Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd!
Since I was 16 years old, I’ve been attending Broadway shows at every chance. I’ve seen more than I can remember, ranging from Cats to Wicked and I’ve gotta say…it’s been years since I’ve had the kind of theater experience that I had last night.
My mom and I sat in the front row of the Eugene O’Neill Theater and from the moment the curtain went up, we were immediately submersed into the world of Sweeney Todd, the barber turned killer of Fleet Street. Having done the show in college, I knew the plotline and the score, so I thought that I was completely prepared for what I was about to see. Yet no amount of knowledge or experience I had prior would have prepared me for this phenomenal production.
The new imagining of Sweeney Todd is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There are only 10 actors in the show and EACH one of them was able to sing and ACT (which is INCREDIBLY rare for musical actors). But the most shocking thing of all? There is no orchestra! The cast plays their OWN instruments!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes. Patti LuPone comes out in one scene playing a TUBA! And I have never, ever, EVER seen people sing so expertly while jamming down on a cello, a violin, an upright bass and an accordion. My God…it was shocking, to say the least.
After seeing RENT two weeks ago and being a bit disappointed at the lack of energy and excitement, I was a bit hesitant to attend another Tuesday evening performance albeit a different show. However, while in RENT the actors leave the stage when their character is not performing, the cast of Sweeney Todd remains on stage during the entire production. It’s exhausting for them, yet you would never know it as EACH and EVERY one of them remained focused and full of energy. When the actors believe so strongly in their show, it’s impossible for the audience not to feel the same way.
The three stand-out performers are, without a doubt, Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett, Michael Cerveris as Sweeney Todd and Manoel Felciano as Tobias. At the end of the show, when Tobias loses his mind, he was crying so hard that he had tears and snot streaming down his face. He was a hot mess and I sat there thinking “It’s been years since I’ve seen an actor lose themself so deeply in a role.” I wanted to jump on to the stage and just touch him – just put one finger on his arm to make sure that he was actually a real, live human being and not a figment of my overactive imagination. Can anyone say TONY?
ALSO – special shout out to Diana Dimarzio who not only kicks ass as the “Beggar Woman”, but also plays a fierce clarinet.
The directing of this show was absolutely outstanding. The actors spent most of the show singing out to the audience and while I usually hate that style of staging, it worked flawlessly in this production. Of the nine characters on stage, only three survive the massacre unleashed by Sweeney’s straight razor. At first I thought…how are they going to have an orchestra left when each one of the actors gets killed off? But then they did the most amazing thing. When a character was killed, they put on a barber’s coat with blood on it to signify that they had died. THEN the actor dropped the character from their body movements and walked around the stage with their instrument so effortlessly that you barely noticed they were even there. The DETAIL! The unbelievable attention to DETAIL!
Rather than have blood spurt from the necks of the victims, another character would pour blood from one bucket into another to signify the loss of life. Being someone who loves spectacle in theater, you would think that this would bother me. But because the ENTIRE show was stylized with symbolism instead of gore, it made it even MORE powerful than seeing it done literally.
There is virtually no set and not a single costume change. And honestly, the stage itself was fairly small in size, so it was beautiful to see these actors glide around from one place to another so smoothly. The show has been obviously well rehearsed and it’s like watching a tremendous machine with each of its cognitive parts moving in and out and back and forth without one single glitch.
Possibly the most powerful aspect of the show is that there is no conductor guiding these actors through the score. They feed off each other and never miss a note. EVER. As the show pushes forward, the music crescendos to the point of blowing the roof off the theater and then decrescendos to allow for a shift in storyline or character development. When Act 2 comes to a close, your heart will be at the point of bursting and it will not subside until the moment when Sweeney Todd, himself, walks to the back of the stage and slams the door in your face.
Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal, in his review of the show, said that “When you’re sitting in the theater, you won’t want to be anywhere else in the world.” I agree 100%. When the actors came out for their curtain call, I jumped out of my seat so quickly that my playbill and jacket fell to the floor. I don’t remember the last time I clapped and screamed so loud with applause. And in turn, Patti LuPone, who is a goddess of the theater, turned to my mom and me and blew us a kiss. I about died. Her humility and gratefulness made me weep with joy.
There is no doubt in my mind that Sweeney Todd will win Best Musical Revival at this Sunday’s Tony Awards. There is also no doubt in my mind that Patti LuPone will win for best lead actress in a musical. And if there is any justice in the world, Michael Cerveris will beat out John Lloyd Young (Jersey Boys) and Harry Connick Jr. (The Pajama Game) for best lead actor in a musical. Lastly, if anything, John Doyle deserves to win best director for a musical. His work is SO ON POINT, to say the least.
For the first time in a while, I will be watching the Tony’s with baited breath. There are many deserving nominees, but few of them are in a production as PERFECT as Sweeney Todd.
*If you’d like to see a brief preview of this production, click here.
Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd!
Since I was 16 years old, I’ve been attending Broadway shows at every chance. I’ve seen more than I can remember, ranging from Cats to Wicked and I’ve gotta say…it’s been years since I’ve had the kind of theater experience that I had last night.
My mom and I sat in the front row of the Eugene O’Neill Theater and from the moment the curtain went up, we were immediately submersed into the world of Sweeney Todd, the barber turned killer of Fleet Street. Having done the show in college, I knew the plotline and the score, so I thought that I was completely prepared for what I was about to see. Yet no amount of knowledge or experience I had prior would have prepared me for this phenomenal production.
The new imagining of Sweeney Todd is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There are only 10 actors in the show and EACH one of them was able to sing and ACT (which is INCREDIBLY rare for musical actors). But the most shocking thing of all? There is no orchestra! The cast plays their OWN instruments!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes. Patti LuPone comes out in one scene playing a TUBA! And I have never, ever, EVER seen people sing so expertly while jamming down on a cello, a violin, an upright bass and an accordion. My God…it was shocking, to say the least.
After seeing RENT two weeks ago and being a bit disappointed at the lack of energy and excitement, I was a bit hesitant to attend another Tuesday evening performance albeit a different show. However, while in RENT the actors leave the stage when their character is not performing, the cast of Sweeney Todd remains on stage during the entire production. It’s exhausting for them, yet you would never know it as EACH and EVERY one of them remained focused and full of energy. When the actors believe so strongly in their show, it’s impossible for the audience not to feel the same way.
The three stand-out performers are, without a doubt, Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett, Michael Cerveris as Sweeney Todd and Manoel Felciano as Tobias. At the end of the show, when Tobias loses his mind, he was crying so hard that he had tears and snot streaming down his face. He was a hot mess and I sat there thinking “It’s been years since I’ve seen an actor lose themself so deeply in a role.” I wanted to jump on to the stage and just touch him – just put one finger on his arm to make sure that he was actually a real, live human being and not a figment of my overactive imagination. Can anyone say TONY?
ALSO – special shout out to Diana Dimarzio who not only kicks ass as the “Beggar Woman”, but also plays a fierce clarinet.
The directing of this show was absolutely outstanding. The actors spent most of the show singing out to the audience and while I usually hate that style of staging, it worked flawlessly in this production. Of the nine characters on stage, only three survive the massacre unleashed by Sweeney’s straight razor. At first I thought…how are they going to have an orchestra left when each one of the actors gets killed off? But then they did the most amazing thing. When a character was killed, they put on a barber’s coat with blood on it to signify that they had died. THEN the actor dropped the character from their body movements and walked around the stage with their instrument so effortlessly that you barely noticed they were even there. The DETAIL! The unbelievable attention to DETAIL!
Rather than have blood spurt from the necks of the victims, another character would pour blood from one bucket into another to signify the loss of life. Being someone who loves spectacle in theater, you would think that this would bother me. But because the ENTIRE show was stylized with symbolism instead of gore, it made it even MORE powerful than seeing it done literally.
There is virtually no set and not a single costume change. And honestly, the stage itself was fairly small in size, so it was beautiful to see these actors glide around from one place to another so smoothly. The show has been obviously well rehearsed and it’s like watching a tremendous machine with each of its cognitive parts moving in and out and back and forth without one single glitch.
Possibly the most powerful aspect of the show is that there is no conductor guiding these actors through the score. They feed off each other and never miss a note. EVER. As the show pushes forward, the music crescendos to the point of blowing the roof off the theater and then decrescendos to allow for a shift in storyline or character development. When Act 2 comes to a close, your heart will be at the point of bursting and it will not subside until the moment when Sweeney Todd, himself, walks to the back of the stage and slams the door in your face.
Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal, in his review of the show, said that “When you’re sitting in the theater, you won’t want to be anywhere else in the world.” I agree 100%. When the actors came out for their curtain call, I jumped out of my seat so quickly that my playbill and jacket fell to the floor. I don’t remember the last time I clapped and screamed so loud with applause. And in turn, Patti LuPone, who is a goddess of the theater, turned to my mom and me and blew us a kiss. I about died. Her humility and gratefulness made me weep with joy.
There is no doubt in my mind that Sweeney Todd will win Best Musical Revival at this Sunday’s Tony Awards. There is also no doubt in my mind that Patti LuPone will win for best lead actress in a musical. And if there is any justice in the world, Michael Cerveris will beat out John Lloyd Young (Jersey Boys) and Harry Connick Jr. (The Pajama Game) for best lead actor in a musical. Lastly, if anything, John Doyle deserves to win best director for a musical. His work is SO ON POINT, to say the least.
For the first time in a while, I will be watching the Tony’s with baited breath. There are many deserving nominees, but few of them are in a production as PERFECT as Sweeney Todd.
*If you’d like to see a brief preview of this production, click here.
