Why I won't be interested in attending the SWEENEY TODD revival — Page 3

Justice wrote here that the 1989 Circle in the Square prod got terrible reviews. I have my copy of THEATRE WEEK here from OCT 9, 1989. They quote 5 reviews: 4 favourable, and 1 unfavourable (predictably from John Simon.) Count me amongst those who reviewed it favourably. SWEENEY is such a strong piece that it can actually wthstand unusual staging and still play well.

As for worries we'll have to wait 20 years for a full Broadway revival..hardly. NYCO does it regularly and if a really great production originated elsewhere I am sure it would be brought into a Broadway house. It's too bad the Kennedy Center production with Brian Stokes Mitchell didn't come to New York.

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I saw this in London this summer--dragged kicking and screaming.

It was the most inventive thing I've seen in a long time.

Morosco--you're on the wrong side here.

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The orchestra is part of what makes live theatre different from movies. Without the orchestra, we are killing what Broadway originally was. Also think of the number of musicians that are going to be out of work. Sweeny Todd just won't be the same without the live music.

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Thank you, Paradox. Was really starting to aggravate me...

Yes, there will be musicians out of jobs. But this is new. The theater world is trying something new.

Something I find so beautiful in this idea, is the fact that it was written by Stephen Sondheim, who in so many ways, shares something with George in 'Sunday...'. Viewers of the paintings didn't appreciate them. He was too ahead of his time. Something wasn't clicking. How many critics and theatergoer have walked out of Sondheim shows complaining about the score, about how "weird" it was, how experimental, different, etc. THAT is the beauty in Stephen Sondheim. That is what makes his pieces so alive, so vivacious and thrilling. That he is ALWAYS trying something new, adding a taste of something different, offering up everything he can.

So, therefore, why, for us Sondheim lovers who have embraced and admired him for seeing the modern musical so differently and opening doors for so many new composers, are we so hesitant about a production of a Sondheim show that tries something new and innovative?

Just a little food for thought...

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Updated On: 3/23/05 at 09:48 AM

"Czarny Oczy" (the title actually is "Oczy Czarny") is a Russian folk song, not Polish. An example of a Polish song would be MALA BABA KOGUTA (An Old Woman Had A Rooster). It goes like this:
"Mala Baba Koguta, Koguta, Koguta,
Sadzila go do buta, go buta, hey!"

(An old woman had a rooster, rooster, rooster,
She stuck it in a boot, in a boot, hey!)

EVERYBODY!

By the way, I'm in agreement with you, TG4.

Zle kilometry dziela nas,
Lato umiera jesieni czas,
Blaszany daszek tlucze deszcz
A w mojej glowie wciaz ktos jest,
Wiec gdy wspomnienia mecza cie
Wracaja mysli krotkie dnie
Zobaczyc jeszcze raz

refrain: (2x)
Jej piekne czarne oczy,
Snia sie czarne oczy,
Ich nie przeoczysz, wiem ze nie
Jej piekne czarne oczy widze czarne oczy
To za mna kroczy, ze mna jest

Takie to zycie dziwne jest,
milosc tesknota scigaja sie
mozesz uciekac mozesz nie
jedno i drugie dopadnie cie
Wiec gdy wspomnienia mecza cie
Wracaja zas te krotkie dnie
Zobaczyc jeszcze raz

refrain (2x)

Wiec gdy wspomnienia mecza cia...
Wracaj¹ zas te krotkie chwile
Zobaczyc jeszcze raz...
Jej piekne czarne oczy

refrain (3x)

Updated On: 3/23/05 at 10:53 AM

Yes, Sondheim saw the show at the New Ambassadors, the same day as he saw the NT's Forum. I was sitting behind him and Maria Friedman...he was very animated and happy throughout.

My one caveat would be that I preferred the Trafalgar Studio presentation, I think that some intimacy was lost in the pros arch of the more traditional theatre.

Jescze raz, jeszcze raz, nie VIET, VIET nam,

nie VIET NAM!

Moja dziecka chce chleb i maslo. Nie mam. Ah, to holera, co ja bedem zobricz? Ona jest taka krowa. Matka boska, moja serce...

Wesolych Swiat!

Updated On: 3/23/05 at 12:13 PM

the concept recieved great reviews in London. Ill trust them.

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