Sweeney Todd on Broadway vs. Sweeney Todd on tour- Page 2

[Broadway Matt]

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

a moment of silence for the original Beadle, Jack Eric Williams.

[Plum]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:38pm

I love that "Kiss Me" sequence as well; it's one of the most musically gorgeous things I've ever heard. Anyone who thinks Sondheim can't be melodic is either out of their minds or hasn't listened to this.

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:39pm

Did Audra McDonald play the Beggar Woman at the New York Philharmonic? Did anyone see this? It's hard for me to see her in that role.

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:40pm

I did and some of the music was rewritten for her. I just didn't like that version as a whole, sorry.

I loved Audra in Carousel. :)

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:42pm

Yup.

http://www.arts4all.com/newsletter/breakingnews/breakingnews.asp?bb=1380&aid=13

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:42pm

Audra did do the NY Philharmonic. It's on CD. That's my favorite Sweeney CD...

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:43pm

She doesn't seem like a Beggar Woman to me.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:45pm

wrong role for Audra. Victoria Clark was much better at the SF Symphony. anytime you need a great character actor with a wonderful voice, Clark is your woman.

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:45pm

Merle Louise, the original was later the mother in La Cage.

Updated On: 7/12/04 at 11:45 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:46pm

Oh, she's great!!! I think the CD is out of print though. So if you want one you may have trouble obtaining a copy. Amazon hasn't had one for years. Just used occasionally....

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/12/04 at 11:46pm

I like Sara Woods better than Merle Louise as the Beggar Woman. Louise seems too... mannered.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 12:35am

In an attempt to keep this thread going, and because I'm listening to Side Show right now, did anyone happen to see Norm Lewis play Sweeney a little while back? Who else thinks Jeff McCarthy would be great in the role too?

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 9:26am

we just re-watched the Lupone version and I find many things about it irritating. Mostly, the chorus is made up of what seems to be non-actors who mug constantly and are just all wrong for the production. And Davis Gaines is SO old...all that work he's had done on his face makes him look frightening and when you add to that his vibrato - yikes. Patti is pretty funny, and I'm amazed at how well she does the accent (I wasn't expecting her to be able to pull it off.) to me, George Hearn is the ultimate Sweeney. I've only hear Cariou on the recording, but his acting seems off to me. For example - when Sweeney says "At last my arm is complete again!"..Len just says it - George bellows it with so much passion -which is what the role calls for. Tim Nolan was decent as the Judge - a much better choice than him playing Sweeney (we saw him do it in this most recent production at the opera and he was just horrendous - he chewed up the scenery and spat it out at the audience). Victoria Clarke was great as the begger woman, but I'm curious as to how Audra must have played it - I'd like to have seen that production and heard the stuff that was added for her.

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 9:37am

In my opinion, Len was much more frightening because of his subtle style. He was Benjamin Barker to us (the audience), and Sweeney Todd to those who never saw him but only heard of him.

Updated On: 7/13/04 at 09:37 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 10:04am

Judge Turpin's "Johanna", the tooth-pulling sequence, and "Sweet Polly Plunket" were cut in previews on Broadway, but had already been recorded.

I much prefer Len Cariou's more subtle and menacing Sweeney to George Hearn's cartoonish bombastic Sweeney. Especially the "At last, my arm is complete again." Len Cariou seems as if he really means what he says and is oblivious to anyone, lost in the power that he has regained. George Hearn turns it into a huge declaration of war obviously trying to milk it for maximum effect with veins bulging and spittle flying, "AT LAAAAAAAAAST!!!!! MY AAAAARRRM IS COMPLETE!!!!! AAHHGAAAAAAIIIIIIINNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!" It's way over the top. The chorus lets us know that it is a huge moment with their entrance of the ballad. It's the music that defines the moment, not Sweeney's loud proclomation.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 10:14am

well matt - I totally disagree - but thats what this life is all about, right? Opinions. I didn't see Cariou, so I can't comment on his portrayal - but Hearn always makes me cry at the end when he's holding Lucy in his arms and rocking her dead body back and forth - I always feel for his Sweeney - knowing why he did the things he did. Its got to be one of the best musicals ever written. and if you think Hearn overacted - Just be glad you didn't have to sit through Tim Nolan in the role - talk about "indicating" (one of my least favorite of the over-actor's tools)YIKES.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 11:09am

My one big gripe with the New York Philharmonic version is the accent problem - the Irish Pirelli has a Scottish accent, George Hearn is often slips up and Patti Lupone wanders around the British Isles, via Australia, only occassionally hitting East London.

Maybe it's revenge for Whistle Down the Wind? :)

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 11:26am

LuPone's accent is the reason I can't listen to that recording. It is HORRENDOUS.

And you're correct about Whistle Down the Wind. Nobody in the US ever says "AY-MOSS" for Amos. The accents are pretty bad.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 11:30am

Broadway Matt asked if anyone saw Norm Lewis as Sweeney. I did. The production, at the Signature Theatre in Arlington VA, was mediocre at best. I went expecting to experience a daring and challenging "raw" (no, not nude) production but found nothing but a routine production. Norm Lewis was effective as Sweeney but his performance seemed restrained and muted. The space only seats about 100, uses no mics, and this production had an 18 (!) piece orchestra. Norm was at many times drowned out by the orchestra (which sounded brilliant, by the way). Seemed like he made the right decision to not try and compete with the orchestra. Donna Migliaccio's Lovett was simply adequate. Chad Kimball was pretty good as Anthony. The Johanna had trouble with the score. They included the Judge singing "Johanna" which was met with awkward silence from the audience. I do have to applaud The Signature for using 18 musicians. To me, they (and conductor Jon Kalbfleisch) were the stars of this Sweeney.

