Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert

In 1846 Thomas Peckett Prest combined several urban legends in the story A STRING OF PEARLS; within a year it was adapted to the stage under the title SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. It was popular, and, in an era that knew little of copyright law, theatres throughout England soon picked up the play, changing the story around as they saw fit. In 1973 playwright Christopher Bond recreated the story for the London stage--and in the process caught the attention of Stephen Sondheim, one of great talents of the 20th Century musical stage.

Using Bond's script as a foundation, Sondheim created a hybrid of musical comedy, operetta, grand opera, and grand guingol for the Broadway stage. SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET opened at the Uris Theatre in 1979 with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. Although it captured every critical accolade imaginable, it proved too dark for most theatregoers, played a somewhat disappointing 557 performances, and lost a fair amount of money in the process; nonetheless, its critical power was such that two tours were mounted, each of which did extremely well, and which led to a film record of the Lansbury-Hearn tour.

After several revivals in various venues and of varying success, the play was selected for a "concert" staging in New York in 2000--a format in which a full orchestra supports the vocalists, who play on a largely bare stage with minimal staging in an almost "recital-like" manner. Starring George Hearn (who had played Todd opposite Lansbury on tour) and Patti LuPone, it was a great success--and was restaged in 2001 in San Francisco again with Hearn and LuPone in the leads. The San Francisco concert was filmed--and this DVD is the result.

Stage performances are designed to be seen live, often with the actors at a significant distance from the audience; as such, they often seem to be overplayed when seen on film. Such is the case here--but even so, and although the concept of "concert staging" requires an additional leap, this is a knock-out. Johnny Depp's performance in the recent Tim Burton film has received considerable acclaim, and he is indeed excellent, but there is no doubt that Hearn is the great interpreter of the role; he is ferocious, frightening, and absolutely believable. It is worth noting that Patti LuPone is something of an acquired taste; those who like her like her tremendously and those who do not tend to cringe at the mention of her name. Being among the former, I have to say that she is an absolute knock-out in the role of the wicked Mrs. Lovett, who bakes Sweeney's victims into pies; her "The Worst Pies In London" is a great masterpiece of dark comedy, and she and Hearn make for a memorable pair.

The downside of seeing SWEENEY TODD in a concert version is that the story does not always lend itself to such a pared-down staging: you miss the tilting chair, the bloody visuals, and corpses piling up as the pies go down--so unless you've already seen the stage version or even the film version you may find yourself a little nonplussed by the sparseness involved. Nonetheless, this really is the production that began to push SWEENEY TODD toward a wider acceptance in both the musical theatre and opera world, and it is very nice to have a record of it. The DVD comes with a "making of" featurette that includes comments from Hearn, LuPone, members of the principal cast, director Lonny Price--and, thankfully, Stephen Sondheim himself. I recommend it, but primarily for those who are already used to such "concert stagings." GFT, Amazon Reviewer

You either love Sondheim or you hate him (although few of the arguments for hating him hold water, In My Anything But Humble Opinion). Certainly his darkest work and arguably his best, Sweeney Todd is an exploration of the depths to which a man will sink to wreak vengeance on those who have wronged him.

With all respect to Len Cariou, who created the role in the original production, George Hearn is and always will be the definitive Sweeney Todd. There are things he does that I don't even think he's consciously aware of anymore, but are absolutely chilling to watch. Patti Lupone has the thankless task of trying to follow the immortal Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett; she carries it off by making almost completely different dramatic choices and playing her strengths (like Meryl Streep, she's got one of the best deadpans in the business, and lines that Lansbury played for laughs, Lupone plays straight--we still laugh, but for different reasons). The rest of the cast acquit themselves beautifully, particularly Davis Gaines as the lovestruck Anthony Hope and Victoria Clark as the crazed Beggar Woman.

But the real surprise of the cast is Neil Patrick Harris as the innocent, waiflike Tobias Ragg. Having played the part myself, I have a bad habit of holding other actors to impossible standards--and Harris not only meets them, he flattens them. Instead of watching him and thinking, "I could have done that," I found myself watching him and saying "I wish I'd done that"--something I've never been able to say in any other production.

