Sweeney Todd - Reviews from those of us who have seen it- Page 2

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 1:27am

I'm also curious to know about any cuts or changes to the material. Is Lonny using the same alterations he made for the last Philharmonic concert?

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 1:42am

I saw this Thursday night. If I wanted to come at this from a purely theatrical perspective, I could certainly scrounge up quibbles. From the second row, this being my one splurge ticket for all of 2014, I would agree with those who said Terfel's monolithic style of acting bumped up against Thompson's performance...this goes beyond character differences. But who the hell wants to pick at flaws at a time like this? We got to hear Sweeney Todd played by the goddamn Philharmonic with a starry cast and an enraptured audience. I think there is some natural confusion because Price clearly wants to put on a full production. I loved the opening bait-and-switch, but I'm taking this thing mostly as a concert...and a glorious one.

I first startied making daytrips to New York with my early high school friends to rush shows around 2004...the dawn of the stripped-down concept revival, I suppose. My first Sweeney (my first Sondheim, period) was the John Doyle production. It was absolutely magical for me, and I will always defend it. Those who say it didn't tell the story are wrong--I knew nothing of the show and understood everything. And I fell in love with the music as it was presented. But you can imagine how mind-blowing, ear-splitting, and chill-inducing it was for me to hear the score given the treatment I heard on Thursday. It was a revelation to actually FEEL the score. Of course there could never have been a sound this huge on Broadway, but the concert is (like Encores!) a painful reminder of how my peers and I have been cheated out of hearing even approximations of how older shows were meant to sound. This was an enormous treat for me, and I'm so grateful. I'll never forget this experience.

I don't really have anything to add that hasn't been said about the performers. Terfel did indeed have an astonishing voice. I kinda wish Audra hadn't been spoiled for me, but she really made a feast out of that small part. Heartbreaking. Christian Borle was hilarious, Philip Quast gave a totally unexpected, almost pitiable Judge, and the younger characters were all well-cast. Lastly, I actually quite like the Tim Burton film for what it is (I know, I know), but I wish now that Emma Thompson had been cast in it. I realize she isn't married to Tim Burton, but isn't she famous enough? She was sympathetic, funny, vulnerable, and monstrous in turn. I also loved her comments in the playbill about the political nature of the show. She is incisive about the character and the show at large.















Updated On: 3/8/14 at 01:42 AM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 1:43am

Cats, I'm not sure what else was missing, but some of Parlor Songs was gone.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 8:47am

'The Contest' was truncated--there was no tooth extraction.

It also seemed to me that Pirelli was dispatched with greater speed than I recall from the original, and that the parallel scene between Mrs. Lovett and Tobey was condensed.

[binau]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 10:48am

Ok I saw it again last night and was able to get the over aesthetics (handprints/back wall/horn etc.), the performances are really really wonderful. I must admit I laughed at some of Bryn's line readings (e.g., at last my arm is complete again) but he can act while singing at the same time and that is the most important thing to me. His Epiphany was terrifying but it has some real vulnerable moments - a real highlight. Emma Thompson was so ridiculously funny....I don't know if anyone can pull off the Pirelli discovery as well as she does. The switch from being absolutely terrified to "that's a different matter then" is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. It's really uncomfortable (in a good way) that her character can be so funny and charming but then so god damn ruthless (e.g., the lines with the Beggar Woman RE: trash around her establishment). And in those final scenes my god you could feel the anxiety in Lovett with the way Thompson delivers the lines after locking Toby in the bakehouse, offering for Beadle a shave etc.. I don't know if it's because I am sitting a bit closer but there is even more colour in her character than I remember there being on Wednesday - full range of emotions.

I also loved the Burton movie but it's going to be hard for me to watch it now because Thompson has found the right balance between the "gargoylish or cartoonish" (Nytimes description) Lovetts that make for a fun night at the theatre and the deadpan, vulnerable Lovett (e.g., in the film) that make for an emotional experience.

They were filming it last night so perhaps Audra will make it in after all. I really hope so.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 11:23am

At last, you are seeing the forest. Good for you.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 11:45am

I truly hope the filmed version that airs on PBS has Aurda in it. I would imagine they'll also film today with "Audra's u/s".

[BrerBear]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 5:29pm

They were filming heavily Friday night when we saw it... I counted at least 6 cameras and a mobile filming station in the street. So I would not be surprised if much of Audra's performance was captured and is at least spliced in.

