Sweeney Todd in Concert

Sweeney Todd in Concert
by Lonny Price

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DVD Reviews of Sweeney Todd in Concert

DVD Review: Sweeney Todd rules
Summary: 5 Stars

These are the first words of one of the finest musicals ever written. It was written by one of my favorite composers, Stephen Sondheim. It starred one of my favorite performers, George Hearn

As Sweeney
As Sweeney Todd
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. There are other great performers. Patti LuPone is brilliant as Mrs. Lovett. Personally, when I first heard her sing "The Worst Pies In London", I didn't "Lovett." It was more like yelling than singing. The second time, it was all right. However, I have discovered after that experience that I am prone to change my mind about an actor's performance. For example, sometimes when I watch Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical, I think, "Oh, God, David Hasselhoff stinks at singing and acting." Sometimes, I think his singing is o.k. and he could be less hammy and so on and so forth. Lisa Vroman, from Hey, Mr. Producer, plays Johanna. Her singing is divine but her acting is not. I hear that she's playing Christine in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. When she delivers what (in her case) thankfully little dialogue she has in the show, I am surprised that at her first line, she is not greeted with hisses, boos, and a storm of vegetables and watermelons. I never heard of Neil Patrick Harriss until my dad told me about him. He was very good in this show which is amazing because when they tape a musical with a t.v. star in a singing role, in the case of Jekyll and Hyde, sometimes they stink.

I was first introduced to Sweeney Todd when I saw the cast recording at [a local bookstore]. Then, I found out more and more about the show. I found out that the licensers rate it R. I saw a picture of the show in which a victim was already killed and blood was flowing down his cape. Then, I heard about the concert version being shown on t.v. on Halloween (very appropriate). I wanted to know a bit more about Sweeney Todd. With the 1982 live taping starring George Hearn (again) and Angela Lansbury (the original Mrs. Lovett) out of print, all there was was thbe cd and libretto. I decided to just forget about the show altogether especially when Dad said that it wasn't for me. I saw snippets of the concert version at a Virgin Atlantic store in New York (ironically, I was in New York City to see another Sondheim show, Into the Woods.) I was a little confused by the scattering of the orchestra.

Then, I found out that it would be rebroadcasted on t.v. on Wednesday, October 27, 2002. I taped it and watched it and realized that its content lowers it to a PG-13 rating. First of all, if your first experience of musicals in concert was with Les Miserables, the actors do not stand up and walk over to microphones to sing. Instead, it is more of a staged version of the show except with no sets, very few colorful costumes,(the only colorful clothes in the show are Johanna's white dress and Judge Turpin's mauve bathrobe), only key props (they'd have to be crazy not to have Sweeney's razor.) and a bloodred stage. To lower the sight of the throat slitting, the victims (in the Trio in the second act) are wrapped in blood red capes.

My favorite parts are the recurring song, The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, the scenes where the Beggar Woman wants to have sex with Anthony, Sweeney's Epiphany (George Hearn's performance of that song is breathtaking and amazing), the part where Judge Turpin says, "When I offered myself to her (Johanna), she showed a certain...reluctance (naturally there was laughter from the audience because who wants to marry their parents)", the scene where Toby pulls off his wig, and Mrs. Lovett's line after Epiphany: "That's all very well." It shows that she's something of a bimbo. I also liked how the bake oven is represented by a blood red curtain.

My favorite songs would have to be (in the order that they appear in) The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (and its numerous reprises), No Place Like London, The Barber and His Wife, Poor Thing, Green Finch and Linnet Bird, Johanna (all three versions), Pirelli's Miracle Elixir (because of the incessant reference to a certain excrement made by Sweeney), that song where Pirelli blackmails Todd only to pay his own price (can anyone tell me the name of that song?), Pretty Women (and its reprise), Epiphany, A Little Priest (and its reprise), God, That's Good, By The Sea (and its reprise), Not While I'm Around (and its reprise), and Parlor Songs.

I was a little confused on the last two times when Sweeney slit his last two throats. When Sweeney slits his first, third, and fourth throat, the camera zooms in so much that it blurs. After the last two throat slittings, after the picture came back to normal, the bodies were nowhere to be found. This is my first complaint. My second complaint is Lisa Vroman's acting. My third is how at first, The Worst Pies in London will seem like yelling, and finally, Image Entertainment has again made it an annoying tradition to have no track cameras at the foot of the stage. Hello, Image, anybody home? The orchestra is onstage. Maybe, they just have tradition or maybe the stages are constructed to close to the audience or maybe all the shows they film have orchestra pits too close to the first row.

All in all, in the words of a certain character from Austin Powers in Goldmember, "This one's a keeper." You should get it. You will love it from the first chords of the organ to the end. And check out the Making Of featurette on the DVD.

Description of Sweeney Todd in Concert