When it comes to a work of the musical stage it is difficult to imagine a finer one than Stephen Sondheim’s SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF Posthaste STREET. For those who saw the fresh 1979 Hal Prince extravagant production starring Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou/George Hearn, and then the 2005 revival as condensed so creatively by John Doyle and re-orchestrated by Sarah Travis who placed the orchestral instruments in the hands of the 10 actors who issue the chronicle of the unique Todd, the Tim Burton (screenplay reduction by Josh Logan) film will only enhance the pleasures of seeing SWEENEY TODD resurrected in yet another create. Each of these incarnations has its riches and together they put Sondheim’s work as a masterpiece.
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Johnny Depp makes a convincing Sweeney Todd, in looks and demeanor as well as in singing advise, and Helena Bonham Carter’s Mrs. Lovett fits lawful into Tim Burton’s vision of the sunless, squalid and seedy London. Timothy Spall is perfect as the oily Beadle, Alan Rickman makes Think Turpin an understandable villain, Jamie Campbell Bower and Jayne Wisener are suitably infatuated young lovers, and Sacha Baron Cohen and Ed Sanders give top flight cameos as Signor Pirelli and Toby. The one advantage of seeing this resplendent film on DVD is the option of turning on the subtitles so as not to miss a word of Sondheim’s obliging lyrics.
For this viewer, however, the most successful version of this ‘opera’ is the John Doyle production currently on the boards in Los Angeles with Judy Kaye as the most satisfying Mrs. Lovett on recount. This uniquely economical and endlessly creative production goes to the core of the work better than any other version, and if this traveling company comes anywhere reach your home, go look it! It is the critical SWEENEY TODD and a beautiful adjunct to seeing the film version again and again. Grady Harp, April 08
Although critics have been almost unanimous in their praise of this film, many fans of the display are quite harsh in their appraisal, chiefly for two reasons - one, that the principals are not tall singers, and two, the deletion of roughly 50% of the salvage. I surprised myself in that, having purchased the soundtrack and seen the movie, I am in neither camp, as either of these factors might heretofore have caused me to disclose most film adaptations of almost any Broadway musical a failure. Instead, I am thrilled far beyond my expectations with this production.
Buy,Download, Or Stream Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street! Click Here
It might not have been so, had I not had so powerful respect for Stephen Sondheim. As allotment of the pre-release publicity, he has granted an fresh (for him) number of interviews, and says that he is unequivocally contented with Tim Burton’s vision. As anyone who appreciates his high level of artistic integrity will agree, Mr. Sondheim would not give praise to this project if he were not gratified with it. At 77, Stephen Sondheim is considered by many to be the greatest composer in the history of the American theatre, and I have followed him long enough to know that no amount of financial consideration could cause him to deny his endorsement if he were not truly glad with the finished film.
I have listened carefully to what Mr. Sondheim has had to say in those modern interviews, and now understand why so many stage musicals previously transferred to celluloid haven’t worked. To open with, time passes very differently in a theatre than it does on film. That which takes several minutes in a Broadway theatre (i.e. a full-blown production number) is obedient to seem like a runt eternity on cover. Therefore, the very thing that keeps most audiences clamoring for more in live theatre is fine to fabricate many movie audiences speed screaming from the auditorium. Then there is the dilemma of what Alfred Hitchcock once termed “suspension of disbelief”; that is, in proper life, no one ever bursts into song during one of life’s dramatic moments, no less accompanied by a stout orchestra, and many moviegoers who are accustomed to a definite amount of reality therefore gather musical films particularly hard to choose. Thanks to some of the theories on musical film voiced by Mr. Sondheim in the past week or so, I finally understand why so many previous attempts to film Broadway musicals topple flat - in short, the theatre and film are two entirely different mediums, with two entirely different audiences. Although many theatre lovers, myself included, would be joyful to sit through an entire musical transferred to cover exactly as produced on stage, most movie audiences interrogate something different. And something different is what they surely come by with Sweeney Todd.
Then there is the catch. Tim Burton has said that he has been a fan of Sweeney Todd since its novel hasten. I have that, as disappointing as it is for many fans to score how powerful of the accumulate has been gash, it was probably even more agonizing for Mr. Burton to choose what pieces to seize. The new ran over three hours, and at least 75% of the legend was sung, making Sweeney Todd one of the few profitable operas to ever arrive out of Broadway. The film runs only 117 minutes and, judging by the length of the soundtrack CD (a mere 72 minutes) easily 40% of the collect has been removed, chiefly the ensemble pieces. Mr. Burton apparently judged (probably correctly) that the choral numbers which worked so well on stage, although containing some of the wittiest lyrics, would be clunky and ponderous on film, and he made the prudent (if, I’m certain, difficult) decision to let them go. This is likely to be the sorest point for many fans of the present. And had I not been paying careful attention to Mr. Sondheim’s novel interviews, I may not have been able to find past that point myself.
But what has been excised is more than compensated for in Mr. Burton’s sumptuous visuals and careful attention to detail. Although Mr. Sondheim has made changes to the lyrics, resolving previously problematic portions of the glean and actually improving it, it’s fantastic how noteworthy of what is left of the accept is faithful to the unusual. Though it’s a tragic chronicle, Sweeney Todd remains in essence a sunless comedy, and many of Mr. Burton’s finer touches, especially the staging of the musical numbers, have enhanced the myth to the point where I have hardly missed the deletions, and I announce as someone who has loved this share in almost all of its previous renderings.
And I admit that, although he has never been a particular approved of mine, Johnny Depp is a revelation. Without detracting from previous interpreters of the role (especially Len Cariou and George Hearn), Mr. Depp’s evocation of the character is so fully fleshed out, and so filled with sterling pathos and sympathy, that I was able to immediately excuse the fact that he is not a seasoned vocalist. Besides, to reiterate a point made earlier, this is not Broadway, and there is no need for his pronounce to near the help of the house. If anything, the fact that the necessary characters are not spacious singers actually enhances the realistic feel of the film. It is also a pleasure to have both Toby and Anthony (not to mention Joanna) played by actors of the appropriate age, and hear accents that actually invoke pre-Victorian London.
In the slay however, the staunch star (to me, anyway) is the superlative procure by Stephen Sondheim. I am not amazed that some feel that there are no “memorable songs” in the regain. Favorable music should be subtle; the absence of “catchy tunes” that one will whistle on the plan out of the theatre is only indicative to me of the high quality of the win. Anyone who is previously curious with Sweeney Todd who doesn’t “pick up it” is urged to grasp the soundtrack (the paunchy version, with the complete libretto included) and follow along with the words and music as the songs are sung. The first thing you will realize is (as with any of Mr. Sondheim’s works, whether they be in a film, the theatre, or any other medium) how incredibly witty and sophisticated his lyrics are; on first listen you are sterling to miss most of his delightful wit. His exercise of the English language, his clever rhymes, and above all, his vivid, deft semantics will amaze anyone who cares to retract the time to listen. There are reasons why so many deem Sondheim the foremost composer of the theatre, and so many incandescent theatergoers hang on his every word. But fair as significant as his words (and I have always admired Sondheim’s ability to spend words above all else that I savor in the world of musical theatre), you will win, especially if you listen long and hard enough, that his sparkling, subtle music will, in time, work its method into your heart and conscience as some of the most ravishing music ever level-headed. This is NOT top-forty pop music, the type that is so often wrong for excellence in theatre these days. In his ballads especially, Sondheim writes marvelous, heartfelt shapely melodies; that is, staunch music. Once you initiate your heart and mind to Sondheim’s graceful words and sumptuous airs, you may unbiased become a fan for life.
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