[magruder]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 12:43pm

I've said this before, but having seen both Len Cariou and George Hearn in the role, Cariou played the role the way Sondheim describes the character in "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" and its many reprises. Sweeney is described as quiet, methodical, plotting and planning like a perfect machine. He's a man that has been working on his revenge for 15 years in an Australian prison. Yeah, it's exciting to watch George Hearn scream so much, but is it right for the character? Would Sweeney Todd really be standing outside the Pie Shop, screaming "At last my right arm is complete again" in the street when all he has been thinking about is plotting revenge? Wouldn't the neighbors notice?

As such, when Len Cariou really went nuts in "Epiphany," it was terrifying to watch. Hearn, though strong throughout, really has nowhere else to go emotionally, because you've seen him screaming his head off for an hour already.

Again, just my personal take on the endless Cariou vs. Hearn battle. Cariou's approach just stikes me as more complex and multilayered, for all that is good about Hearn in the role.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 12:50pm

macgruder - thanks for the insight - now you make me want to see len do the role...darn it!

[magruder]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 2:28pm

No problem, RedHot, and I think if you can get permission to view it, I believe there is a tape of Cariou and Lansbury in the Lincoln Center library archives.

The tour didn't just downsize the set - the Broadway set featured a gargantuan framing six-story tall iron foundry with a grimy glass paned roof, surrounding the action. The factory set couldn't travel, of course, but while the tour version did a good job of giving a semblance of what it looked like on Broadway, it still doesn't come close to that staggering original Broadway set. I remember walking into the theatre, and being floored as to what was going on onstage. On the sides into the wings and up at the top of the set were all sorts of bizarre sinister looking machines whirring and clanking. Hal Prince used that original set as his way in to the material - the dehumanization of the common man during the Industrial Revolution. The material hints at that a little, but Sweeney just seems to work well, both on a large and small scale. Only when I saw a regional production with Sweeney carried aloft in a Christ-like position did I think a director had gone too far with a concept that I think the material couldn't substantiate.

One cavil in the Hearn vs. Cariou debate. As much as I loved Len Cariou in the role, the material strained his voice, and you can hear him struggling and pushing somewhat on the Broadway cast recording (which I think was recorded early on in the run. The show opened March, '79, and I want to say the show was recorded in May and came out in the summer). I loved Cariou dramatically, but Hearn has much less difficulty singing the material, even as recently as the concert version.

Cariou was seriously damaged from his Sweeney experience (and other problems), and was reported to be in vocal distress on his next musical, the disastrous Dance a Little Closer (though I think he sounds fine on the cast recording, which was made some months after the show's demise). But in the early 90s, I heard him sing "My Friends" at a benefit concert with Beth Fowler (who was a fascinating, underrated Mrs. Lovett), and he sounded great again. I do regret that he never got the chance to take on more great musical roles post-Sweeney...he would have made one hell of a Ben Stone in his prime...

Updated On: 7/13/04 at 02:28 PM

[tpdc]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 5:21pm

Magruder and others here have covered the history of the score and the changes from the Broadway production. I saw the Broadway production at the last preview and just before it closed. I also saw the Signature and Kennedy Center productions.

I loved Loudon's Lovett. She was very different from Lansbury. Loudon was a sadder Mrs. Lovett and not as hard and tough as Lansbury was on Broadway (as opposed to her tour /TV performance). Lansbury and Cariou were funnier and more chilling than anyone else I've seen in the roles. Lansbury's tour performance seems like a blend of her original and Loudon's performances. She said she decided to make her tour performance match what Hearn was doing.

I though Panaro's Anthony and Celia Keenan Bolger's Johanna were the standouts at the Kennedy Center. Baranski was a funny and well sung Mrs. Lovett but she only played the comedy in the role. Stokes sang beautifully but was rather stiff.

I agree that Norm Lewis was drowned out by the orchestra at Signature. I saw him twice and he was never able to grasp the score or the role though he gave it a nice try and improved during the run. I also found Kimball's Anthony weak in the scenes and songs. Miglaccio was a revelation as Lovett. She played her as emotionally dead before Sweeney's return and once they start their plan she comes to life again, sure she will have the love, life and success she has dreamed of. Watching her realize that everything was slipping back to before in the second act was amazing.

[Plum]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 5:26pm

I believe that another reason Cariou's voice got damaged during the original run of Sweeney Todd is that during early previews, they were using actual dirt in the grave. When he sang with that stuff in the air all around him, it clung to his vocal cords and damaged them. They eventually found a kind of dirt, or fake dirt or something, that wouldn't do that, but the damage was already done.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/13/04 at 5:31pm

"Patti Lupone wanders around the British Isles, via Australia, only occassionally hitting East London"

I'd just like to say that that was very funny. Thanks for the laugh. I still love her performance, though...