Teach Victoria Clark the Clarinet...

[RuprechtJr.]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 2:51pm

...unless she already knows how to play it. I just watched "Sweeney Todd In Concert" and not until late because of "Piazza" did I really appreciate who Victoria Clark really was. When I recently watched the Sweeney concert, I was astounded to recognize someone new (if that makes any sense). Victoria's portrayal of "Begger Woman/Lucy" was amazing. She played it spectacularly. The concert included "Begger Woman's Lullaby" which gave me chills. Side note: is that in the new production? Anyway, my point is: Do you think that she'd be good as "Begger Woman/Lucy" in the new revival? Teach her the clarinet and I think that she'd get acclaim. What do you think? It's certainly a departure from "Margaret".

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 2:52pm

I'd rather see her as Lovett.

[Salad_Fingers85]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 2:53pm

Yes, me too CurtainPullDowner, I think Clark would play an excelent Lovett!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 2:54pm

Is this the wave of the future? An actor has to be able to play an instrument?

Pardon me while I .....

[Yero]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 3:04pm

Being a Tony winner, I don't think she'd take the role.
I see her as more of a Mrs. Lovett anyways.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 3:12pm

The Beggar Womans Lullaby was in the production for the first preview. I rather liked it, but it gives a lot away

[bjh2114]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 3:14pm

I think Victoria is planning on spending some time with her son. And by the time she is ready to do another Broadway show, the Sweeney revival will be long gone.

[RuprechtJr.]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 3:59pm

Mr. Roxy: Your comment was quite rude. For the SHOW you have to learn how to play an insturment. I wasn't saying that she had to learn it and stick with it. It could be like a LuPone thing where she only learned the notes she had to play. Sure, she has to learn something new. Didn't she have to do that when she went into Piazza? Didn't she have to learn the music? Didn't she have to learn the lines? Didn't she have to work on her accent?

[Flahooley]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 4:03pm

I agree with Mr. Roxy.

How much multi-tasking is a performer to do. Act, dance, sing, AND be the orchestra! I undestand and appreciate the conceit behind the SWEENEY TODD revival, but lets hope this doesn't become a trend.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 4:04pm

Not my intent to be rude but I am not a fan of the actors also having to play their own instruments in a show. Not a big fan of this type of staging & that is what I was trying to convey.

Rudeness on the board ? Who would have thought ?

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 4:17pm

I see her as a Lovett as well.

[RuprechtJr.]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 4:54pm

"How much multi-tasking is a performer to do. Act, dance, sing, AND be the orchestra! I undestand and appreciate the conceit behind the SWEENEY TODD revival, but lets hope this doesn't become a trend."

I, also, by no means want it to become a thread. I didn't mean that we should force her to learn it, either. I know! How could anyone be mean on this board? We all love eachother! Especially the people who come on here to create fifty threads on how to contact Idina Menzel or Kristin Chenowith! Just kidding.

[bunger12]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 4:56pm

Diana DiMarzio worked her butt off (and got cast through an EPA) for this role. Let's let her keep her job awhile, huh?

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 5:21pm

Besides...for people that do know all the reeds, most agree that clarinet is hardest...well maybe minus double-reed instruments. And it's not like only a couple of notes of clarinet need to be played in the Sweeney score, at least for the Beggar woman...it's quite difficult. Then take into account being able to play in tune, playing those high notes at a tiny volume, walking and playing at the same time, god forbid something happens to your reed on stage, you can't get another one. Sorry, I just hate how people keep throwing around how so and so should learn this instrument like it's as easy as memorizing a book. It's not.

[SarahBeth]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 5:24pm

While I absolutely adore the clarinet, i've been playing it for eight years now, I don't believe it's something you can simply "learn the notes for," especially for Sweeney. I love the idea of musician/actors, but maybe try a different instrument.

Updated On: 7/24/06 at 05:24 PM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 5:32pm

"Besides...for people that do know all the reeds, most agree that clarinet is hardest...well maybe minus double-reed instruments."

wickedrentq, are you aware that the clarinet is the only single reed instrument (not including the saxophone)? Oboe, bassoon, bagpipes, tromboon (cross between trombone and bassoon), and english horn are all double reeds.
Updated On: 7/24/06 at 05:32 PM

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 5:52pm

actually, for Piazza Vicki did not have to learn the accent, she brought it with her. Her parents are from the Winston-Salem area and she used the accent from the early readings on.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 12:56am

Sorry bjh, I was using pit terms. I meant woodwinds, but in pits, all of the woodwinds use reed books. I was pretty much referring to the big 3--clarinet, sax, and flute, and of those who play all 3, most agree clarinet is hardest. Sorry for being unclear.

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 1:00am

Vicki knows how to play piano and accordion, so all she's gotta do is learn a bit of flute and she's all set for Pirelli, hee hee! But yes, her Beggar Woman was amazing and the perfect mix of mad and sympathetic.

And for the record, Patti LuPone played tuba in marching band in high school, so she may not be a virtuoso, but she knew the instrument coming in. It was Judy Kaye who had to learn the notes.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 3:24am

I doubt it would ever become a trend, so you can sleep nice tonight.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 5:34am

How could anyone be mean on this board? We all love eachother! Especially the people who come on here to create fifty threads on how to contact Idina Menzel or Kristin Chenowith! Just kidding.

It's Chenoweth.

Updated On: 7/25/06 at 05:34 AM

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 7:27am

Mr. Mendelssohn's had his day. Benny Goodman is here to stay.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 8:49am

MasterLcz: When is THAT movie going to be put on dvd? Love it.

I am not a fan of Victoria Clark's Beggar Woman, although I am not a fan of just about anything on that concert dvd.

Maybe with Doyle's guidance she'd be better.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 9:28am

MB, it's one of my favorites of her movies! Hugely silly but a lot of fun.

"But I can't help it! Really I can't! Everytime I hear music is just *does* something to me! And when I sing it comes out "Dut DAT Dut DA dud-AH, Da dut DAT dut DAT dud-AH..."

How soon do we really think Victoria is going to come back in a new show? I'll bet she shows up to sing at her pal Jeff Blumenkrantz' songbook concert at Birdland on November 20.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 11:51am

I love Victoria Clark, but she was awful as the Beggar Woman. Perhaps she'd be better if she were well-directed in a different production—I think that whole concert is pretty bad—but I don't think she'd really want to go through the trouble of learning to play the clarinet to play such a relatively small role in a production that's winding down.

And crawling around on her knees while playing the clarinet, which Donna DiMarzio has said is not easy.

Btw, I think that's what tough about Mrs. Lovett in this production is not the tuba, but all that xylophone.