Sweeney - Original Staging

[cubanpab]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:03pm

i was first introduced to sweeney when we saw the revival last year and i've mentioned several times how much i hated it. the only time i went to the theater and wanted to leave during intermission. then i heard burton was adapting it to film and i was intrigued bcause i love burton films (for the most part). i went into the film very weary and LOVED it. every second, every frame. but my favorite part was surprisingly the music. it was extraordinary. so i kept thinking to myself, how the heck could i have hated the stage show so much but loved the film and the music in the film so much??

so i looked up clips of the revival on "the website that cant be named" and sure enough... i hated every clip i saw. it reminded me of how miserable i was in the audience that night.

i was about to close "the site" when i saw a clip of the original stage show with lansbury and decided to give it a try. WOW! It looked fantastic!! i watched several clips (almost the whole show if i'm being honest). i was incredibly impressed by all of them... i think i loved "johanna" the most. i couldnt believe there was an actual chair that dropped people down and everything! so cool... it was deliciously hilarious and the music was great. the performers were so different from the film but so great in their own way. and the sets and staging and everything was great. i can understand why that version was so successful. when we went to the revival they were practically giving them away. trust me, we paid $30 and got incredible seats.

i wonder if there's any chance they'd ever revive it the way it originally was? i would love to see it like that... did anyone on here see it back in its original form?

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:05pm

You can buy the Hal Prince staging with Angela Lansbury on DVD. And it's unlikely we will see Prince's orginal staging on Broadway anytime soon.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:05pm

Check out the tour DVD with Lansbury and Hearn. While some of the staging is slightly changed and some of the performances leave something to be desired, it's incredible to watch.

Due to the cost, I doubt Sweeney would ever be revived the way it was originally presented.

[cubanpab]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:08pm

such a shame...

[Blue-Eyed Wonder]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:10pm

I have to agree that the revival was a complete disastor. My biggest problem was that the score was so diminished. The original has a big, booming, terrifying score and the revival lost that and it took away from the show. The movie brings that back and makes it wonderful.

Regarding the original, the complete video is available and wonderful, but will probably never be done. I recommend to staged concert version starring a younger Patti Lupone and George Hearn. It is wonderful and Patti is at the top of her game. The cast also includes Victoria Clark and Neil Patrick Harris. If you're trying to find a good version of the show, the DVD of that concert is available and it's sensational.

[cubanpab]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:16pm

i just remember watching the revival and not even being able to understand what was going on... who's that?? what did he just say?? wait why are they battling each other to a shaving contest?? i dont get it....

ugh. i hated it so much. so much so that the music was completely lost on me.

i'm definitely going to look up the concert and the original show to see if i can find them on dvd

[nmartin]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:24pm

I still prefer the original. It was an enormous production. Of course, Cariou and Lansbury were marvelous but the real joy for me came from Sarah Rice as Johanna. I just fell in love with her.
Updated On: 12/23/07 at 03:24 PM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:37pm

Also, if you can, get the OBCR. Nothing beats Lansbury and especially Cariou, who is leagues better than Hearn on the DVD.

[dry2olives]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:50pm

The New York City Opera production, directed by Prince, is pretty much a replica of the original Broadway production. However, City Opera is going through a transition now with a new artistic director so it remains to be seen if Sweeney Todd will still be in their repetory.

[robinycus]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:53pm

I didn't like the revival either. Loved the original though.

Updated On: 12/23/07 at 03:53 PM

[temms]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 3:57pm

New York City Opera does the Hal Prince version full out - full orchestra, chorus, and the industrial warehouse set with the spinning central unit and the bridge and all. They pull it out every few years, most recently with Elaine Paige and Timothy Nolen in 2004.

So yes, it is occasionally done as it was originally. I wouldn't be surprised to see City Opera mount it again in the relative future as a result of the film.


ETA: Must have been writing this at the same time dry2olives was posting. Updated On: 12/23/07 at 03:57 PM

[cubanpab]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 4:00pm

awesome!!! i hope they do... i'd go see it in a heartbeat

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 4:00pm

Saw bothe the original and revival on Broadway. While the original will always be my favorite, I thought the revival was pretty brilliant. And it made me a Patti Lupone fan, so to speak. (Even though I wasn't crazy about she and Doyle's take on Lovitt)

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 4:01pm

I think the set for City Opera was the touring set, no? The original Broadway set was gargantuan.