The score is as close to grand opera as Sondheim gets, and the gems--"A Little Priest", "Not While I'm Around", "Johanna", "Wait," and the act II quartet sparkle as brightly as I've ever heard them.

Grade A.

This is a wonderful representation of this brilliant musical. The performances are all at peek energy and perfect characterization. Patti LuPone's voice and new spin on the classic character of Mrs. Lovett is the highlight of this concert, for me. She is moving, hysterical, coy, and her voice is always beautiful. George Hearn gives a wonderful reprise performance of the role he played so many years ago. All other performances are wonderfully acted and beautifully sung by both Broadway and opera singers. Lonny Price's new vision and direction for this concert is just about perfection. He uses minimal set, props and costumes, but still creates the atmosphere of the show. Also, the opera ensemble and symphonic orchestra only adds to the magnitude and beauty of the piece. This is a must-have for any Sweeney fan!

I have seen 3 versions of Sweeney Todd: the 2007 movie by Tim Burton, the 1979 version with Angie Lansbury, and this. I became a fan of Sweeney after seeing the wonderfully amazing 2007 version (I WILL review that), and this was the 2nd Sweeney I've seen, and I've never been disappointed yet except for the atrocious camera work in the 1979 version.

Now you guys already know the plot, so I won't give anything away. But anyways, here's my breakdown of some of the cast: GEORGE HEARN as SWEENEY TODD: Awesome!!!!! He was much better than Johnny Depp... and Depp's my favorite actor (Depp did an amazing job in the movie though, keep in mind). I couldn't believe my eyes and ears. His singing is perfect, and so is his acting! PATTI LuPONE as LANDLADY MRS. LOVETT: The best Mrs. Lovett I've seen. She did an amazing job. Throughout she kept me captivated, and I loved it.

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS as TOBEY RAGG: Good performance, especially in "Not While I'm around".

DAVIS GAINES as ANTHONY: Great performance! Especially when he sings "I have sailed the world and seen its wonders...", that's when you know he's awesome from the beginning.

VICTORIA CLARK as the BEGGAR: Great!!!!! I felt like they actually used an actual beggar for her role.

I will leave the rest for you to see, but I was amazed by this Sweeney adaptation. Watch it!

For me, Sweeney Todd is not just Stephen Sondheim's best musical but also one of the greatest musicals full-stop. Of the 1982 production, the 2007 film and this 2001 concert production, it is difficult to say which is my favourite of the three as all three have so many great merits to them. There is not much to fault at all with here, and it does the score and musical justice. The camera work is choppy in places and while Davis Gaines characterises beautifully and gets much better later on- I do think generally that he has a beautiful and rich voice- he starts very off-pitch(not just slight, this is can't hear the music sort of quality), which wasn't pleasant on the ears, he is also too old I agree for Anthony but that wasn't big enough an issue. The costumes and sets are hugely effective to the atmosphere and the lighting is wholly appropriate to the dark, minimalist look to the visuals. The stage direction has the ability to be witty and harrowing, nothing about it came across as dull and distasteful to me, the chorus are directed quite interestingly but not in a way that jars. The orchestral playing is superb throughout, giving the magnificent score its full impact(Epiphany just made me go wow!), while the chorus are well-blended and involved in the drama. George Hearn is a complete revelation as Sweeney, his voice has lost none of the power it had nineteen years earlier, which helps give Epiphany the power it has, and he is both sympathetic and chilling. Patti Lupone's Mrs Lovett compared to Angela Lansbury is broader and played with a straight deadpan approach, which considering it was Lupone playing to her strengths worked, she doesn't have the best voice- like Gaines she has moments where she is pitchy- but still sings with terrific gusto and character. Timothy Nolen's Judge Turpin is creepy and sinister with a very strong voice, thank goodness that Johanna was included because it adds so much to the character and is just hair-raising here and in any production I imagine that includes it. Neil Patrick Harris is very charming and sings with a very pleasant tone as Toby, while the Johanna of Lisa Vroman is a vast improvement over that of her 1982 counterpart(especially in Green Finch and Linnett Bird, a very difficult song to get right), instead of shrill and strident her voice is clear and vibrant. Victoria Clark is also great as the beggar woman. So overall, a terrific concert production of a musical masterpiece. 9/10 Bethany Cox