Sweeney Todd on Broadway vs. Sweeney Todd on tour

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 10:57pm

I've recently become a huge fan of the musical "Sweeney Todd" and I've heard that there were many changes between the Broadway version and the tour version which is on DVD. I know that on Broadway, Todd rose from the grave instead of just appearing. Was anything else "downsized" to suit the touring needs? The show fascinates me.

[Plum]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:00pm

The set was probably downsized, too.

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:00pm

Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd also rose out of the ground at the end and at Kennedy Center they came out of the oven. I hated that change.

It's been so many years since I've seen either version, I can't remember any more differences.

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:02pm

Does anyone know why they chose to record the tour as opposed to the Broadway production?

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:06pm

No idea but I wish they had filmed Len Cariou. He was amazing. So subtle and so different from George Hern. I saw the show three times on Broadway and once at Kennedy Center.

Did anyone on this board see Dorothy Louden in Angela's part?

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:10pm

The set was dowsized a bit and I know on the old VHS version of the new DVD there is no Judge Turpin "Johanna" but that may have been just for the TV broadcast. It's also missing the tooth pull.

Not sure exactly why they chose to record the tour but my guess is that it took that long for it to gain enough of a reputation where the video producers could commit the money. I like the tour cast better anyway. I'm not a huge Len Cariou fan, and Cris Groenendaal is one of my favorites and a great Anthony. Sal Mistretta is also very good as Pirelli, I'm a fan of his after his performance as Grahame in Signature's (VA) "The Fix".

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:14pm

Was "Johanna" cut completely out of the tour or just for the TV version?

[Plum]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:14pm

I like both Cariou and Hearn's Sweeneys, and Angela Lansbury is always a delight.

What I absolutely cannot stand in the video is Betsy Joslyn's singing, especially in "Green Finch and Linnet Bird," which is one of my all-time favorite songs, Sondheim or otherwise.

Isn't the Tower of Bray song also gone from the video? Or is it my memory that's going? Updated On: 7/12/04 at 11:14 PM

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:16pm

Yeah, a huge chunk of "Parlor Songs" is cut out.

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:17pm

Funny Matt, I loved Victor Garber as Antony and I liked the original Joanna more. The one at Kennedy Center was too much of a belter in my opinion and I seem to remember for the tv broadcast she was cross eyed. :) Wow, the tooth pull. You've got some memory!

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:17pm

agreed Betsy Joslyn's shrill screech does nothing for that song. she even makes Kiss Me hard to listen to. by the end you're almost rooting for Sweeney to kill her when he thinks she's a sailor toward the end. what's the Tower of Bray song?

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:18pm

You are all very good!!!!

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:19pm

Betsy Joslyn does go crossed eyed a little bit.

And I must ask, what is with that high note during "Ladies in Their Sensitivities?" ("...sensIIIIIIIIIIItivities, my lord...") Calvin Remsbergh SCREECHES that note out as well as "Swing your razor high..." at the end.

[Plum]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:21pm

Actually, I like Johanna better in her sailor outfit. Maybe because she didn't sing much in it.

[SuperSchubert]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:22pm

What I absolutely cannot stand in the video is Betsy Joslyn's singing, especially in "Green Finch and Linnet Bird," which is one of my all-time favorite songs, Sondheim or otherwise.

Amen! Joslyn's singing is atrociously off-kilter. I know that Johanna is supposed to be a little loopy, but damn! Joslyn's erratic vibrato and overdone facial expressions (didn't she realize that she'd have camera close-ups?!?) killed the whole song.

That song has the potential to be a very beautiful and psychological aria in the opera, but I guess it has the potential to be ruined. I much prefer Lisa Vroman's simpler, far more aurally-pleasing approach to "Green Finch" on the Concert Version DVD of Sweeney.

-SuperSchubert

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:23pm

If one bell rings in the tower of Bray, ding dong..... How many bells are there?

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:26pm

...12.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:27pm

Sondheim.com lists the Broadway production as cutting the Judge's song and the National tour cutting Parlor Songs (which I'm assuming is "Sweet Polly Plunket") and the tooth pulling sequence, which being only familiar with the George and Patti DVD I have no clue what that is...

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:29pm

The tooth pulling sequence is the second part of the contest between Pirelli and Sweeney (very funny). Parlor Songs was cut, except for the first part with the Beadle. Judge Turpin's Johanna is often cut, so it wasn't a big surprise to me that it wasn't on the dvd. Updated On: 7/12/04 at 11:29 PM

[Plum]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:29pm

Shoot. You foiled me, Governor. :)

And I love Sarah Rice's "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" on the OBC. What a truly lovely voice. Updated On: 7/12/04 at 11:29 PM

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:30pm

Garber is good. I just like Groenendaal better. Actually every Anthony I've heard has been really good. My favorite would have to be Davis Gaines, then Hugh Panaro at Kennedy Center, then Groenendaal, then Garber. The Johanna at the Kennedy Center was OK, but I just remember her being THE nicest person I've ever met at stage door. I forget her name right now but she was also in Hunter Foster's "Summer of '42" at Theatreworks in California. My favorite casting in the Kennedy Center Sweeney- Walter Charles as the Judge and Mark Price as Tobias.

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:31pm

I did not love the Patti cast so much. All around inferior to Broadway in my opinion.

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:33pm

And, the Gershwin was called the Uris back then.

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:35pm

My favorite part in the show (besides the big numbers: "Epiphany," "A Little Priest," "God, That's Good") would have to be "Kiss Me/Ladies in their Sensitivities." I love when the Beadle blasts away at that note and Johanna and Anthony do the "Ah, sir, Ah, miss, Ah sir, Ah miss." It's a very fun moment in the show.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:37pm

Awwww.... I love Patti and George together. And Neil Patrick Harris gives a surprise performance as well...