[cubanpab]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 4:25pm

lupone was the only thing i enjoyed about the revival... but most of the time it looked like she was bored to death on stage. this may have been her intention, but i couldnt tell. she walked around the stage like she was about to fall asleep. when she started singing she was definitely the highlight of the show.

dont even get me started on johanna... she kept squinting her eyes shut and giving the biggest grin ever in this incredibly obnoxious way to get the audience to laugh... i couldnt stand her.

[James885]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 4:38pm

My first exposure to Sweeney Todd was seeing the recent Doyle revival (the original production opened and closed before I was born), and while I thought the cast was excellent, I was confused during some parts. I understood the main thrust of the story, but there were some little plot points that I wasn't clear on. I advised a friend who was going to see it a few weeks later to read a synopsis of the show, because she had also never seen it.

Then after I saw the revival, I rented the show DVD and it helped to clarify some questions I had about the revival. I liked Hal Prince's original staging, and it was great to see it with actual sets, but I also liked the intimacy of the John Doyle revival as well. One thing I did LOVED about the original production was the big booming orchestrations, and the large ensemble cast.

Somebody in another thread brought up a good point when they were talking about whether the movie would generate more interest in the tour. I think that fans of the movie might be a little dissapointed if they check out the tour, expecting it to look like what they saw on film and they discover that it's staged with a minimal set and 10 people who double as the orchestra.

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 5:00pm

Cuban, what you said in the first post is exactly how I felt about the revival. I made it very well known on this board that I hated all things Sweeney once I saw the Doyle production (plus I've never been a huge Patti fan, so that factored in as well), yet I always pushed myself to enjoy it, but never could. After the film, though, I reconsidered, and did exactly what you described. I really wish the entire Doyle travesty could be retracted and in a state of nonexistence. Maybe then I could wash out the memory of seeing it and enjoy the beautiful, amazing piece that Sweeney really is.

[cubanpab]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 5:09pm

james... i had the same problem... i was a bit confused during several parts of the revival... had i gone into the show with a synopsis of what was going on i think i would have enjoyed it more... but i went into it completely oblivious to the story... all i knew was it was "scary" and the main character was a barber...

volley... i know what you mean. it was so bizarre but after the revival i literally went around telling everyone how obnoxious and boring the music was. i was like "whats the big deal about sondheim?? that guy sucks. his music is boring"

then watching the film i was sitting in the theater completely captivated by the music... granted i love what depp did, where he added a rock sound to the music which i think modernized it, but regardless... the music was fantastic. watching the clips on the web i was amazed at how much i was enjoying the original show... just bizarre how one bad revival (my opinion only of course, as i know many enjoyed it) almost ruined it for me... i almost never gave sweeney a chance because of it.. thank god for burton... he made me reconsider. and now i have the soundtrack on constant rotation. love the music.

i need to find the original cast recording... anyone want to share it with me?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 6:52pm

[HorseTears]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 6:52pm

Does anyone know what John Doyle's working on now? I really hope he's gotten Sondheim out of his system. Perhaps he can bastardize the work of Lloyd Webber instead.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 1:28pm

The Uris is/was SUCH a barn. But walking into the hall during the original production of Sweeney Todd (I saw performance number three and many times there after) was so thrilling.

The buzz was so good going in that I knew we were in for a great evening of theatre and, having seen "Company" and "Night Music" I was accustomed to spending a night being challenged by SS but I wasn't prepared for the scale of this show. Enormous sets, huge orchestra, awesome cast. It really was opera wrapped up in musical theatre costumes and sold to the masses.

And there were a few walkouts, especially once the knives came out. An older woman behind us kept tutting and muttering, I wanted to turn around and tell her to at least have the decency to do it in time to the music.

First the orchestra was huge - not as big as on the recording but huge - and second, the set was amazing. It was all wrought iron, most of it from, I believe, an actual period factory. The had the one trapdoor centerstage which they used to great advantage. It was the grave the diggers were excavating before the show started (they were digging when the audience came in) it was, of course, the entry point for Sweeeeeeeeenyyyyy... and the drop off point for the bodies.

