Sondheim Talks Sweeney Todd Film (Details)- Page 2

[wickedfan]

Posted: 8/6/07 at 9:02pm

One of the best Sweeney's I have ever seen wasn't able to sing a lot of the score and he was still brilliant. He incorporated it into Sweeney's frustration and madness. He was flat for half the show but for some reason it didn't really matter to me that much. This scenario reminds me of Depp, an actor whom I admire.

Depp's singing isn't worrying me. I've come to accept the fact that he won't be able to sing the score like George Hearn or even Len Cariou. If his acting is perfect, and I have every reason to believe it will be, than he'll already be a good Sweeney in my eyes. In addition to the difficult score it is one of the richest and most difficult acting roles in all of musical theatre, and I think we often tend to forget that. Though the music is crucial, there's a lot more to the role and I think Depp will remind us of that.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/6/07 at 9:06pm

Man, I'm gonna miss tenor leggiero Pirelli...

[zooxanthellae]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 8:06pm

Okay, I'm not sure this would be the most appropriate thread to ask this in, but according the new BWW article Christopher Lee's character is still in the film.... but I've heard rumors against this... is he in it or not?

[EganFan2]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 10:08pm

I'm getting a strong sense of "deja vu" since Gerard Butler also sang in a rock band and Andrew Lloyd Webber sang his praises (no pun intended) and, well...

[zooxanthellae]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 10:15pm

Yes but this is Sweeney Todd, NOT Phantom, I love me some phantom, but obviously Sweeney is much more sophisticated and written very well... That being said, even if Johnny Depp sucks at singing (which is just speculation at this point), he can still retain some redeeming qualities just because the source material is so fantastic! (plus if he acts his way around singing the hell out of the score, I think it can still be enjoyable).

[Plum]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 11:13pm

I'm more willing to put up with a weakish singer on stage, actually, because being live gives a performer more scope to make up for it. But movies are polished things, done and done, and if the singing isn't right it's a disappointment.

Anyway, in Sweeney I'm extremely unforgiving about the singing, because even the timbre of the voice can make a huge difference there. "Pretty Women" wasn't nearly as gorgeous as it could have been in the recent revival because it wasn't being sung by a bass and baritone, but by lighter voices. It just doesn't have the same oomph that way. There's room for different kinds of voices with Lovett, which is why I'm willing to believe that Sondheim is okay with Carter, but Sweeney is another story. Ah, well. Now I'm perversely looking forward to Sasha Baron Cohen's performance, even if I don't much care for his character or his big song.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 1:07am

Well remember that sound editors can work wonders splicing correct notes and phrases together.

Let's just wait and see what the finished product looks and sounds like.