Sweeney Todd '89 Revival?

[RockabyeHamlet]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 6:01pm

Did any one see this production? And if someone did can you explain who the charecter of Dora is? Did they just give names to a few ensemble members or was she a supporting charecter? Also did Mrs. Mooney have a large role in the revival.. Sorry I just havent seen alot obout this revival.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 7:03pm

Yes, it was just that they gave character names to the chorus members. I don't remember Mrs. Mooney doing anything particularly noteworthy, probably just similar to what Mrs. Mooney did in the original Prince staging. There was a chorus member in the original who was clearly Mrs. Mooney. Unfortunately, the way the national tour video was shot, you really don't get to see any of the stuff she did. Not that it was a lot, but it was enough to make it clear that she Mrs. Mooney, even with a costume that appeared to have been partly made out of cat skins.

[laura is broadway]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 7:04pm

i did read about an '89 revival once, but it was an unrelieble source and i didnt believe such a thing exsisted.

i'm curious about it too.

hold on i'm gonna google it.

[laura is broadway]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 7:06pm

weird i didnt see the message above mine when i posted that...

[wexy]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 8:54pm

Sitting in my lap is the Playbill from the Circle in The Square Production. Dora and Mrs. Mooney (Sylvia Rhyne and Mary Phillips) are credited in any of the musical#s. I assume they were part of the ensemble.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 8:57pm

What exactly does Mrs. Mooney look like in the tour video?

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 8:58pm

In case anyone didn't know. The entire score in this revival was played by like 3 synthesizers. Very odd.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 9:03pm

1989 New York Times Review

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 9:07pm

In the opening ballad, at "Inconspicuous Sweeney was," of the three women who come forward, she's the woman in the center, wearing what looks like a cat's tail around her neck.

[moljul]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 9:29pm

For anyone who saw this production, I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on SuEllen Estey who portrayed The Beggar Woman.

[wexy]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 9:35pm

Its 18 yrs ago. I can't remember. She must've been good because I enjoyed everything about the show. Sitting on the aisle at Circlein the Square, characters are going up and down the aisles as in the review posted from 89, you got the feeling that they were looking right at you.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 9:44pm

IIRC, Frank Rich wrote in a piece about the production (not his review) that he liked her because she was more feminine and not so feral as Merle Louise. But I thought that she rather disappeared. The Beggar Woman is onstage relatively little and she has to make a big impression in that time. I thought that Estey didn't, though she's undoubtedly a good performer. It may be that her performance came across better in the original, smaller space. Rich wrote what he did before it moved to Circle in the Square.

[Julian2]

Posted: 11/8/06 at 9:47pm

Attend the tale of Teeney Todd . . .

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 1:43am

LOL! I loved 'Teeney Todd'

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 9:37am

Wonderful production. Great leads, but the revelation was Eddie Korbich's Toby...he was mesmerizing.

I actually saw the pre broadway production at the York prior...in a gym, it was a great production.