Sweeney OBC Set

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 8:48am

Was reading All That Chat earlier and this was posted...

The Broadway production was actually more spectacular physically than the tour. Just to the left of the stage, there was a huge organ on which the prelude (heard on some recordings, usually in truncated form, but cut from the tour) was played. (Well, someone dressed as a kind of creepy organist mimed playing it there. Of course, it was actually played in the pit.)

There was a stage elevator down center. Two gravediggers came onstage about 15 minutes before the show started to dig a grave there, shoveling dirt out of it, while they gradually descended in the elevator. And then Sweeney rose out of the grave on his first entrance during the "Ballad." At the end, Sweeney and Lovett rose out of the grave together.

And at the top of the set was an enormous roof of smoked glass.


Does anyone have any photos of the New York set?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 9:05am

The photos don't really do it justice. You can't quite make out details of the set. But what I also remember is that on the sides of the set and overhead were these creepy machines and girders, whirring about. They didn't do much of anything during the show, and the space they occupied was never used during the staging, but they added incredible atmosphere.

The organ also had a slogan on the pipes, saying something like "His blood sustains us all".

I also vaguely recall that the bar area at the Uris/Gershwin was lined with grimy Victorian era pen and ink drawings, of street life and tradesmen.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 9:15am

I always thought that the set you saw on the recording out of LA was the New York set, I had no idea it was that huge.

Smaxie, thanks for the info as well, I searched Google and came up empty handed and while I understand photos will not do it justice. I would still love to see some.

And Smaxie, can I just say Iam very Jealous that you got to see this production!! :))

[Roscoe]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 10:17am

There was also a large tapestry hanging over the stage, an illustration of THE BRITISH BEEHIVE, with the Queen at the top and many layers of society beneath it. At the end of the organ solo that starts the show, the tapestry was ripped down as the factory whistle blew.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 10:36am

I have a great photo of the entire set on stage at the Uris Theatre (you can even see the glass roof above the stage) but I'm not in town to scan the photo. I'll do so when I can later this week.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 10:40am

There was a TV commercial for Sweeney Todd, filmed on the Broadway set, with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. Near the end of the commercial, there was a worm's eye view up to Cariou and Lansbury, where they sang, "What happens then, well that's the play..." etc. From that view, you could see the glass-paned roof of the Broadway set. (That ad also had a light-hearted voice over at the top that proclaimed, "He shaves 'em! She bakes 'em!") There was a point when that ad was on YouTube, but the only version I could find right now is the national tour version. Perhaps someone else more resourceful can find it?

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 12:06pm

That was my post.

If you have the OBCR on disc with the booklet, you can see part of the roof in the "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir" photo. In the photo section of the original hardcover published script (and I think in the paperback as well), there's a similar photo of the same number that shows you more of the roof. Still, neither photo gives a sense of just how high up the roof was. When you entered the theatre and saw the set, it was like entering a huge cathedral, an effect enhanced by the organ and the almost stained-glass feeling of the roof. Prince's idea was that the citizens of London never got direct sunlight.

The legend on top of the organ was "The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son Cleanseth Us From All Sins."

Of course, the "British Beehive" was on the tour as well, but the commercial video only shows it from a distance. The hardcover published script (and probably the paperback) has a good photo of it.

The original Cruikshank etching (I think he did several versions of it) is easy to find online by googling "British Beehive" but everywhere I find it, it's too small to really see any detail.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 12:26pm

>The legend on top of the organ was "The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son Cleanseth Us From All Sins."<

Thank you! I couldn't remember what it said, exactly (it's been 30 years!), but I did stare at it quite a bit during the whole pre-show.

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 12:36pm

I was lucky enough to see the original set on Broadway.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 12:55pm

Great to hear that, uncageg... now catch-up with the times and get yourself a Tivo/DVR.

[morosco]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 12:58pm

[morosco]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 12:59pm

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 1:20pm

The set is still, to this day, one of the most monstrous sets ever on Broadway. Sondheim himself wasn't a giant fan, but he has been quoted as saying that it worked enormously well for what the production was. The tour downscaled it quite a bit because not all touring theatres are as enormous as the Uris (Gershwin).

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 1:43pm

Wasn't most of the set an actual factory from Brooklyn or somewhere that they dismantled, and then reassembled at the Gershwin? I forget if it was Hal Prince or Eugene Lee's idea.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 1:44pm

It was a factory from Rhode Island.

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 3:15pm

Thank you.

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 4:52pm

Was there a proscenium arch when it was the Uris? I can't imagine how this configured (what with the enormous glass roof) if there was.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 7:01pm

Morosco, thanks for the photo and the drawing anymore by anychance?

Nobodyhome, thanks for the further info.

Brody, if you ever get the chance to scan the photo I wold love to see it.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 7:12pm

Of all the designers out there, nobody seems to understand how to design for the Gershwin/Uris better than Eugene Lee. Many of the other designers hate designing for the space, but he has said that he loves what he is able to do in terms of scale there.

[morosco]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 10:25pm

Morosco, thanks for the photo and the drawing anymore by anychance?

I wish I had more but I don't.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 11:04pm

Wow... seems like the DVD definitely does not do the set justice... at all. The two sections of the set to the left and the right, were they open for everyone to see into? If so, what numbers/scenes took place in them? Because on the DVD they do not show them at all. If only I had been alive, and lived in NY when the Original was on Broadway.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 10/2/08 at 12:05am

While I love the DVD, I wish that the production was filmed in New York instead of the touring production out of LA.

One can hope that in the next 20 or so years, the orginal production and full staging is seen again!

[She_Had_Refinement]

Posted: 10/2/08 at 7:58am

It was pieces of an abandoned 19th c. iron foundry from RI.

[Weez]

Posted: 10/2/08 at 8:03am

It sounds immense, beautiful, atmospheric, and creepy. I like this thread. :3

[Justin D]

Posted: 10/2/08 at 10:23am

slightly OT, but i don't suppose any of you all have any pics of the inside of that theatre with out any elaborate set loaded in? I;ve always wondered what it looks like. I've only been in there for Wicked and have seen som epics for Starlight Express.