Sweeney Todd PBS- Page 10
Sweeney Todd PBS
#225Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/2/14 at 4:01pm
Haha... check 
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#226Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/2/14 at 5:46pmJohanna is also a very flighty character, at least in the OBC (not so much in this version). The song is almost a stream of consciousness at times, although the theme and images remain the same.
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
#227Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/3/14 at 7:51am
Sally said what I was trying to say.
Ditto. And I think it was rather rude of Sally to say in four lines what Henrik and i have been trying to say for at least four lengthy posts each. Some people!
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#229Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/4/14 at 4:12pm"Lovetted" it...Wish MTT would bring it to SF. Bravo!
#230Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/4/14 at 4:54pmI do have some nerve, don't I?
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
#231Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/4/14 at 8:20pmWell, anybody brave enough to wear that horrid pink dress will do anything, I suppose.
#232Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/4/14 at 8:44pmI should have worn green.
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#233Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/5/14 at 12:02amI have Time Warner here in NYC. Is there any on demand channel to watch this?
#235Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/5/14 at 2:36pmI'm pretty upset at myself and PBS, I checked the video and I could have sworn it said it expired in 2017. Then this morning (last night) around 1 AM I finally found the time to watch it, and it had expired one hour beforehand. Just like what happened to me when I watched Carousel with Kelli O'Hara last year, I watched half of it then had to pause, resumed it after midnight and it had expired. Why does PBS only keep these things online for 10 days??? Infuriating.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
#236Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/5/14 at 6:29pm
gypsy, I know this is small consolation, but other posters above also reported that it would be available for three years; so I think the error was in the listing not your reading comprehension.
My husband and I watched and enjoyed the concert, but we sat down last night and listened to the OBCR (the 2-CD set with some dialogue) and couldn't help but notice how much better it was, vocally and dynamically. Maybe a revisit on your part will make up for missing the Philharmonic.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#238Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/6/14 at 10:14pm
^^^ For all the dazzling wordplay, now that I am older:
"I should have worn green
I wore green the last time
The time I was happy"
Are the lyric lines I find most moving in the entire show (FOLLIES).
Can someone refresh my memory? I remember Dorothy Collins wearing a sort of metallic grey-green in her Jean Harlow look for "Losing My Mind". Is that correct?
Updated On: 10/6/14 at 10:14 PM
#240Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/6/14 at 11:01pmThank you, Mr. N. That's exactly how I remember it. It reads as "greenish" to me, though obviously the fabric is composed of multiple colors.
BwayFan23768
Chorus Member Joined: 10/6/14
#241Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/6/14 at 11:02pmThat is a great photograph, one of my favourites from the Follies original 1971 production. Thanks for sharing it, Mr. Nowak.
hanabana
Leading Actor Joined: 5/12/12
#242Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/6/14 at 11:16pmWhile I did enjoy it, and it kind of brought back the love for the score for me (I have not listened to any Sweeney Todd recordings in a long time), I have to say that in my opinion, there was something off with Bryn Terfel's acting. I feel that during many parts of the show, I felt no emotions from him, and that kind of took me out of the moment. Overall though, the show was still good, and I am glad I caught it, before they took down their online video too.
#243Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/7/14 at 10:03amI didn't HATE Terfel as so many seemed to have done, but I think underplaying a mass murderer is an odd dramatic choice. Sure, Sweeney isn't as over-the-top zany as Mrs. Lovett, but not even Johnny Depp played him as if on lithium.
#244Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/7/14 at 10:59am
I'm not so sure his choices were well thought out... or even "choices," per se.
I think he just can't act.
What I mean is Bryn Terfel NEVER acts. Even HE didn't act in this!
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Updated On: 10/7/14 at 10:59 AM
#245Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/7/14 at 11:15am
Sigh.
Bryn is a terrific opera actor. But it doesn't always translate to theater.
You won't find better Wagner-acting than what he and Deborah Voight do here. (But, sadly, Wagner-acting just isn't the same as Sondheim-acting.)
#246Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/7/14 at 11:52am
I'll have to take your word for that, PJ, being far from a Wagner expert, but I still think everyone who was on this board RAVING about Terfel's magnificent performance earlier this Spring was either being disingenuous (because of how much they paid for their tix?) or simply didn't care about the quality of the actor in a concert setting. Unfortunately, his vocal performance alone was far from ideal anyway.
I think what kinda riles me about this whole thing is the idea that having an opera sing play Sweeney somehow elevates the experience into the "serious music" realm. When, in fact, when opera singers try to take on musical theatre, the results are often middling to disastrous. Even the great NY Phil gave a strangely anemic performance.
Anyway, we have George Hearn preserved on video multiple times. I'm good.
Updated On: 10/7/14 at 11:52 AM
#247Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/7/14 at 7:52pm
I'm sorry, but while George Hearn is an undeniably great singer-actor, Len Carious is and always was the definitive Sweeney. The way Hearn gets mentioned here, you'd think he originated the role.
Thanks for the info on Terfel doing Wagner. Yes, indeed, a very different thing.
#248Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/7/14 at 9:59pmGav - I'm referring to video taped productions. Many of us weren't even twinkles in the milk man's eyes when Cariou played Sweeney. The closest I've gotten was his performance of "A Little Priest" with Lansbury at Sondheim's 75th b'day concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Hearn gets mentioned because his is the Sweeney performance best preserved for posterity. I have no doubt Cariou was magnificent.
#249Sweeney Todd PBS
Posted: 10/8/14 at 9:53am
Sorry, Horse Tears, that wasn't directed at your personally (or at any individual, really). Several pages back there are a series of posts praising Hearn--and I have no problem with that. I think he's terrific in the role, I just don't think he's the gold standard.
But having seen the original at least a dozen times, beginning with the 3rd or 4th preview, I can attest that Len Cariou played Sweeney with a feral quality I haven't seen since. And though I think we'll all agree Hearn has the prettier voice, Cariou sang every performance as if he never intended to sing again.
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