Sweeney Todd DVD

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 11:10pm

Is is just me or on the Lansbury-Hearn DVD everything is sung live except for the Act 2 Johanna sequence? It's clear they're lip synching during that song, but I can't tell on any others.

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 1:48pm

They're lypsynching? OMG I had no idea. I feel really stupid now. But y arent they singing?

[DAME]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 1:52pm

They are not lipsynching. There is one 15 second moment in that song that was dubbed because of a audio malfunction. ( at least that was what was said in the Television Academy seminar with Angela lansbury). But good eyes and ears Necromancer07707.

Updated On: 5/18/05 at 01:52 PM

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 1:53pm

Upon watching, only a bit of it is lipsynching. DAME is right.

[DAME]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 2:01pm

Oh and technically it is not called lipsynching. It is called "Looping". Lipsynching would be if they were performing on stage and moving their mouths to a pre-recorded track. This is not the case. They were singing. They just went to the recording studio after and fixed something that wasn't right.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 2:07pm

I never noticed that....

I always wondered what would happen when they film live recordings at the voice went out.

I know this would probably never ever happen, but I think when a show closes (with a professional film in the library), the film should be available for purchase....

In my dream world...

[Adam Chris]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 2:10pm

I agree! If the show has closed on broadway and the tour has finished doing its thing ...then release show on DVD! They'll make some money off of that!
( I know this should be its own tread...but I couldn't help myself.) Updated On: 5/18/05 at 02:10 PM

[The8re phan]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 2:24pm

yes.....release all shows on DVD!!! Unless its David Hasselhoff in Jekyll & Hyde

[Mythus]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 2:49pm

The only time I ever noticed looping on the Sweeney DVD was during Act II Johanna, when the Beggar Woman hisses "Fiiiiend!" and then goes right into "Alms, alms". She's still saying "Fiend" when her voice starts singing "Alms", if that makes any sense.

So they didn't loop the whole show? I remember hearing somewhere that they did, and it really confused me.

[DAME]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 3:28pm

They did not. You might be thiking of that years Tony awards where unfortunately "Worst Pies In London" was lipsynched poorly for technical reasons.

[Mythus]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 3:56pm

You know, I was just thinking about that. It starts off bad when she almost misses "A customer!" and just gets worse, unfortunately. On that note, I think it's airing this Saturday on Broadway's Lost Treasures.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 3:58pm

OOO, another lost treasures!

This is the third one, right? I've got one and two.

That sucks....(about worst pies)

[jim coleman]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 4:12pm

I was the conductor of the SWEENEY TODD DVD with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn. The production was filmed in Los Angeles at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion. The reason for the lip-synching in that one section is that when the tape was in the editing stages they found some sound imperfections and that section had to be overdubbed. So those actors had to go into the recording studio and lay their voices over the existing track. That is what happened. Any more questions about the filming of that production I would be happy to answer.

[JBSinger]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 4:20pm

If you listen carefully, you can hear them have to overdub Bernadette Peters (who was sick during filming) on Sunday in the Park with George DVD as well.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 4:47pm

i was saddened watching the dvd that the judge's version of johanna was cut. i'm assuming this was so it could be put on television. Also, who plays sweeney's wife in "poor thing" i'm assuming its the beggar woman or johanna but couldn't tell which

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 4:51pm

The Judge's Johanna was cut before the show opened on Broadway -- the tour was that same show, just smaller.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 6:12pm

Wow, Jim Coleman! I very much enjoyed your work on "Sweeney."

Also, regarding sound--I had bought the (now out of print) video of the production on eBay several years ago, and "upgraded" to the DVD when it was released. I noticed that the sound is different--for some reason the audience reactions (which I love listening to) are much more muted than they were on the video. Anyone know why? Was this because they remastered the sound or something?

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 6:58pm

jim- staging question- how did everyone get on stage so fast at the top of the show? I'm referring to right after the 2 workers pull down the curtain and theres a 2 second blackout before the stage is filled with the chorus.

[Mythus]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 7:11pm

jonart, I'm just gonna step in here really quick - they blackout is long enough for all the actors to get to their places, if they were waiting in the wings and they two-stepped it. But I don't actually know if that's what happened.

ETA: I'm watching the DVD now - I think they may have edited some of the blackout out, or something. You can see two little white lights in the corner, and then the screen gets a little blacker and a little darker, and they disappear. Then they reappear right before the lights come up. Heck, I dunno. I'll stop theorizing and see if Jim provides an answer. Updated On: 5/18/05 at 07:11 PM

[morosco]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 7:59pm

Hey Jim Coleman...did Angela Lansbury mischievously throw meat pie dough at you from the stage during the blackouts or was that Paul Gemignani telling that story? Years ago I worked with Calvin Remsberg who said she was a hoot to work with. He was saying something about her serrupticiously passing out easter eggs to cast members during a show? I can't remember exactly. But she must have been delightful to work with.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 9:27pm

If you listen carefully, you can hear them have to overdub Bernadette Peters (who was sick during filming) on Sunday in the Park with George DVD as well.

Yes, it's most obvious (and most unfortunate) during "We Do Not Belong Together." I wish they just kept the original vocals, no matter how badly it sounded, because the slightly muted sound during the song kills some of the raw emotion.

How similar to the Broadway production (design-wise) is the tour, as captured on DVD? When I first watched the DVD, having heard so many things about how large the design of the show was, I was surprised to find it so minimalist.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 10:45pm

From what I gather, the design was basically the same on the tour as it was on Broadway except for the fact that the show no longer took place inside of a giant factory. Everything else, including the lowering bridge and the "cube" used for the various parts of the pieshop/barber shop was the same. Also, the grave was eliminated.

[DAME]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 10:55pm

Hmm. I seem to remember more differences than that.. but it has been a very long time.

[morosco]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 11:04pm

On Broadway the foundry extended beyond the proscenium. The glass roofline extended out and extending out on each side were more machinery parts and clickling, clacking, whirring machines. The set had only one bridge but that one bridge could move not only up and down vertically but it could move upstage to downstage as well. At least that's what I recall.

[rclocalz]

Posted: 5/19/05 at 12:26am

I also wish that they would have kept more of the audience laughs and such in the DVD, like it was in the VHS format.