And wow, what an incredible show. I had seen a mediocre concert Sweeney in L.A. 15 years prior where Kelsey Grammer couldn't hit the notes and NPH was the standout as Tobias, so I was somewhat skeptical of this one. Couldn't have been more pleased.

As others have said, I got chills during the first "Swing your razor" and when the cast started to dismantle the stage, first the music stands, then ripping their costumes, than toppling the piano. It sounds a little iffy, but it really worked. And as for the "red hand" motif, I appreciated how they incorporated it into the entire cast's costumes, even those of the chorus. Seeing a red hand individually placed on each cast member, the same symbol used during every death, really emphasized the idea that "we all deserve to die", even the ones who didn't during the performance.

The Epiphany was the highlight for me. Terfel's voice had so much strength it was downright scary. Maybe that's what made Thompson's performance feel so vulnerable; she always seemed aware that he could turn on her at any time. Watching her navigate around him, passively manipulating him, even disarming him during one number, was riveting.

Can't wait for the broadcast!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 6:06pm

Maybe that's what made Thompson's performance feel so vulnerable; she always seemed aware that he could turn on her at any time. Watching her navigate around him, passively manipulating him, even disarming him during one number, was riveting.

Thank you! That's exactly what I thought was so wonderful about their interaction but I couldn't express it myself.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 7:11pm

I had the great pleasure of seeing this concert this afternoon, and for me it could not have been more thrilling. I found Bryn Terfel's acting to be completely fine, if not necessarily great or particularly subtle (although it isn't really a subtle role to begin with). But it didn't matter - his voice is so booming and large that he was genuinely terrifying. "Epiphany" was a highlight for me, as it seems to have been for others.

I loved everything about Emma Thompson's performance. Having seen Patti LuPone several times and watched the filmed version of Angela Lansbury, I think she took the best pieces of what both of those women found in the character and melded them together while finding her own great moments as well. She was by turns manic and measured, and she seemed to not only know what was going on at any given time but also where it could potentially go if things went sour. Her final scene with Sweeney was magnificent; there was definitely a sense that she had known it could end this way all along and you see all of her lies and manipulation and careful planning collapsing around her. I desperately hated pretty much everything about the movie, but I now wish she had played Mrs. Lovett on film. I'm glad they've recorded this, though.

I loved the opening and closing Ballads, and the use of the ensemble throughout was really well-done. I thought the supporting parts were well-cast, with the standouts being Christian Borle, Philip Quast, and Bryonha Marie Parham. I also thought Jay Armstrong Johnson sang "Johanna" very beautifully, and he and Erin Mackey sounded great together.

I can't wait to watch the broadcast, partially because I was sitting in the third tier boxes and missed all of "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" from over there but mostly because I just loved the whole thing. The Doyle revival of Sweeney was what got me into Sondheim as a teenager, and the show still has the same effect on me now as it did then. I'm so, so glad I got to catch this.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 7:24pm

In line right now! Ill report back later tonight!

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 7:28pm

Perfectlymarvelous, I love what you said about Thompson in the final scene. I agree, I feel like this is the first time I've seen Lovett's pitiful desperation to pick up the pieces in her final seconds of life come from some long-feared inevitability coming to fruition, rather than sudden panic. Again, I think this is something she hints at in the playbill's article on the show. Beautiful work. I'm still reeling from her performance several days later, and thinking of more tiny things I loved. Watching the worm turn at the end of "Not While I'm Around," for instance. And I realize that this sounds incredibly stupid, but Thompson just miming bribery when she sings that the Beadle is well-greased made me finally understand a line that I had heard literally hundreds of times. I always just assumed she meant that he put a lot of grease in his hair...

We're so lucky this is getting filmed. If only it weren't for a show that doesn't release to video. If I could get this on blu-ray, it might be the kick in the ass I need to finally get a good sound system...

[Fan123]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 8:21pm

I don't suppose anyone is feeling generous enough to type out a key quote or two from that oft-mentioned Emma Thompson article in the playbill? I'd be interested to hear her thoughts on Mrs Lovett in her own words.

