SWEENEY TODD (2023) Reviews- Page 3

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 8:29am

Observer

‘Sweeney Todd’ Review: Sondheim’s Masterpiece Endures In An Aimless Revival

Josh Groban is excellent as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, but the production is ugly and chaotic.

https://observer.com/2023/03/sweeney-todd-review-sondheims-masterpiece-endures-in-an-aimless-revival/

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 8:44am

UWS10023 said: "Isn’t Ruthie doing Light In The Piazza in a few months?”

Yes. That absence would be built into her contract, probably about 2 weeks out of Sweeney for it.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 9:30am

I still think Parade will take the Tony, not unlike when another Arden production, Once on This Island, beat the bigger and splashier My Fair Lady.

[BJR]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 9:30am

I think Director is Lear or Michael Arden.

[BdwyFan]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 9:44am

Agree. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 9:46am

bear88 said: "The Washington Post's Peter Marks points out the "muddy acoustics" but regards the problem as fixable"

But why haven't they fixed it? This has perhaps been the most consistent complaint since previews began.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 10:53am

Vulture, positive with a few critical comments:

https://www.vulture.com/2023/03/theater-review-sweeney-todd-broadway-revival.html

"In their “A Little Priest,” as elsewhere, the psychosexual drama of Sweeney takes the lead. Sweeney and Lovett are more busy punning by way of foreplay for you to focus much on the class war of the number. Their revenge plot is less a righteous up-yours to those above and more a personal crusade. It’s both, because everything in this musical means many things at once, but placing  emphasis on the erotic side sets the production spinning in a particular direction. "

 

[JasonC3]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 11:08am

Guardian (US edition); four out of five stars

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/mar/27/sweeney-todd-demon-barber-broadway-play-review)

Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford play Stephen Sondheim’s murderous Victorian couple in a bold and barnstorming take

"If Groban comes across as flat, his voice, which thrums with menace, embraces every given note. As Mrs Lovett, Annaleigh Ashford, one of Broadway’s great comedians, makes soiled hay of every joke and rhyme. She doesn’t commit herself to the character’s darkness as some Lovetts do (she’s having too much fun), but she emphasizes the unrequited desire for Sweeney, which gives the absurdity the occasional rotgut kick of real feeling. Jordan Fisher is a capable Anthony, Ruthie Ann Miles a poignant beggar woman, and Maria Bilbao, in an astonishing Broadway debut, a febrile Johanna. As Tobias, the tormented errand boy, Gaten Matarazzo shows he’ll be just fine once Stranger Things, the show on which he co-stars, fades from queues."

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 11:19am

We get it, Jason. You’re cherry picking critical comments from mostly positive reviews of a production you did not enjoy. 

[JasonC3]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 11:26am

No you don't get it. 

I enjoyed the production (B+/A- for me) and notice how I boldfaced the praise in the Guardian review I posted. 

No excerpt is going to fully capture the entire review as everyone here knows.  I'm choosing pull quotes that offer the most information about some of the lead performers or highlight a different take than what has previously been shared.

But fine.  I'll stop sharing and let others seek out remaining reviews that have not been posted.
 

Updated On: 3/27/23 at 11:26 AM

[dan94]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 11:28am

Lot666 said: "bear88 said: "The Washington Post's Peter Marks points out the "muddy acoustics" but regards the problem as fixable"

But why haven't they fixed it? This has perhaps been the most consistent complaint since previews began."

Simply put - the sound design is the best they can do. A mic can only pick up what is put into it. Ashford is cranked pretty high up as it is. Half of the score she sings rather well. The other half is beyond a half whisper. The voice isn't consistently reaching the mic, and there's not much a sound designer can do in that case. In Fisher's case it's a husk of a voice with no core. You lose him any time he isn't singing alone not because of the sound design, but because there is no base sound to his singing. 

As for the orchestra being too quiet, yes they should be louder. But it's a cast of extremely light voices and the brain would not comprehend the voices if the orchestra wasn't being dampened.

I thought the sound design was good. It was clear and detailed. You could hear everything. The sound designer cannot make up for inadequacies in performance, and that is where I think it's falling short.

[BETTY22]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 11:32am

New York Times Critics Pix seems to be the most important thing any show could get.

When did The Times start doing this? I have seen ads where all they list is the Critics Pix. 

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 11:33am

Based off of last night's reviews, do we think we any momentum has been generated for performance nominations for this production? Obviously, Josh and Annaleigh will be nominated, no doubt. But I think Ruthie received an impressive amount of praise that could certainly help secure a slot in an extremely crowded featured actress category this year. Do we think Gaten is also heading to a nom as well?

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 11:43am

I think it’s pretty likely that Ruthie and Gaten will be nominated. 

