While I don’t know how large the role of Mrs. Lovett was ever intended to be, I have heard that Sondheim had to basically audition to Lansbury by writing her songs, as she needed to be sold on taking the second lead of the show. Apparently she wasn’t too attracted to a show being called “Sweeney Todd” rather than “Nellie Lovett”.
I do feel bad for Cariou, as while the show did bring him acclaim and accolades, the advertising and whatnot for the original production was blatantly pushing him to the side in favor of his more famous costar. And while that can be defended as business, they also gave Lansbury the final bow which is a fairly insulting given he’s the largest part and the title role. Maybe part of my pity comes from me liking Cariou’s Sweeney more than Lansbury’s Lovett - and Heaven’s Sweeney while I’m at it - but I still think they kind of did him dirty. Anyway for what it’s worth, the two leads bowed together after Lansbury’s solo one.
I don’t know if this bowing order was retained or not for their replacements, but I do believe that Dorothy Loudon was a bigger name than George Hearn at the time, so maybe it stayed that way. Unlike the original production though, I know that Michael Cerveris got the final bow over the much more famous Patti LuPone for the last revival.
Anyway, whatever kind of drama might’ve happened, I know that Lansbury and Cariou stayed friends years afterwards, so imagine it couldn’t have been too bad, if it even did occur. But this isn’t a Sweeney Todd drama thread, so I’ll try not to write anymore on the subject. In my defense though, I really, really like that show so it’s not hard to get me to start talking about it.
And one last thing, but I’ll defend Wait. Yes it’s slow moving, but it nicely sets up Todd’s mistake in Pretty Women, and I think the slow pace works the moment as it gets across both Lovett’s message and Sweeney’s impatience.
“Somebody stop me before I sing again” - Bazzard
