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“There was a barber and his wife…”
Those of you who have been following this column from the beginning may remember my review of the 1982 Hearn/Lansbury version of Sweeney Todd on DVD. As you may or may not know, the recent Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd has been nominated for several 2006 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Direction, and Best Orchestrations (along with several nods to its actors). And since Sweeney is one of my favorite musicals of all time, I’d like to review my favorite recorded performance ever: Sweeney Todd in Concert.
Since I’ve already reviewed one version of this show, I’m not going to bother with a whole lot of plot summary (for a quick recap, check out my review of the 1982 DVD) and instead focus on what makes the concert version, which first aired on PBS in 2001, so spectacular.
Musically, this is the best captured performance out there. This is how this music was meant to be heard—the actors are backed by the superb San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and it’s amazing. The added instruments really give extra oomph to songs like “Johanna” and “A Little Priest,” and the show is better for it.
In addition, the performances by the actors are out of this world. The cast is made up of a mix of heavyweights from both opera and musical theatre—perfect for a musical that’s been described as a “dark comic operetta” by Stephen Sondheim. George Hearn is back in the title role, and he’s just as compelling as he was when he first played it twenty years earlier. Frankly, I think he’s better (and scarier) in this version than he was originally.
Starring opposite Hearn is Broadway diva Patti LuPone as the pie-shop owner, Mrs. Lovett. Originally, I wasn’t too keen on this particular casting choice—she couldn’t be more different from Angela Lansbury, who I felt had immortalized this role. However, as I watched the DVD, LuPone really grew on me. Whereas Lansbury portrayed Lovett as gleeful and slightly insane, LuPone really focused on the more practical side of Mrs. Lovett, which made her much more dark and evil. However, when the role calls for laughs, LuPone definitely delivers.
Several other cast members stand out, but none more so than Neil Patrick Harris as the young urchin Tobias. While most people recognize Harris from television (most people know him as Doogie Howser, and he’s getting plenty of recognition as the suave Barney on How I Met Your Mother), he’s really made a name for himself in theatre over the past several years. Sondheim has referred to Harris as the “definitive Tobias,” and I have to agree. He’s amazing, and he totally steals the show. And he has a surprisingly good voice—I’ve been known to pop in the DVD and skip right to his big solo number, “Not While I’m Around.” He handles the character’s transformation at the end really well, too.
The staging for the concert is also very well done. Usually when I think of concert versions of musicals, I imagine actors singing into microphones (like in the Les Miserables concert), with or without sheet music, and just doing straight singing—leaving the story and most of the acting out of it. Sweeney Todd has many characteristics of a traditional concert—most of the actors wear black formalwear, the orchestra is onstage along with the actors, etc.—but they really go out of their way to bring as much of the stage experience to the concert as possible. The actors move around, interact with each other, and even use props. Much of the spoken dialogue is left intact, too, which makes the whole experience much more cohesive.
If you’re new to Sweeney, you should probably check out the 1982 DVD first. There’s a lot of story to digest, and the concert can be tricky to follow at times. But if you’re already familiar with the show and just can’t get enough, then I really recommend this DVD. In my opinion, it’s the best Sweeney out there.