Len Cariou sprayed wildly while singing and the saliva was always caught in the lights, a nice touch.

Angela Lansbury was brilliant. It was all the little twitches and that big, flat face of hers; the way she stared adoringly at Sweeney. Some people say she was a revealation but having seen her in "Mame" I knew how amazing a musical comedy star she was so I was looking forward to her the most the first time I saw the show. Cariou was a question mark for me. I knew him from his work in Manitoba and "Applause" and "Night Music" but I wasn't expecting him to scare the pants off me the way he did. Those eyes were creepy. I've always felt his singing voice was perfect for Sweeney because there was - at least live - a sort of dusky haze to the quality, as if he'd just finished of a bottle of the good stuff before coming onstage.

And the other big star of the show for me was the orchestrations. That throbbing underscoring with the strings sawing away for The Ballad of Sweeney Todd was so utterly perfect. One wonders if SS didn't spend the day chuckling and muttering "yes, yes YES!" when he came up with that one. I would have.

I remember we went to Beefstake Charlies ("You're gonna get spoiled") before the show so we were pretty stuffed and a little tipsy - all the beer, wine or sangria you can drink was probably not the best way to prep a Broadway audience!

[cubanpab]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 1:38pm

allofmylife... wow!! what a story...

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 2:08pm

The original staging is so incredible and no other staging of it beats Hal Prince's. I was especially impressed by the set. Plus, no one beats Lansbury- she is so hilarious.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 2:47am

I also hated the revival. Hated it. Everything from the casting to the actors playing the instruments to the "let's do the scene with the actors at opposite ends of the stage while facing the audience" bull.

There however are many ways to do Sweeney Todd successfully, as Tim Burton recently demonstrated. When it comes to the stage though Prince's original direction is pretty tough to beat.

BTW the clips you saw were probably from the original tour, which was the same as the Broadway production except for a slightly reduced set.

Updated On: 12/25/07 at 02:47 AM

[allofmylife]

Posted: 12/25/07 at 3:43am

Cubanpab, theatre in the 70s and 80s in New York may not have been the golden years, but it was a lot of fun. I remember many amazing nights and, as I was not a native New Yorker, I was always trying to squeeze other things in before and after.

Let's see... I remember the night we went to the opening of 42nd Street - yes, that night - with the horrible "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have sad news" speech that David The Shameless Merrick made after the show announcing the death of Gower Champion (news that had been kept from most of the cast and crew) There was an immediate rush for the programs.I had to fight to keep the two I still have to this day. Usually, I would take at lest ten from the piles at the ends of the last row but that night they were gobbled up.

The strange thing is, that night, my girlfriend wanted to go out clubbing, so after the show, we walked up to the one club she had read about and thought would be a hoot to go to - Plato's Retreat in the basement of the Ansonia. It was SO bizarre. I won't describe it in detail. You can Google if you are curious.

Another night, after some show, we went to The Red Parrot and saw Liza Minelli singing with that big band they had there. There was about 4,000 people squeezed in.

I used to enjoy Ma Bell's in Shubert Alley and The Cafe des Artists and of course, Studio 54 and Danceteria. We got taken to Regine's one night. The place was full of famous faces and lots of Eurotrash that weren't as much famous as fabulous.

There was the great Broadway theatre bookstores - does anyone remember Richard Stoddert's on I believe West 14th?

Time Square was filled with three card monte dealers and all sorts of disreputable and 42nd Street was very much take-your-life-in-your-hands sometimes.

Does anyone remember the guy who would show up at openings in the clear vinyl suit? My dad once remarked "I can count his change."

We used to like to go down to the Village after a show and back then, you could do dinner, a show and the Village and still have change from one hundred dollars.

One year, I got stuck in New York on Christmas eve. I went out walking around Rockefeller Center. There was a light snow fall. The Salvation Army Band was playing and one of the Sally An guys asked me if I needed a room and a warm meal for the night. I said thanks, no and remember thinking under any other circumstances, I would have found an offer like that kinda creepy.

I remember sitting next to Rex Reed at the opening of Jerry's Girls. I'll wait til he's dead to gossip about that night.

I'm glad someone brought this subject up. Sweeney was a highlight and it's fun wandering down memory lane.