Sweeney Film... why cut the songs? — Page 2

"Wait" was actually not in the original film script. Tim Burton had asked that it be reinstated bec. it showed a gentler side to Mrs. Lovett.

Sorry, it's a threadjack, but why "bec."?

"All i'm saying is that I personally miss Kiss Me and think Tim Burton is good enough to make it work... "

Actually that wasn't what you were saying. What you were saying was: "Neither 'Ladies' nor 'Wait' really add much to the plot, the characters, or the movie."

Which isn't especially the same thing.

I found a link to one version of Logan's script. It has WAIT in it, but it also has all the sung ballads and the factory whistle. So it's not his earliest draft and certainly not his final draft.

http://www.paramount2007.com/site/index.html

This is an official Paramount site, so I assume this is legal to post. Just click the main Sweeney picture and you will see the donwload.

Sondheim has also stated that he wishes the Judge's Johanna was in it too. I think he said that's the only cut he would bring back if he could.

Updated On: 12/24/07 at 12:13 AM

This script also has all the choral singing in GOD THAT'S GOOD. And all the verses of BY THE SEA, which I really miss.

I do think that "Wait" is needed because it is used in the beginning of "Epiphany." Can't have Mrs. Lovett's line in that song without having the song it references. It is a central theme of Lovett's character. It deserves to be there.

~Steven

i miss "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" - i think that would have been a great way to begin the movie over the credits and then to punctuate the action like it is in the stage version, but overall - great film.

---

The plot-moving elements of "Kiss Me" (IE- Anthony sneaking into the house, and conspiring with Johanna) are still there. They occur off-screen and are explained later through dialogue. The plot elements of "Wait" could've been boiled down into dialogue, sure. But they chose to include the parts of the original score that would translate best onto the screen. And you know what, 'Wait' worked extremely well on-screen. I wasn't bored. Burton made that song, set in one very plain room, visually interesting.

Quartets such as Kiss Me do not work well on film. It involves two completely different groups of people in two completely different locations. All singing different lyrics. On stage, you can buy that S.R. is a London street, and that S.L. is Johanna's room. On screen, you'd have to cut back and forth and have Party B's off-screen voices singing while Party A is on-screen. And it wouldn't be pretty.

Not to mention, it would require the inclusion of Ah, Miss. And the full version of Ladies in Their Sensitivities. Which, totally, would add approximately 10 minutes to the run time of the film.

The Johanna trio worked well because it has one primary singing character, with Anthony and the Beggar Woman having "solo" moments. Compared to Kiss Me, there is very little overlapping.

The thing is, even with all the cuts to the Anthony/Johanna plotline.... it didn't lose much. They were really just as developed as in the show (not a whole lot). The same events still happened, even if they weren't shown.

---

I don't understand why they felt the need to downplay the characters of Joanna and Anthony... Every time that boy came running in the shop it felt like something was missing, it felt like he was making an entrance on cue and had no motivation to do so. I'm not saying it was the actors fault, but the scripts. Even if they didn't want to include the song "Kiss Me" in the film they could have at least left a shred of that scene. When Anthony runs into the barber shop and announces that Joanna has agreed to go away with him that is a pretty big revelation. It seemed odd to me (and most that I was with) that we would not see her make this decision to defy all she has known growing up. I really felt like Burton made this "The Johnny Depp Show" and not the awesome movie he could have. And Johnny's performance wasn't even that great.

For those of you who think that "Wait" and "Ladies in Their Sensitivities" add nothing to the show, I suggest you write Mr. Sondheim and tell me. There is no need for every songs to further the plot. "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" introduces the characters and story, but it does not further the plot.

Perhaps Judge Turpin's "Johanna" would add to the movie; on the other hand, there are scenes that clearly reveal his character.

In the movie, Johanna' speech to Anthony in their final scene adds something to her character. She's a realist; he's a romantic dreamer. In the stage version, the final scene's focus is not on the two lovers.

As big as the orchestration's were, The Ballad of Sweeney Todd would have worked over the closing credits with a huge choir. Especially after the semi anti-climactic way the ending was done.

---