I just checked, and Ken Jennings and Merle Louise won Drama Desk awards for the roles in 1979, but weren’t nominated for Tonys. Interesting. 
 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 11:51am

As of now, Manoel Felciano is the only Tobias to have ever been Tony nominated. Meanwhile, no actress has ever been recognized for playing The Beggar Woman.

[BentleyB]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 11:54am

ljay889 said: "I think it’s pretty likely that Ruthie and Gaten will be nominated.

I just checked, and Ken Jennings and Merle Louise won Drama Desk awards for the roles in 1979, but weren’t nominated for Tonys. Interesting.
"

Gaten will be nominated because he gave a great performance as Toby and also just for the press and those who will tune in to see him. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 11:54am

ElephantLoveMedley said: "Based off of last night's reviews, do we think we any momentum has been generated for performance nominations for this production? Obviously, Josh and Annaleigh will be nominated, no doubt. But I think Ruthie received an impressive amount of praise that could certainly help secure a slot in an extremely crowded featured actress category this year. Do we think Gaten is also heading to a nom as well?"

My hunch says yes to Ruthie and Gaten, but always hard to predict the Featured categories. Those can go so many different ways, and as always there's an embarrassment of riches in those categories. In Feat Actress alone, SLIH and Shucked each has one solid contender, and then there's a whole bunch of shows with 2+ contenders (Akimbo, Woods, Cinderella, Dancin, Juliet). It probably all comes down to which shows the nominators like the most.

Does NYNY have any possible Featured nominees (male or female)?

[Jeff Tupolski]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 12:04pm

I’m thinking Gaten and Ruthie will get deserving nominations alongside Josh and Annaleigh. I also think all of them but Ruthie have a solid shot at winning, though for now I’m just predicting Groban.

Anyway, after the divided takes on here, I’m very happy to see such great reviews for this production. I really loved what I saw, I’m glad critics did too.

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 12:05pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Does NYNY have any possible Featured nominees (male or female)?"

There are technically several featured actor/actress possibilities in New York, New York (Emily Skinner, Clyde Alves, Angel Sigara, Oliver Prose, Janet Dacal, John Clay III). However, I would be genuinely shocked if any of them were Tony-nominated, not because any are bad, but because the roles are just not big at all. And I say that as someone who loved the show. But the B-plots feel very B-plotty.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 1:26pm

JasonC3 said: "Guardian (US edition); four out of five stars

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/mar/27/sweeney-todd-demon-barber-broadway-play-review)

"

I was waiting for that one. Thank you for posting.

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 1:26pm

NJ.com:

‘Sweeney Todd’ Broadway review: Josh Groban slays as Sondheim’s madman barber

https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2023/03/sweeney-todd-broadway-review-josh-groban-slays-as-sondheims-madman-barber.html

[binau]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 1:46pm

My head scratches at how Jesse Green could say what he did about the Company revival and then apparently love Sweeney. But my heart is happy that he said what he did about Sweeney. Cannot wait to see how sales progress and whether the show starts to fly by itself without Groban and Gaten in future. 

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 2:13pm

Groban will almost certainly be with the show through the current block of tickets, which ends on 1/10/24, so there's plenty of time before they have to worry about his replacement. It will be interesting to see how much sales dip during his 2 weeks off later this year.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 2:26pm

TaffyDavenport said: "Groban will almost certainly be with the show through the current block of tickets, which ends on 1/10/24, so there's plenty of time before they have to worry about his replacement. It will be interesting to see how much sales dip during his 2 weeks off later this year."

Could be a "recoup and close without recasting" situation. Always a tall order to get a bona fide ticket-selling STAR who can (a) handle the score, and (b) is willing to replace a lauded star performance like Groban and/or Ashford. Buyer interest can weaken with time. But all this convo is premature. (There's also a chance that Groban has such a good time doing this that he stays on for a full year.) 

[bear88]

Posted: 3/27/23 at 3:15pm

Thank you, MemorableUserName, for starting this separate review thread. It’s a lot of easier to track than endless News and Reviews threads.

And thank you, JasonC3, for your additions. 

Isn’t this standard practice here? You include a link along with a pullquote that summarized the review or an interesting observation. It’s what I do when summarizing local reviews of possible Broadway-bound Berkeley or San Francisco shows or some show of interest, such as the West Coast premiere of Great Comet.

I would hate to be accused of cherry-picking negative quotes of an article because I have written some critical things about a show. Or positive reviews if I’ve really liked a show. And if JasonC3 really wanted to cherry-pick a negative pullquote from the positive Guardian review, he could have done a much better job of it.

And in any event, he included a link, so anyone can read the whole review and judge for themselves.

I find these review threads helpful, and as Sweeney Todd is a major revival of a major musical backed by some of the biggest names on Broadway, I would like to see what’s being written.