Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979 Original Broadway Cast)
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Free Music Notes for Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: Best Written Show of All Time
Hit: 5 Stars
In 1927, Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern revolutionized the art form of musical theater with SHOW BOAT. It was one of the first, if not the first, legitimate musical to deviate from typical musical comedy. Then in 1941, Hammerstein along with Richard Rodgers created OKLAHOMA!, the first musical to use singing and dancing as devices of the plot, not just for spectacle. Then in 1970, Stephen Sondheim (a student of Hammerstein) and George Furth revolutionized the musical art form again with COMPANY, which was the first "concept musical" that did not have a straightforward linear plot line. Then in 1979, Sondheim along with Hugh Wheeler created the masterpiece, SWEENEY TODD. Why is it a masterpiece? It is everything a musical should and yet should not be. Sondheim's score perfectly suits both the characters and story created by Wheeler. However, it is a show about murder, vengeance, insanity, and cannibalism (topics not usually associated with American musicals). It is definitely a show that you either love or hate; I think that's what makes it so widely acclaimed. People, no matter what their views on the show, feel passionately about this show because it is a very passionate piece. It is the musical that is not afraid of holding back and succumbing to formulaic plot devices just to please audiences (and producers). Fortunately, when this musical opened on Broadway in 1979, it was a hit (not a massive hit, but it made a profit so that should at least please the producers). It is so uncompromising that when watching you have no choice but to confront the issues that this show addresses: the dangers of vengeance, corruption among all society, etc. There really is no other show like this. It exists completely on its own. It's also great to know that SWEENEY TODD has now joined American opera repertoire like A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (another Sondheim-Wheeler) because this is a very operatic piece. It's a tragedy, obviously, but the songs in the show aren't typical Broadway belting solos and ballads. They're arias, quintets, preludes, etc. that seriously demand great vocal talent on stage. I know it seems like I'm rambling a lot but I can't help it. I just adore this musical so much. It's another one of those shows that gives hope to theater-goers that the aesthetic qualities of musical theater are not lost. If you are in to writing serious material for the world of American musical theater, check out Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's operatic masterpiece.Free Music Review: Angela or Helena ?
Hit: 5 Stars
In Acapulco in '79 I met by chance a vacationing couple who had invested in the Broadway Show and were enjoying the early, but modest fruits, of their risk investment.
Shortly after I went to see the show on Broadway - original cast.
I then bought the two music cassette show album - pictured here- big format and good text book. I still have it and get it out from time to time.
In the '90s I took an Oxford University Summer School for adults course - "Words and Music" - presented by Paul Newbury, who knew and studied with Sondheim. The geniality of "Sweeney Todd" was clearly brought home to me by Paul's enthusiasm, which also led me to exploring and getting to know well the rest of Sondheim.
In 2007 I bought from Amazon the DVD album of a Canadian production with Angela and George. Good, but not quite up to Angela and Len of a few years earlier.
Last night I went to a Cinemex in Mexico City to See Johnny Depp and Helena in the Tim Burton movie. The Saturday night show at 7.30 pm was less than 1/3rd full. The subtitles got some laughs from the audience and nobody left. I suppose we all enjoyed the blood and tension, and the story and the music and the actors. I had my money's worth any way.
So I am checking out what the movies earnings are to date - not too bad- and seeing what versions are available of Sweeney Todd. I'm probably going to order the original broadway cast version- in a re-mastered CD form- to substitute my ageing casettes ... and deck. I have enough visual impressions so my mind's eye and creativity can fill in the pictures and control the horror and let me again enjoy Sondheim's great musical'dramma giocosa'.
Ian Thomas. Mexico City. Feb. 2008
Free Music Review: Sweeney Lives!
Hit: 5 Stars
"Sweeney Todd" was and is Sondheim's grand masterpiece, Tim Doyle notwithstanding, and this recording is the grand masterpiece of Sweeney Todd recordings. Listen to Len Cariou's voice -- magnificent! (And he was suffering from a bad cold/sore throat, supposedly caused by the fake earth the gravediggers used to shovel in the beginning minutes of the Broadway version of the musical). Angela never sounded better than on this remastered CD. On a small system like a boombox or a portable you won't notice a big improvement on the original CD, but on a room system you will feel the difference. The "bonus" tracks are a total waste of CD space. Couldn't they have found a rehearsal tape or a demo or something??? I think so.
I remember my mother driving me to the Korvette's Dept store at the Blue Star Shopping Center to get the original Sweeney Todd LP (yes, that's how old I am...). I played it to death, almost literally. I think I went through another LP set and a casette tape set before CDs came out. In my mind, nothing will ever beat that LP for sound and emotion and power, but this remastered CD is the next best thing.
Free Music Review: 5 stars for the original cast, 2 stars for the Remastered 2007 cd
Hit: 5 Stars
For those of you who already have the original issue of this cd and are wondering if the remastered version is worth investing in, let me save you some trouble. There is almost no audible difference in the remastered version, unless you count the fact that they've added a ton of reverb - for those who don't know, it's the sound of singing in a cave. The cd here is otherwise still "trebly," and the discrepancies in volume level are still there. Don't get me wrong, this cast is amazing, but don't pay again for this "remastered" version, unless of course you're dying to hear Julie Andrews sing the second part of "Sweet Polly Plunkit" as a bonus track.
Edit: How could I forget my other big gripe? NO LYRICS! "MasterworksBroadway," who reissued this along with a bunch of other Sondheim, decided to axe lyrics that were previously available in favor of fat, uninspired essays. I've confirmed this with my Into the Woods "Remastered" edition (treble and reverb in full effect) which lacks the lyrics the original cd had.
Free Music Review: Who remembers?
Hit: 5 Stars
Having exhausted a number of sources, all in vain, I'm making one last ditch effort to locate the elusive video copy of this great musical, starring Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury (1979). It's been so long since I've view this copy I'm beginning to believe it's all a figment of my imagination! All that I can recall is that it was televised on public television, and, without mistake, had Len Cariou in the title role. Please, somebody, help me out. If for no other reason then for the sake of my sanity! Does such a copy even exist or am I way out in left field? Somewhere somebody is sitting on a dusty copy, I can't begin to imagine what format it's in; was VHS even out in the late '70's. To me it's easily a 6-star performance!