PalJoey's Sweeney Todd review

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 11:58am

Sweeney Todd was a totally peak experience: the most satisfying Sweeney I have ever seen.

Full disclosure: I saw the original three times when I was a young Sondheim freak but never liked Hal Prince's production: I never liked the constructivist set (which to me overwhelmed the material) or the faux Brechtianism or the shabby costumes or the factory whistle or the glaring chorus or Angela's kewpie-doll makeup. I always wished that they had come up with a version of the kind of Grand Guignol of the original. Three times was fewer than the 5 or 6 times I saw Company/Follies/A Little Night Music, all of which I was obsessed with--script, score and production. I always liked the score and the way the story was structured but not the production.

Somehow, this one achieves an ever creepier tension, even with the musical instruments in the actors' hands. Somehow, the instruments throw the focus back onto the words and the music and the subtleties or humor of the actors' performances.

Michael Cerveris, who is often over the top, is not over the top the way that George Hearn was--big and hammy--he's small and controlled and tightly focused, the way a serial killer obsesses on every detail of his plan. When Sweeney figures out a new twist or opportunity, Cerveris cocks his head slowly to one side, the way a dog does when it hears something odd. It's a wonderful detail. I don't always like him but I did last night. And it's clear that Patti adores him.

Patti is at 100%. She's so much better than her last time at Mrs Lovett. She makes every lyric land and gets every joke, her low notes are rich and her high notes, if not as exciting as they were back in Evita, are still a musical force of nature. She tosses those big hips around and that big tuba and she's dangerous and funny at the same time. She understands the character deeply, and she's maybe the most self-centered, greedy and conniving Mrs Lovett yet. D*amn Arthur Laurents for not allowing her to do Gypsy on Broadway. We should all book trips to Ravinia NOW.

The Toby, Joanna and Antony all start off weak but gather steam as the evening goes on. The director somehow never neglects the acting work, even as he choreographs the use of instruments and the presentational style. Joanna is as crazy as her mother and father, Antony is as single-minded as Mrs Lovett and Toby is terrific, although he's no Doogie Howser. I usually dislike the judge's whipping song (and drift into wondering if Sondheim really has a dungeon or not), but in this production, the song works brilliantly and creepily. And Alexander Gemignani is a much more interesting Beadle than any I've seen previously. He's really good, isn't he?

More hand-of-the-director things that somehow DON'T get in the way: pouring the blood from pail to pail, the female Pirelli, the multi-purpose caskets. It's not that I like this sort of thing--directorial affectations usually bug me. But all of these, as I said, really seemed to funnel the attention onto the words and the music and the storytelling.

<----- REQUEST from PalJoey to all British directors of musicals: Would it KILL you to button a number and let me applaud? Just once, couldn't you condescend to let someone (or everyone!) end a number with his/her/their arms at 10-and-2 (see Dolores Gray avatar to the left) and just wait a bit? I promise, we Americans WON'T lose the thread of the story. I promise. Ba-dum-BOM.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 12:45pm

Great review Pal!! Though I disagree regarding the Toby. Doogie has nothing on Felciano except maybe crabs.

[OtherDaryl]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 12:48pm

And Ba - da - bum! Hoping your hands are at 10 & 2 and that you can year my applause for this review all the way from Chicago.

[junglered]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 3:07pm

I love, love, love this revival of Sweeney Todd! Patti, Michael and the entire cast are terrific!

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 3:16pm

This is a great review, PJ! And Alexander Gemignani is a wonderful actor. I knew he'd be great as the Beadle. So excited to see this!

[kgee30]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 3:40pm

Bravo, PalJoey! It occurred to me when I saw it again on Tuesday that this is the most vital, electrifying production I've ever seen. I was, and remain, thoroughly amazed at what they've accomplished, how they've taken a piece so well known and highly regarded and turned it into something that still feels, to me, revealing and brand new.

[InTheRed]

Posted: 11/19/05 at 5:55pm

Here here kgee - you've illuminated what I feel to a tee.
Thanks!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/19/05 at 7:26pm

I was on the fence, not being able to applaud, even a smattering, until after "Johanna," (when the bitter, pissed latecomers finally get a peak at the proceedings as well). But in hindsight, the lack of number buttons makes an audience restless at times, to feel LESS involved. Sondheim wrote them, they hover in the air, and then are dashed by some business or rushed line. It's my only gripe with this staging. Oh -- but for consistency's sake, shouldn't Patti wear the same dress in act two? Nobody else changes, and there's a sense that these people are trapped in this setting. Or maybe it's because her 2nd act outfit is so Liza drag queen-ish (the sequins don't fit), it was glaring.