1st Review: Sweeney Todd

2007-12-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

Sweeney

Todd

The Demon Barber of

Fleet Street

On TV, shows like CSI are one of many TV thrillers. But only a few Broadway musicals are considered as a thriller. This is one of them. With amazing songs, bewildering orchestrations, and a deadly climax, the musical “Sweeney Todd” seems to be straight out of CSI. Now, “Sweeney” on tour, and is sweeping audiences off their feet night after night.

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is a tale of a barber by the name of Benjamin Barker (aka Sweeney Todd) who returns to London to get revenge on the judge that put him into jail in order to get Sweeney’s wife, Lucy. Later, Lucy takes arsenic and goes insane. In the show, she is a beggar woman.

Sweeney might be better known on the stage, but the origination dates back to the 1840s. Sweeney first appeared in an 1846 “penny dreadful”. A “penny dreadful” was a popular tabloid of Victorian England. Each week you could get a part of the story for 1¢. It changed over the years. Then, in the 1970s, an actor by the name of Christopher Bond added elements of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Revenger’s Tragedy. That change made it the 1^st time Sweeney was motivated.

The show's script (or book) was written by Hugh Wheeler and music and lyrics was by a well-known Broadway song writer, Stephen Sondheim, who also was part of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, and Assassins.

Sweeney Todd first hit Broadway in 1979. It had 19 previews and opened on March 1^st. It played at the Uris Theater, now home of the stunning story of Oz, Wicked. (The Uris was remained to the Gershwin Theater in the 1980s)

The Original production starred Angela Lansbury (who later voiced Mrs. Potts in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast) as Mrs. Lovett (a meat pie shop owner ) and Len Cariou (who recently starred in the thriller,1408) Sweeney put down the razor (for those of you who don’t speak phrases, it means closed) on June 29, 1980, after 557 performances. However, despite initial poor performance reactions (apparently half the audience is said to have left at intermission), it won 8 Tony Awards out of 9 nominations, won a Theater World Award, and won 9 Drama Desk Awards out of 13 nominations.

Despite the great acclaim for the original, this touring production is a bit different. Here’s why: 1) There is a shrill startling shriek of a factory whistle in the original to get the attention of the audience. This version doesn’t have this characteristic. It opens quietly. 2) There is a chair in Sweeney’s shop, which tips his victims through a trap door to his accomplice, Mrs. Lovett. This version doesn’t, leaving that to the imagination of the audience.

The director of the tour production, John Doyle, is no stranger to Sweeney. He has directed Sweeney in the West End (London) and on Broadway. He also designed the set and costumes.

“Sweeney” has been filmed twice, and filmed a third time released at the end of 2007. In 1981, Sweeney Todd was filmed in LA starring Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett, and George Hearn (from another musical called La Cage aux Folles) as Sweeney. It can be found on YouTube, and can be purchased on Amazon.com.

In 2000, George Hearn, Patti LuPone (who’s known for Anything Goes and guest starred on Ugly Betty), Neil Patrick Harris (CBS’s How I met your Mother), and Audra McDonald (who can be seen on the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice) performed in a concert version of the show at the New York Philharmonic. It can be bought on Amazon.

In 2001, George, Patti, and Neal did another concert filmed in San Francisco with the SF symphony. This can be also found on Amazon.com and YouTube.

Now, Sweeney finally turned into a movie musical, directed by Tim Burton with Johnny Depp (Pirates#Caribbean) as Sweeney, Helena Bonham Carter as Lovett, and Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) as an opposing barber, Adolfo Pirelli. The movie was rated R due to graphic bloody violence. It was released into Theaters on December 21. 2007.

In 1989, Sweeney was revived to Off- Broadway (for those who don’t speak theater, Off- Broadway are where shows play that aren’t actually in the Broadway area.). It played 46 previews, starting on August 5, 1989. It officially opened on September 14, 1989 at the Circle in the Square Theater. It ran for 189 performances before it closed on February 25, 1990. Strangely enough, the theater is housing the Broadway show The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which closes on January 20, 2008.

In 2004, John Doyle revived Sweeney Todd in the West End of London. Then, in 2005, Sweeney Todd transferred back on Broadway. It opened on November 3, 2005 at the Eugene O’Neill Theater (the home of Spring Awakening) and ran for 384 performances. It closed on September 3, 2006. This starred Patti LuPone as Lovett, Michael Cerveris (from the 2004 Revival of Assassins) as Sweeney, and Manoel Felciano (from Jesus Christ Superstar) as Tobias. This production is the basis of the Tour version. However, the revival has a twist: normally, the orchestra is in a pit of a theater. In this revival, instead of the 27-piece orchestra, it’s stripped to a mere 10 musicians, and those musicians make up the entire acting ensemble. Only 10 people playing the part and playing the score. That doesn’t sound easy.

How did that start? In 1992, John Doyle, the Director of the Tour, had the desire to direct Candide (another musical that Sondheim worked on) in London- with almost no budget. There were financial strictures of nonprofit regional- especially where he was. He realized that he had just enough money to pay either a cast or orchestra, but not both. So, he just had the actors fill both descriptions. It was cheap, but John soon discovered he had made a brand new way of making musical theater.

This version of the show won 2 Tonys out of 6 nominations. The award categories were Best Direction of a Musical and Best Orchestrations. They were nominated for Best Revival but lost to The Pajama Game. At the Drama Desks, Sweeney fared better. It won 4 of 9 nominations. This time, it won outstanding revival.

The touring cast of Sweeney performed a pre-engagement at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, CA from August 30 to October 14. This is where I saw the show. Then it hit the road on Tour. This cast includes members from Broadway, with veterans of Sweeney. These people include David Hess as Sweeney, Judy Kaye (who temporarily replaced Patti LuPone in 2005 when Patti went on vacation and then returned when Patti left to do Gypsy for a week) as Lovett, Diana DiMarzio as the beggar woman (Diana played this role in 2005 on Broadway), and Lauren Molina as Sweeney’s daughter, Johanna (reprising her role after the 2005 Broadway cast).

This company, simplified score, and minimalist arrangements improve the interactions of Sondheim’s masterpiece. In fact, the New York Times says Sweeney’s “One helluva show.” Finally, the fantastic company makes it worthwhile to “attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.”

My Rating: *****

Information

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Length: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Official website: www.sweeneytoddtour.com

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2007-12-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

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