Sondheim(s) of the Day - "Killers" special: Sweeney Todd, Assassins

Not so much a musical as an opera, truth be told, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - true to its source material in the Victorian "penny dreadfuls" in the UK - is probably one of the bloodthirstiest productions to open on Broadway; although I suppose back in 1979 the "horror genre" [thanks to Hammer Studios, The Exorcist, Carrie, The Omen and so on] was rather popular, so maybe its timing was quite good after all.

Everyone knows the story: psychopathic barber, bent on revenge, pairs up with deranged pie-shop owner who can't get her hands on any tasty fresh meat - with chilling results! Interspersed with a naive love story involving Sweeney's daughter Johanna and the sailor Anthony who rescued him from drowning, and some black-comedy moments involving rival barbers and the simple-minded assistant at the pie shop Toby, it's certainly a tangled web, brimming with wonderful numbers. And, without further ado...Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd!

BBC Concert Orchestra and the Proms Sondheim Ensemble feat. Bryn Terfel - Prelude and Ballad of Sweeney Todd

Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou - The Worst Pies in London

Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter - My Friends

Cris Groenendaal - Johanna

George Hearn, Michael Cerveris, Patti LuPone - Pretty Women

Denis Quilley - Epiphany

Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball - A Little Priest

Christine Baranski and Brian Stokes Mitchell - By the Sea

Bernadette Peters - Not While I'm Around

[Another Sondheim "standard" that has been covered by loads of artistes, in and out of the production, including MegaBabs, Renee Fleming, Michael Feinstein, (ahem) Jamie Cullum, Lea Salonga, Michael Ball with Alfie Boe, Josh Groban and Cleo Laine]

By the way, no surprises; there is no "Happy Ever After" in this tale!

We've never seen the Johnny Depp/Helena Bonham Carter film, but this is another show in Mr Sondheim's estimable repertoire that we've been to see on stage twice - in completely different productions and five years apart. The first was a major "in concert" revival at The Royal Festival Hall way back in 2007, starring the booming Bryn Terfel as "Sweeney Todd" and Maria Friedman as "Mrs Lovett", and also featured Daniel Boys and Philip Quast [NB the format was later revived again in 2014 with Emma Thompson baking the pies]. It was, as one might imagine, very impressive. Bryn Terfel is quite scary when in full voice!

The second version we went to see was the much bigger, well-promoted, and fully staged and dramatised version at the Adelphi Theatre in 2012 - with a surprising and frighteningly convincing Michael Ball in the title role, and Imelda Staunton as "Mrs Lovett". It was utterly mind-blowing! Quite rightly it won three Olivier Awards: Best Show, and one each for Mr Ball and Miss Staunton. We loved it.

All about Sweeney Todd at Everything Sondheim.

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Speaking of "loving it", one of Mr Sondheim's lesser-known [and certainly less-often-revived - although a version is apparently currently showing off-Broadway in 2021] creations is a very weird concept indeed...

I mean, how many "artistic types" would think: "I know what would make a great plot for a musical! Every assassin or would-be-assassin of Presidents of the United States of America implausibly gathered in a Scooby-Doo-style sinister abandoned funfair to sing about their deeds, and to join together in harmony to implore Lee Harvey Oswald to pull the trigger on JFK? That'd go down well."

But. It. Works.

Assassins has had a bit of a chequered history, for sure - its original off-Broadway production in 1990 closed after just 73 performances, and the London run at The Donmar after a mere 76; its proposed revival was delayed for three years after the 11th September terrorist attacks, but once it finally opened (with Neil Patrick Harris and Michael Cerveris), it won a Tony Award. We went to see the 2014 Menier Chocolate Factory version, starring Catherine Tate, the lovely Aaron Tveit, Jamie Parker, Mike McShane and Andy Nyman - where we were in the front row, right in the middle of the action; and we were spooked to bits at having various members of the cast in turn pointing guns in our faces!

It's a twisted idea, but with a helluva score, from which this is merely a soupçon...

Patrick Cassidy and Victor Garber - The Ballad of Booth

John Barrowman and Ruthie Henshall - Unworthy of Your Love

Neil Patrick Harris and cast - Everybody's Got The Right (reprise) [2004 Tony Awards]

Boom!

