Wife and I got free tickets to a small-ish town theatre, our choice of events. Basically we’re down to a couple options due to procrastination.
This weekend they are staging Sweeney Todd. Our other option is something called The Pajama Game, or to see an opera (Marriage of Figaro, i believe).
So…is it good? Songs/music interesting and engaging? Is it funny or sad or dramatic?
As a reference, I’ve seen a few of the “standard” broadway shows (Chicago, South Pacific, Showboat, Chorus Line, Avenue Q, etc) so I’m perfectly happy with a musical, just don’t have a sense of what the heck it’s like.
And I know a lot is dependent on the quality of the actors/production, and I have no clue what the level is for this town (New London, CT). But assume it’s at least “professional” for sake of argument
I own the original cast album, with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury; it’s wonderful. I have seen a filmed staged production, with Angela Lansbury and someone I can’t remember as Sweeney; I did not enjoy it as much, but still liked it. I enjoyed most of the movie. But live productions are inherently variable. A poor decision by the director can ruin it what should have beena wonderful play; a great performance by a lead actor can redeem what an otherwise abysmal book & score.
Sweeney Todd is dark. Very dark. If you think a song about how people of various professions taste in pies sounds ha-ha funny, you’ll probably like it. I personally love it.
The Pajama Game is a little dated. It’s a star-crossed lover plot set in the middle of a labor dispute. It’s pretty good, even though it’s a bit old-fashioned.
I’d go with Sweeney Todd. It is, overall, a much more involved piece than Pajama Game and it’s got a more interesting story to it.
Who is the definitive Sweeney in my mind. I really hated the movie Tim Burton made, BTW. I felt that it missed the spirit of the stage show, that being said…
There are two versions of Sweeney floating around right now and depending on what production you are going to see I would either highly recommend seeing it or caution that it might be a little too strange for someone who isn’t already an avid theater goer and familiar with the show.
Is the production you are going to see a tour or is it the local theater’s own staging?
If it is a tour it is probably the post modern staging that, while I think is fantastic, isn’t for everyone. The cast is very small and the actors are also the orchestra and…well, like I said I think its brilliant, but it isn’t for everyone. If it is the local company producing it on their own, then, as long as the cast is talented it will probably be a very fun (in a dark humor sort of way) show.
The Pajama game is not a very good show. I tend to avoid plays that are weak to start off with because they are so much harder to turn into worthwhile productions. But it’s light and frothy and likely to be fun in that light and frothy sort of way.
Opera is another beast and if you like it, then great. The Marriage of Figaro is one of the more fun ones to see I think, but then Opera isn’t really my field.
From the blurb on the site, it sounds like it’s the new version
“Innovative, intimate and ingenious, this revolutionary new production of Sweeney Todd “is an event theatergoers will be talking about for years.” (Wall Street Journal)”
But thanks for all the input, all. Thinking we’ll go ahead and see it. I’m up for post-modern; the wife, maybe not so much, but I don’t have to tell her ahead of time do I?
Not at all. Like I said, I think the new production is actually quite brilliant, but you may want to familiarize yourselves with the basic story before you go see it. You don’t need to rent another version or anything, but read a synopsis of the show beforehand. It will help you follow what is going on and you will probably enjoy it more.
Just to elaborate on this, the original version was more or less literal…he really was a barber and she really ran a pie shop and they really did do all that. The new version is basically the inmates of an insane asylum performing the musical, as if it were a play or story in that setting, rather than actual events happening in real time.
If you have a poke around Youtube you can find footage of the new production, and lots of other Sweeney Todd related stuff. I’m afraid I don’t have time to find a link now, but I will say that I’ve often seen Sondheim quoted as saying that he originally imagined the piece with simpler orchestration/staging.
Sweeney Todd is the single greatest work in the history of the American Musical Stage. If your local production holds up any small part of its burden, it will be a great experience.
I dunno, I would find it a shame for the John Doyle production to be one’s first exposure to Sweeney. As marvelous and thrilling as it was to see it, I don’t think I’d have appreciated the production nearly as much if I didn’t already know the original show so darn well.
Actually I think it’d be quite difficult to get what’s going on; it’s very close to being a concert version, in that the cast members don’t always even look at one another when interacting, and the staging is minimal. In fact, there’s less staging than the actual concert version shown on PBS some years ago (the Hearn / LuPone version)!
Of course the production may have changed since I saw it (with Michael Cerveris & Patti LuPone), so YMMV. I’ll be very curious to hear what you think, rexnervous. ST is a brilliant show – the movie most certainly did not do it justice.
Well, we saw it today. It is the new version, and it is the national tour.
And we really, really liked it.
Both of us admitted afterwards that it took about 20 minutes to get into it, though. It really was different than any other show we’d seen.
A couple thoughts
Very very talented cast (our first clue that it wasn’t just a local production ). I mean, it’s no mean feat to act, sing very well, play an instrument or three, and flawlessly perform the choreography (including in-scene set changes, though minimal).
to jayjay’s note about it being staged by inmates from an insane asylum - while true, that backstory is never seemed to be laid out - at all (unless I missed something early on). So if I hadn’t read what you wrote, I would never have got that, just would’ve been slightly more confused.
It was well-nigh impossible to understand the lyrics when everyone sang together in a chorus. Not sure if it was the theater, or the singers, or what.
It was weird to see there were several kids (I’d guess around 10 - 14) brought to this by their parents. It’s fairly dark, with a small amount of sexual innuendo, but also I can’t imagine someone that age understanding or liking it.
But overall, we’re really happy we went, and thanks to the posters helping to convince us.
I saw this version too when it came to Boston in '07. Sweeney Todd is our absolute favorite play, but we were underwhelmed. The actors were talented, but we just couldn’t get into the play with the actors as the orchestra. Also, there was no real gore. I know that sounds awful, but I’ve always thought that the play was supposed to serve as a distant echo of The Grand Guignol.
The best version I ever saw was a local university’s production. Sweeney rose up out of the stage at the beginning and the end, and the action during the “Johanna” number was morbidly first-rate without going over the top. It happened to be my first time seeing the play, and I was freaked out, but almost 20 years later, that production’s staging of the scene has stuck with me.
