of these people served as page turners for the actors sitting at music stands. When Joanna and Anthony sang their duet, they were both playing cellos.. sitting on chairs on top of a table. Both looked at the audience. No direct eye contact at all. I know it sounds weird but it worked. Not sure how someone, unfamiliar with the material, will get from the production. No props except for a casket, chairs and metal red dutch oven that stood in for the pies.
No razors, no barber chair, no trap door. Killing off characters was represented by a cast member pouring a bucket of red liquid (blood) into another bucket. The 'dead person' would then put on a
white doctor's lab coat that had been stained with red paint to represent blood.
As I recall, not much interaction (eye contact) between cast members. Everything pretty much played out front to the audience. Very much an ensemble piece. Just not sure how Patti LuPone will fit in.. fear she may throw the production off a bit . Don't get me wrong, I do like her. This production is ensemble driven, not star driven. I don't know any other way to put it.

I am amazed at the number of people who wanted Cyndi in the role. I wanted her too and I'm happy to see she has so many admirers. Maybe she'll get the movie role?