A comprehensive analysis of the plot, courtesy of the New Line Theatre site; alternatively read more on Wikipedia.

RIP, Stephen Joshua Sondheim (22nd March 1930 – 26th November 2021)

[One of a series of tributes I will be posting to Mr Sondheim this week.]
Previous "Sondheim of the Day" entries:

• Saturday: Company
• Sunday: West Side Story
• Monday: Gypsy
• Tuesday: A Little Night Music
• Wednesday: Follies

It's man devouring man, my dear!

Who would have thought I would ever enjoy a theatrical production with Michael Ball in it?

Last night however, the man whose output I previously considered too lightweight, too middle-of-the-road for my taste, confounded every expectation as he brought a chilling and musically flawless Sweeney Todd to life!

[How did they make him look so different?]

Having seen what I thought would be the definitive Sweeney in 2007 [notwithstanding the Angela Lansbury/Len Cariou version of course] starring the naturally scary and brilliantly booming Bryn Terfel (with Maria Friedman, Daniel Boys and Philip Quast) at the Royal Festival Hall, I was worried this might not be up to scratch. On reflection however, to make a comparison between that - a concert version with minimal staging to speak of - and the current fully choreographed theatrical production is unseemly.

For this was a true spectacle - befitting a West End production in a theatre as Art-Deco-glamorous as is The Adephi on the Strand. Set against Anthony Ward's superbly dark, gloomy and threatening backdrop with its stairs, smoke and backlighting, the atmosphere of gothic Victorian London (transferred in this production to the 1930s, to accommodate a few liberties with the plot such as neon lighting and motor vehicles I assume) genuinely set the scene for Stephen Sondheim's scary masterpiece. The ensemble "Greek chorus" - carefully chosen for their creepy looks as much as their singing and acting talents - were marvellous; their harmonies providing a perfect foil for the murderous plot. In fact all the casting was splendid!

The aforementioned Mr Ball as Sweeney and "national treasure" Imelda Staunton as Mrs Lovett were a true revelation. Imbuing a believable sense of utter evil into the characters, with just the right amount of black humour and pathos, they played out their wicked pas de deux with impeccable timing and beautiful vocal dexterity. I was captivated.

The supporting cast of the pretty Luke Brady and Lucy May Barker as the doomed lovers Anthony and Joanna, John Bowe as the creepily sleazy Judge and Peter Polycarpou as the corrupt Beadle, James McConville as the convincingly sickly and simple Tobias, and the superb Robert Burt as the greedy and pompous Pirelli injected genuine emotion and conviction into the twisting and turning plot.



From the humour of The Worst Pies in London and By The Sea to the tragedy of the Beggar Woman/Lucy (a wonderfully mad Gillian Kirkpatrick), the macabre My Friends and the dramatic Epiphany to the lovely Joanna, the complex brilliance of A Little Priest to the mournful Asylum scene, this was indeed a magnificent performance of one of my favourite musicals.

"Sweeney Todd" - A Little Priest

Highlights? Probably too many to count - although full marks go to Miss Staunton's transformation of Mrs Lovett from motherly matron to sinister murderess within the confines of one mesmerising scene (my favourite, Not While I'm Around), and to Mr Ball's terrifyingly evil eyes as he sings the jolly Pretty Women while slicing through the Judge's jugular...

Deservedly, this excellent production received a standing ovation. I could hardly take a breath by the end - it was such an exhausting (in a good way) emotional experience!

Here's the (very short) West End trailer:

Sweeney Todd West End trailer 2012

And here's a slightly longer trailer for the show's run in Chichester last year:

Sweeney Todd Chichester trailer 2011

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is on at The Adelphi until September 2012, and I can highly recommend it.

[And thanks again to Paul, who treated us all to the tickets in celebration of his birthday!]

Not while she's around

For his birthday last month, we burned our friend Alistair a copy of the fantastic album Cleo Laine Sings Sondheim, much to his delight! So much has he enthused about it in the weeks since then, I felt I had to head out on a journey across YouTube to find these extracts. Simply sublime! Enjoy...