[Libby1209]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 9:24pm

I have to agree with BrerBear. I was at today's matinee. Knowing very little about Sweeney Todd, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Having never seen a Philharmonic concert, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had a great time. There are were sooo many times when I had chills, including the first "Swing Your Razor". The only issue I had was that I found Emma Thompson (who was good in this role) at times hard to understand.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 9:44pm

Fan123, sure. It's not that she had anything huge or revelatory to say, I just thought she displayed a good understanding of the piece. Usually you don't get to hear any real thought in a playbill fluff piece.

Here are her quotes:

*"I am struck by its comment on the profound injustice, and the fact that these two people have just taken things to their logical conclusion." She compares it to Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal: "This is a kind of companion piece because it's so normal for Mrs. Lovett to say, 'For God's sake--it's a waste! There's all this good meat, so let's just cook 'em!' I suppose what she's commenting on is the fact that they're treated like meat. He's been treated like meat. She's clearly been treated as if she's not even a human being. I find that part of it very convincing, politically."

*"This woman has struggled all her life, with pretty much everything. Now, suddenly, it looks like the golden prize has dropped into her lap--and then it's snatched away in the most awful manner."

*"The story itself is almost unbearable it's so tragic. It's very much like the best of Dickens or Baudelaire--there's just something so profoundly heartbreaking about it." Yet, "It's funny. He's so funny. All the comedy I have is going to be flung at it. That's absolutely how I'm going to be working it--there's no other way."

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 11:05pm

IT WAS AMAZING. Stephen Sondheim was here. Everyone was perfection. I have 2% battery left so this is all I can write for now. SO GOOD.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 11:46pm

I love this thread.

Thank You to all of you who have expressed so beautifully what I felt but was unable to find the words to describe.

I just returned from tonight's performance. I know how fabulously fortunate I was to have seen this twice. I am going to be replaying it my mind for days, weeks, months - years - to come.

I had been unaware that the boy who played Tobias is a 10th grader when I saw it Thursday night.
I paid closer attention to his performance this evening and am absolutely blown away by what he delivered. Blown away.

I can't wait to see this again on TV...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/8/14 at 11:58pm

I love this thread too, Addy. It represents the Best of BroadwayWorld: people of different ages and backgrounds sharing what they love about theater, rather than showing off how snarky or critical they can be about something.

I love that PerfectlyMarvelous discovered Sondheim as a teenager in 2005 with the John Doyle Sweeney just like I discovered him as a teenager in 1970 with the original Company, and we both attended different performances of this concert and each of us felt the same enthusiasm we remembered feeling as teenagers, thirty-five years apart.

And we get to share it here on BroadwayWorld.

I think that's perfectly marvelous.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 3/9/14 at 12:02am

Perfectly perfectly marvelous.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/9/14 at 12:29am

It was magical. Terfel's uber-dogged Sweeney and Thompson's wildchild sexy gorgeous child-woman Lovett were a match made in heaven. Different than anything we've seen before in these characters and very different than anything we've seen from each as performers. They brought out the dangerously irrepressible in each other. This was thrilling in-the-moment raw theater.

Updated On: 3/9/14 at 12:29 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/9/14 at 12:54am

I was in the Saturday night audience. It was a brilliant night of theater.

Emma Thompson is the first sexual Mrs. Lovett that I've seen. She really brought out the love interest for Sweeney Todd. Lansbury was bonkers and LuPone was a steamroller so the sexual aspect was never in their performances.

Can I ask, what was up with the side of Tobias' head? Was that the actor or the character?

Somebody had asked about cuts. I think some of the "chase" scene was cut, right before Mrs. Lovett goes into the oven. Didn't Tobias escape in the original? I thought Mrs. Lovett did a frantic reprise of "Nothing's Gonna Harm You" and called out his name as she was searching for him. In this version, he stays locked in the basement. Am I mixing this up or was that the way it happened?

Also, they were filming at the Saturday night performance. Sondheim was brought up onstage at the curtain call.

Updated On: 3/9/14 at 12:54 AM

[Fan123]

Posted: 3/9/14 at 3:11am

Thank you for posting those quotes, Scarywarhol!
Probably nobody knows this yet, but: is the taped concert, once aired on TV, going to be available streaming online for a week or so via http://video.pbs.org/program/lincoln-center/, like last year's Carousel concert?
(I Googled 'Live from Lincoln Center', and Google's first suggested auto-complete search option was 'Live from Lincoln Center dvd'. Sigh...)

