The All-Sondheim Thread- Page 5
The All-Sondheim Thread
#100re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 3:35pm
I wish more than anything I could have seen all the shows in DC.
I would have loved to see SWEENEY with BSM and Baranski.
Margo, how was Barrowman as Bobby?
And, also, I forgot which show it was, but Jonathan Tunick conducted one of the shows. He supposedly got a incredibly long standing ovation the moment he walked on stage into the pit. That made me feel great. I fthere's anything I love more than a knowledgable audience, its underappreciated artists getting their kudos.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#101re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 3:36pm
yay this gives me some good stuff to look forward to next year!
don't get caught bt 
BT
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/04
#102re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 3:46pmSondheim Celebration: I was particularly impressed with Merrily We Roll Along as it is a hard show to pull off well (working backward in time) but they did a wonderful job, as was Company. The Sunday in the Park was quite good as well. I enjoyed this year's Tennessee William's productions too. DC is getting better and better theatre!
kissmycookie
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/21/04
#103re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 5:20pmLA's production of ALNM was NYC Opera's production, complete with Kudisch and Pawk. But you got better leads than we did, though I thought Juliet Stevenson was pretty good.
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#104re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 5:29pmI thought Barrowman was a very good Bobby -- handsome, amiable, playful and in great voice throughout. He wasn't perfect (his Bobby lacked something as far as subtext, but then that could also be a shortcoming in the writing), but he was better than what I imagine Dean Jones or Larry Kert were in the role (I was too young to have seen either).
#105re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 5:32pm
Margo
I assume JB did a London production-- I have heard him sing Being Alive -- I would agree he could sing the heck out of the score -- I might have trouble getting past his youthfulness for the role, but perhaps that works....
#106re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 5:33pm
Bobby is a very difficult role to pull off.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#107re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 5:38pmthere are few Sondheim roles that are easy to pull off....
NBC
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/03
#108re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 6:01pmI just feel the need to add to this thread because "By the Sea" has been stuck in my head all afternoon. (Well, maybe stuck isn't the right word - it's not really a bad thing!)
#109re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 7:10pm
John Barrowman played the SH*T out of this part at the Kennedy Center in DC....as for his youthfulness well....at the time he was the same age as the character 35 :)
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#110re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 7:17pmThe essential problem with Bobby is that he's a spectator in "his" own show. I wonder if anyone has ever completely "pulled off" the part, or if it's really possible.
#111re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 8:28pmThat's an interesting argument. I would say it *is* possible to pull off, but not wihtout making him a character that you barely sympathize with.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#112re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 10:08pm
I love Bobby.
And I can sing the hell out of the score, so NYAH!
I love COMPANY with every fiber of my being.
TOO TOO TOOOOOO good.
I think Bobby is an amazing character, I certainly think he is sympathy-inducing.
Why would you say not?
-d.b.j-
#113re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 10:40pmI don't believe that I have ever seen Sweeney Todd....I must go out and rent it now.
#114re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 10:41pm
FOR SHAAAAME!
tell me/us what you think.
-d.b.j-
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#115re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 10:44pm
I didn't say Bobby engenders no sympathy- but I do think that the other characters get way too many of the knockout songs, from Joanne's "Ladies Who Lunch" to Amy's "Getting Married Today." Bobby is more quiet, at least until "Being Alive." Not to mention the fact that he spends so much of the show listening to and watching his friends rather than doing things himself.
So it takes a tremendously charismatic actor to really keep the show truly centered on Bobby, and a very skilled one to keep him interesting and, as Margo said, give him subtext. Plus he has to be good-looking, pass for a 35-year-old, and have a big voice. Not an easy combination to get.
#116re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 10:52pm
Ahh, gotcha. Bobby is my dream role.
AGH!
Someone is Waiting is his only self-related song up until BEING ALIVE...
-d.b.j-
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#117re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 10:56pm
Well, I'd say "Barcelona" is a good revelation of character. And "Side by Side by Side" says something, too, at least about his relationship with his friends. But of course, my favorite character song for Bobby isn't sung by him at all- it's "Poor Baby." 
#118re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 11:00pm
This score is one of my favorites of all time.
Poor Baby is great, Side By Side is genius,
but my fave is BEING ALIVE, of course.
-d.b.j-
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#119re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 11:08pmI just adore all the double meanings in "Poor Baby." Especially when the women in his life sing about how they're "the only tenderness he's ever known." Poor baby indeed.
amasis
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/7/04
#120re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 11:17pm
"Someone is Waiting is his only self-related song up until BEING ALIVE..."
How about Marry Me a Little? (re-instated in the NY & London revival) That shows a lot about who he is.
Plum, I'm with you on "Poor Baby". I love that song.
#121re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 11:21pm
I like MARRY ME A LITTLE more than BEING ALIVE.
And I adore SIDE BY SIDE BY SIDE/WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT YOU?
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
amasis
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/7/04
#122re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 11:23pmPriest, what do you think of Adrien Lester in the London revival? I actually really liked him as Bobby.
#123re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 11:25pm
He brought more to the role than many a Bobby I've seen.
He was pretty good, not sensational.
I just wish I could have seen Barrowman.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
amasis
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/7/04
#124re: WARNING: Do not enter if You're sick of my endless talk about Sweeney T
Posted: 8/30/04 at 11:39pmI was very sad that I wasn't able to make it to any of the Kennedy Center performances. I'm curious as to how Raul Esparza did in "Sunday...". All I've seen so far is the original with Mandy Patinkin, along with many very bad local/regional productions of "Sunday..." Updated On: 8/30/04 at 11:39 PM
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