Sweeney Todd on a small scale

[AngusN]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 11:00am

Have you seen any impressive productions of Sweeney on a small scale? I know there was the Brecht-inspired Doyle revival. How have others succeeded in presenting this epic tale of revenge? I'm particularly interested in imaginative presentations of the death scenes.

[John Adams]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 11:50am

In Chicago, I saw a production with Alene Robertson as Mrs. Lovett. It was very small-scaled (compared to Broadway) and played extremely well.

The ensemble was small, and for the More Hot Pies number, they used life-sized doll/puppets to fill out the "crowd" (similar to the Angelette March from Best Little Whorehouse...). I thought it was clever and added a touch of humor.

When the production is small, I think the show works better. Updated On: 5/24/13 at 11:50 AM

[Gmerchant123]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 11:51am

I remember the 2005 revival with Patti Lupone was on a very small scale. It worked great!

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 12:21pm

There's the legendary eight-person Teeny Sweeney, where the cast was tiny because of how intimate the theatre was. They didn't have room for a multi-level barbershop, so Sweeney dispatched his victims with a meat hook on a pulley, not a chute.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 12:41pm

I first saw the East-West Players production of Sweeney in the early '90s in Los Angeles. It was excellent, and had a cast of about 10, as I recall. It was so well received, Sondheim flew out to see it.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 1:02pm

The 1994 National Theatre production in London employed an ensemble of about 7 plus the principal cast - very small company indeed. It was minimalist I believe too, in terms of its design approach. A door for Mrs. Lovett's shop and her counter for example were the only components of her pie shop, and Sweeney's barber chair first appeared as Judge Turpin's courtroom 'throne' in Act 1, which worked because that would be the chair in which he would eventually meet his death. I don't know how the larger company numbers worked in this production - did the supporting players join the 'chorus' when they weren't on stage as their own individual characters... Anyway, all in all, this was a sparse, pared down, intimate production that originally played at the National's Cottesloe theatre which is a black box space.

[otis33]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 1:16pm

I did a production in San Diego a couple years back with a cast of 11. It worked really well.

[NoName3]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 1:43pm

The first Broadway revival was in 1989 at Circle in the Square. It was a very small scale affair with Bob Gunton and Beth Fowler. Based on a production earlier that year by York Theatre Company, it got good reviews and several Tony nominations. Everyone called it either Teeney Todd or The Teeney Sweeney. Updated On: 5/24/13 at 01:43 PM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 1:55pm

I remember that '89 revival-- good acting all around, but it felt like a show without any great IDEAS to offer. Of course, I loved the original grand scale Prince production, but I think a director with a GRAND CONCEPT for the show (a la Doyle) can offer something else to make up for the lack of giant cast or giant sets.

I think the thing that suffers the most with a teeny Sweeney is the delivery of the score. No soaring chorus sound and no soaring instrumentation does a great disservice to Sondheim's work, and there'd better be something amazing offered to compensate.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 1:58pm

Well the 89 revival was literally played by two synthesizers. At least the 05 revival had live instruments, albeit played by the cast.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 2:16pm

otis33... i saw that production of Sweeney! Cygnet right? it was an impressive production!

[buddy5]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 6:18pm

It was this concentrated production,without distracting effects ,that made me aware of the incredible score.

Julia MacKenziie was one of the best Lovetts

[buddy5]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 6:18pm

It was this concentrated production,without distracting effects ,that made me aware of the incredible score.

Julia MacKenziie was one of the best Lovetts

[binau]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 6:22pm

"I loved the original grand scale Prince production, but I think a director with a GRAND CONCEPT for the show (a la Doyle) can offer something else to make up for the lack of giant cast or giant sets. "

I personally don't think Sweeney Todd needs this. I think it's a great story, and the book/score can hold its own without a 'concept'. Not surprisingly, I also adore the movie.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 6:23pm

I loved the TEENEY TODD. No, it didn't have a high concept (I loved the Prince original, too), but the intimacy revealed all sorts of subtlety in the words and music and interaction between the characters.

It's true that two synthesizers aren't ideal, but on the other hand, I could hear and understand every word. And I'm so glad I got to see Bob Gunton and Beth Fowler!

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 6:25pm

I think it's pretty wonderful that this musical has such a powerful story (and is told so well) that it can work on a HUGE scale as well as a small scale.

And the story isn't lost or lessened at all.

Bravo, Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler!

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 6:29pm

Julia MacKenziie was one of the best Lovetts

She really was great. When I listen to a Sweeney recording, it is usually the BBC one with her in the role.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 6:29pm

Indeed! (I'm referring to best12's post.) ^^^^^

And, personally, I remember loving the small ensemble from whom I heard every note of harmony as an individual note rather than one brick in a "wall of sound". This is not to fault the original, just to say I enjoyed hearing in a new way a show I had basically memorized.

Updated On: 5/24/13 at 06:29 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 6:59pm

I have always considered Sweeney Todd to be the Shakespeare of musical theatre. Both intellectual and commercial, a classic tragedy in structure yet with elements of Shakespearean comedy and clowning thrown in.

Also like Shakespeare, the material can stand on its own or in a high concept- consider both the original staging, which attempted to use the material as Marxist commentary, the film which co-opted the same plot in homage to 1950s British horror films, and the Doyle revival. Each one did something different with the same story without stopping it from being Sweeney.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 7:30pm

Well put, darquegk. I hadn't thought of it exactly that way. (Though the film will always be "half a SWEENEY" to me, since they left out the role of Mrs. Lovett.)

[binau]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 7:41pm

I had an issue with Helena's singing but thought she acted the part fine. If you're used to Lansbury of course it might seem a bit lame in comparison. But someone who had only seen the movie asked me if the character was still "funny on stage?", lol.

Updated On: 5/24/13 at 07:41 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/25/13 at 8:11pm

I'm repeating myself, qolbinau, but I could overlook Bonham Carter's singing. It was her acting that was entirely wrong for the part.

It is Lovett's irrepressible capitalism that drives the action and makes SWEENEY TODD something more than a remake of FRIDAY THE 13TH: JASON'S REVENGE. Bonham Carter was so enervated and depressed, it was hard to believe she ever got out of bed, much less baked half of London into pies.

That she also wasn't funny was the least of it.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 5/26/13 at 8:19pm

Helena Bonham Carter should be kept away from musicals carte blanche! She ruined Mrs. Lovett. Ugh.

[AngusN]

Posted: 5/27/13 at 12:42pm

How did they present the deaths in Teeny Todd? Was it the usual raised rostra with a chute?

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/27/13 at 2:05pm

As I mentioned above, Teeny Sweeney dispatched the victims on a meat hook and pulley, sending them out the theatre door by swinging them through the aisles.