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 3/9/14 at 8:39am

Ok so my phone is finally charged (please excuse typos and I don't have my Playbill out so please excuse the use of no actual names). I'll start out by saying I'm only turning 23 this month (two days after Stephen Sondheim's birthday... I'm still amazed that I was in the same theatre as him). The movie Sweeney Todd holds a really special place in my heart. It was my first R rated movie in theatres, my sister didn't tell me we were going to a musical when we saw it, and I walked out with my heart bursting with pure ecstasy for musical movies that lead to musical theatre. I literally made her stop at Best Buy to pick up the movie soundtrack after we saw it.

That being said, I've never seen it performed on stage before in person (I'm a Patti lover so I have that concert on DVD and the cast recording of Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou).

I was in the second tier (center), so I couldn't make out faces, but the sound was brilliant throughout the evening. This was the first time that I truly saw Sweeney Todd as a Stephen Sondheim musical. I finally got to see the dark humour, the actually scary bits (Terfels voice to begin with is a bit sinister), and I just finally walked away saying "now THAT was all Sondheim". The first five minutes was KILLER. The throwing of the binders down, wrecking things on stage, and finally the piano! I didn't understand the background, but it honestly did not deter me from the concert one bit. Emma Thompson was sexy, innocent, childish, and vulnerable all at once and it made me respect her acting (and the part of Mrs.Lovett) more than I already do (which is a lot to begin with). Bryn was wonderful and his booming voice was just perfect for this. The woman who played Joanna was great and so was the boy who played Anthony. I got annoyed with them in the movie, but I thought they flowed wonderfully with everyone in this concert. The woman who played the beggar woman was awesome (and hilarious).The boy who played Tobis was KILLER and I expect to see him many more times in the future if he goes towards theatre after school. Borle was a fantastic Pirelli and had too short of stage time in my opinion! Both men who played the Beadle and Judge Turpin were nothing short of amazing as well. The ensemble was INCREDIBLE. The fact that the whole stage was being used almost the whole time was awesome and to me it's the little things you see going on that really makes it special. The dancing and singing from them was just unbelievable. The orchestra was BEAUTIFUL and it actually made me a bit jealous because I begged my high school orchestra teacher (I played violin) to order Sweeney Todd sheet music and she never did.

I feel SO lucky being able to attend this show. And I'm so happy that can finally understand what makes Sweeney Todd a Stephen Sondheim piece. This is a night I will never forget and I can't wait to makes parents watch this on TV.

Updated On: 3/9/14 at 08:39 AM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 3/9/14 at 10:13am

This is why I love this thread.

(Which I know sounds self-serving because I started it, but it's not meant that way).

Thank you - all of you - for sharing your stories. Hearing about those of you (us!) who are experiencing this for the first time, or understanding it in a new way, or finding aspects of characters of lines that were never heard before makes me love this production all the more.

Old and new, we are all sharing what this meant to us - and why - and that's, as PalJoey said - what the best of BWW can be.

I invited my Mom to join me last night. She saw the original Sweeney with me - and hated it. She wanted to walk out. And if I hadn't been with her, she would have. She has resisted this show ever since.
When I told her that I had an extra ticket for this, and that it was starring Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel, she couldn't say no. So, expecting to love the actors but not the show, she joined me.
She is now only sorry that she didn't also see this Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and the Saturday matinee. She's watched the BWW TV highlights at least 5 times. She "got" the show. And she LOVED it. Absolutely loved it.
I saw it Thursday night, and hadn't been able to stop thinking about it - knowing that I had the incredible chance to see it again last night.
But, seeing it through her eyes made it even more incredible for me.

Theatre. That's what it's about.

Thank you, again, for all of your stories. I love them.

[CoreyRyan3]

Posted: 3/9/14 at 10:29am

I actually didn't get the chance to see the show, but after I saw Mothers and Sons last night, I headed to Avery Fisher Hall to wait for a friend who was seeing Sweeney. A friend and I sat in the lobby of the building and listened to the final songs. There were slightly audible but it was so cool to barely hear such a booming orchestra through the walls of the Avery Fisher. And of course, hearing the immediate applause in the final moments and the lingering applause for the bows and for Sondheim in the minutes thereafter, was truly thrilling. A neat experience even though I didn't get to see the show in person. I can't wait for the Live from Lincoln Center broadcast!