Sweeney Todd accents

[wiggum2]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 7:02pm

While I understand the show takes place in England but Does Mrs Lovett really have to have an english accent? I don't remember any of the Sweeneys or Anthonys having one. I read on some thread that Patti Lupone always has troubles with dialects, why does she need to do it then? I have seen Sweeney once at the Sondheim celebration and have seen it twice on DVD and all the Mrs Lovett's have an english sccent( or attempt one) but I don't think any of the Sweeney's do though.
Thoughts...? Thanks

[Michael Bennett]

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

I think most of the men who've attempted SWEENY do attempt a british dialect, but most of Sweeney's material is sung, not spoken, so an accent isn't going to be as noticable as the cooing cockney of Mrs. Lovett.

Karen Mann who played Mrs. Lovett in this production in London, is supposedly American. That said, she did indeed do a british dialect (the rest of the cast was already English).

But this production is so abstract and un-realistic, a Mrs. Lovett without a cockney accent would hardly be distracting.

That said, though dialects aren't her strong point, I'm pretty sure LuPone will attempt one again with this production...

[Tirso de Molina]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 7:31pm

I don't think Mrs. Lovett absolutely needs a Cockney accent (though it would be tricky to deliver some of the most British pieces of slang she uses without one), but she does need to signal the character's social class/background in one way or another -- she can't sound like a sophisticated American actress!

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 7:43pm

Mrs. Lovett definitely needs to have a cockney accent, which LuPone does fine, judging from her performance in the concert version. If you're going for realism, the entire cast should have English accents of whatever class/region, but I think the reason why American actors playing Sweeney usually don't use one is because the music just sounds better with an American accent. Also, trying to sing that role with accent is actually technically rather difficult (I've tried it myself). It really messes up your singing technique.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 7:48pm

Baritone, I think the reason is much simpler. British performers don't really have a British accent when they sing -- unless they are Welsh or Cockney or of some strong regional influence (why somebody didn't tell Bernadette Peters this when she was doing SONG AND DANCE I will never know. What is up with her accent??).

The character of Sweeney isn't Cockney so he wouldn't sing with a strong British dialect.


Updated On: 5/5/05 at 07:48 PM

[Tirso de Molina]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 8:01pm

Bennett is right about British singers' accents: if you can get hold of a copy of the Covent Garden broadcast of Sweeney from a year or two back, cast entirely with opera singers (Sir Thomas Allen as Sweeney, Felicity Palmer as Mrs. Lovett), it's quite interesting to hear a British cast performing this score. (There's also an illicit in-house recording or two floating around of Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel's 2002 Sweeney at Lyric Opera of Chicago.)

[MarkCohen]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 8:50pm

Sweeney has been in Austrailia for a long time. Maybe he lost it?

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 9:06pm

Mrs lovette def has to have an accent. Not because of class or or region although they certainly do help the story, but because it's written that way. Lovette often has cockney exclamations like "Oh larks, look at it now.." and "poor bugger" written in the text. Those sort of expressions are major clues to anyone playing the role. Those expressions aren't american and it would sound odd if they were delivered like that. So it stands to reason that the creators (including Lansbury) conceived the show with the accent in mind.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 11:53pm

Tirso--actually, being the dork that I am, I actually listened to the Thomas Allen/Covent Garden production live via satellite on the internet. I quite enjoyed it (although Thomas Allen is definitely too old old for the role both vocally and character-wise), and thought it was interesting to hear the music sung with authentic British accents (especially in regards to Sweeney). Felicity Palmer was GREAT as Mrs. Lovett!