Cleo Laine - No One Is Alone

Cleo Laine - Losing My Mind

Cleo Laine - Anyone Can Whistle

Cleo Laine - Everybody Says Don't

Cleo Laine - I Remember

Cleo Laine - Liaisons

Cleo Laine - Send In The Clowns

Cleo Laine - Not While I'm Around

Buy Cleo Sings Sondheim on Amazon

That's peachy for some people - some people ain't me!

In the pantheon of great performers in stage musicals, there are always a few names that stand out - Ethel Merman, Chita Rivera, Elaine Stritch, for example. But standing tall over these Broadway belters is the universally adored Angela Lansbury, whose 84th birthday it is today!

Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Terrence McNally, Kander & Ebb - she's worked with them all over the years. And of course, the lady's screen appearances are many and notable, from The Manchurian Candidate, through Bedknobs and Broomsticks to the magnificent Salome Otterborne in Death On The Nile, and en route becoming the most highly-paid actress on TV for her enduring series Murder She Wrote.

Even today the lady is unstoppable - having recently won an Emmy for her performance as Madame Arcati (yes, the real one) in Blithe Spirit, she will star as Madame Armfeldt in the first Broadway revival of A Little Night Music, which is scheduled to open in December 2009. A supreme talent indeed - we idolise this woman!

Sweeney Todd - The Worst Pies in London

Angela Lansbury in Gypsy (1974)

Angela Lansbury - Beauty and the Beast

Death on the Nile trailer

Angela Lansbury on Wikipedia

Depp-th charged

We wait with bated breath this evening for the announcement of the Oscar winners (not really - this annual American back-slapping event has always been a bit of a crap affair, with the obviously good performances unrewarded and the obviously populist films scooping prizes).

Here is a clip of the gorgeous Johnny Depp - nominated for Best Actor- singing in his best David Bowie voice in Sweeney Todd:

Johnny Depp singing in Sweeney Todd

Voted People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 2003, I have been in love with Johnny Depp ever since Cry Baby. With his twinkling eyes, his off-beat choice of roles - think Edward Scissorhands or Ed Wood - and his all-round charm he has my vote any day!

The Oscars

Johnny Depp on IMDB

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd

"Rest now, my friends.
Soon, I'll unfold you.
Soon you'll know splendours
You never have dreamed
All your days,
My lucky friends
'Til now your shine was merely silver.
Friends, you shall drip rubies, you'll soon drip precious rubies...
AT LAST! MY RIGHT ARM IS COMPLETE AGAIN!"

Possibly the only musical ever written that contains a love song to a box of knives, Sweeney Todd is Stephen Sondheim's darkest work.



With nods to Bertolt Brecht and his Threepenny Opera, this is a musical not for the faint-hearted, especially in its rendition by Bryn Terfel, Maria Friedman and the brilliant cast at the Royal Festival Hall last night!

With his booming voice and commanding stature, Bryn was a truly chilling Sweeney, and Maria Friedman the perfect foil as the cunning and darkly comic Mrs Lovett - each playing to each other's passions, his for murder and revenge, hers for making a profit (a killing?) from making pies out of dead men's flesh.

Suffering slightly from the terrible acoustics (where did they spend all that money when the RFH was refurbished?) and awkward staging, it was still a truly magnificent and spine-tingling evening. A performance that even the uber-talented Johnny Depp is going to struggle to emulate in the forthcoming film version of the musical!

But regardless of any version, one song from Sweeney Todd remains one of the greatest Sondheim ever wrote:

Not While I'm Around
Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around.
Nothing's gonna harm you, no sir, not while I'm around.

Demons are prowling everywhere, nowadays,
I'll send 'em howling,
I don't care, I got ways.

No one's gonna hurt you,
No one's gonna dare.
Others can desert you,
Not to worry, whistle, I'll be there.

Demons'll charm you with a smile, for a while,
But in time...
Nothing can harm you
Not while I'm around...

Being close and being clever
Ain't like being true
I don't need to,
I would never hide a thing from you,
Like some...

No one's gonna hurt you, no one's gonna dare
Others can desert you,
Not to worry, whistle, I'll be there!
Demons'll charm you with a smile, for a while
But in time...
Nothing can harm you
Not while I'm around...

Cleo Laine singing this song:

Cleo Laine - Not While I'm Around

Josh Groban (who?) singing this song (very well actually):

Josh Groban - Not While I'm Around

Fab.