What was the 1989 SWEENEY TODD like?

[Lughnasa123]

Posted: 7/13/11 at 10:16pm

Did Susan H. Schulman's 1989 Broadway revival of 'Sweeney' remain faithful to Hal's original production, or did much change material/design wise, does anyone know? I'd be interested to know anything about this production... What were Gunton and Fowler like in the leads?

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/13/11 at 10:21pm

The music was played by two synthesizers!

oh, the things Sondheim allows......

Posted: 7/13/11 at 10:51pm

It did get very good reviews and word of mouth from all I've seen--and of course was called (maybe by Forbidden Broadway?) Teeny Todd because it was such a small, intimate production.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/13/11 at 11:07pm

From Forbidden Broadway

Attend the tale of Teeny Todd
The cast is small and the staging odd.
Although the musical's barely ten
Somebody decided to do it again.
For intrigue brought a promenade
It's Teeny Todd
The smaller version of Sweeney!
There is no shop in London town.
Except two flats that are painted brown.
But think of all of the cash they'll save
The physical budget impeccably shaved
It's Teeny
It's Teeny Todd
The smaller version of Sweeney.
Swing your razor low, teeny
Keep it under-sized.
And what's more
The Sondheim score
Is synthesized!
Our needs are few the stage is bare
We use a miniature barber chair
The mug of suds and the leather strop
Are tiny toy props from a tiny toyshop
For cheapness we deserve a nod
It's Teeny Todd
The smaller version of Sweeney.
Big and epic-like Sweeney was
Huge and bulky the scenery was
Twenty ton bridge
Twenty ton barge
Hal prince's version was ugly but large.
Now the bigger guy Sweeney's gone
And his kid brother Teeny's on
Teeny is smooth
Even more subtle
When teeny blinks the roaches scuttle.
Teeny!
Attend the tale of Teeny Todd
Tho' Stephen Sondheim's a demigod
To bring back one of his shows today
No-one can afford the original way
They shrink it
Like Teeny
Like Teeny Todd
The Sweeney version that's Teeny.

Posted: 7/13/11 at 11:20pm

ha! Brilliant! I'd never actually read the lyrics before, or heard it--so thanks for that.

Amazing how increasingly precient these lyrics were (much to my sadness):

Attend the tale of Teeny Todd
Tho' Stephen Sondheim's a demigod
To bring back one of his shows today
No-one can afford the original way

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/13/11 at 11:30pm

After you got used to the sound of the synthesizers, there were a lot of rewards to that production. (And that said, there are moments in the Tunick orchestation that are deliberately harsh, like all those shrieking strings and reeds that sound a bit electronic as it is).

There was a ring of grimy windows around the auditorium that made you feel like you were overlooking the action from a London tenement. The intimacy created a hothouse atmosphere and I remember feeling quite overwhelmed by the final sequence, even though I loved everything about the Hal Prince original production as well.

Gunton and Fowler didn't make you forget Cariou and Lansbury, but there were real and didn't have to play the show as big as the production that played upstairs at the Uris. Fowler, in particular, didn't go as dotty and zany with the role, and she felt more desperate and tragic. And having Gunton play "Epiphany" a few feet in front of you was terrifying in its own right.

Updated On: 7/13/11 at 11:30 PM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 11:05am

Because it was paying in a smaller space, Gunton, Fowler and the rest did not need to play as big as the Broadway cast, and made the smaller, more intimate moments really count. Schulman did not try to mimic Hal Prince's staging - she came up with her own concept. Predictably, this upset SWEENEY fans who wanted it done the original way or not at all. (They could see a reasonable facsimile of that when New York City Opera presented Prince's staging at the New York State Theatre.)

I caught the show in a late preview and found it thrilling because it WAS different from the original. It was very well sung too, but I missed some of those crashing orchestral stingers. For the record, the playbill only lists 2 keyboardists, but I seem to recall a percussionist as well.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 12:49pm

It was a terrific production. I saw it first at the York, then on Bway. It was even better at the York.

Both leads were great, but the real revelation was Eddie Korbich who deserved a tony nomination.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 1:26pm

From the little I can remember of it, it was decent. Something was gained and a lot lost with the up close and personal approach. The performances were good and perhaps seemed more nuanced for the lack of design distraction. But it was not nearly as scary or vivid and it was certainly a lot less exciting.

[temms]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 4:55pm

I believe the 5th line of Alessandrini's parody is "But in three-quarter promenade", i.e., thrust stage with audience on three sides. But I do love the classic Forbidden Broadways and haven't listened in way too long.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 5:07pm

Having only previously seen the video of the original production with Cariou and Lansbury this revival was my first live experience. It was one of the earlier theatrical experiences in my now lengthy list of shows. This production is still towards the top of my list specifically because it was intimate. That theater being small lends to this show especially when Sweeney breaks that 4th wall and starts to intimidate the audience to come up into his chair. The thought still makes me laugh to this day of each time the shrill whistle screamed and made my cousin almost fly into the ceiling. Overall it was just exciting because of its small intimate intimidating size! Years later I saw the revival with Elaine Page. Yes it was almost a carbon copy of the original but for me once it jumped up in size it lost the scare factor that made the smaller version haunting...and I do mean in a horror Halloween way! I would love to see this small revival happen again!

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 5:18pm

I would love to see this small revival happen again!

Well, we just had another small revival of this show in 2005. I think Broadway's next Sweeney should be a big one someday.

[Almira]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 6:00pm

I saw it in previews.

I wasn't very good. The half dozen community theatre productions I've seen subsequently were just as - or more - successful than the '89 revival.

Sad too because the cast was full of Broadway veterans clearly excited to be on Broadway in a Sondheim show. But none really distinguished themselves... Korbach, a little, maybe.

Two things stand out in memory:

When the bodies were about to go down the shoot, you could see the actors (who had just been murdered) adjust themselves so they could fit through the tiny hole in the stage. Some in the audience chuckled.

The other thing... and this was the only thing that scared me.. was during the Judge's song, when he would "whip" himself, cast members sprinkled around the stage would "clap" in time to the lashes. You could almost feel the sting of the flesh.

Updated On: 7/14/11 at 06:00 PM

[Jon]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 8:05pm

Allesandrini sure does like to rhyme "barge" with "large". He did it again with Ragtime, and I think with Showboat.

[sondheimfan2]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 10:46pm

I saw the show and remember that it had somewhat of an environmental design. There were wash lines hanging over the heads of the audience as though we were in the streets of London.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/14/11 at 11:18pm

Almira, thanks for reminding me of Korbich's excellent performance.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/15/11 at 1:11am

I can still close my eyes and travel back to the first time I saw Sweeney. It was one of the highlights of my viewing "career." Sure, the stage was huge and the sets massive, (and I was about ten rows back) but wow, when Len Cariou was holding those knives and singing to them, I was utterly alone and scared as hell.

The only thing that ruined the night was intermission in that giant barn. The Gershwin is so inhumane. I have never been a fan of modern theaters. Give me the intimacy of Her Majesty's in London or The Shubert on Broadway and I am in heaven.