Sweeney Todd
 

I just got back from seeing it. It was sublime to say the least. While the lack of true singing by Bonham and Depp aggravated me a little, they did a VERY good job. It was very dark and bloody, but it deserves the essentially unanimous praise it is getting.

I'm really excited to see this. People I know that have seen it say it feels almost intimate, since there isn't an ensemble, so to speak, but I loved the most recent scaled-down Broadway production, so I'm excited for the smaller feel.

Is it true "By the Sea" is the best scene in the film? That's what I've heard thus far! Super excited for every scene Alan Rickman is in too!

"By the Sea" was great because in film, you are not limited to the stage. This was where HBC SHINED her a$$ off. That, and the "No One's Going to Harm You" number, which was sublime. She really is such a talented actress. Her singing was good, but not like Lupone (then again, who is? ) My only big complaint was the make and clothes on JD and HBC were almost also rans in that they are dressed like that and in the same kind of make up in most movies, to wit: Edward S., Harry Potter, etc.

And now, for Patti (in a better and higher key than in the Broadway show --



Here she is on Broadway ( Tony Award Nominee :woohoo: )



Here is HBC (audio only) -- she does well, but mind you this is HEAVILY produced and not live - good though and kudos to her! IMO, she has a little Julie Andrews in her voice (just a little mind you)

And, the woman who owns the part and IMO always will as I see no serious competition - not even Patti :shrug:

I hate you, but in a nice way. I am DYING to see this.

(I loves me some Angela Landsbury, but I think Patti totally reinvented the part. Can't wait to see her in Gypsy next year!!!)

^^^^^^^^

I am very lucky that a friend gets the passes to the advance screenings. So, not only did I see it early, I was there with the swells and it was FREE :p:p

i'm doing an advanced screening tuesday night for work. i can't wait to see it and i'm pleased to no end that its seemingly translated so well to screen :thumbsup:

Awesome! I cant wait. I'm a big fan of Tim Burton's work. Not a fan of musicals so much, but Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman being in the cast make up for that!

I can't wait to see this -- I saw a stage production in Dublin a few months ago and it rocked my socks off.

I'm a bit concerned that Tim Burton's doing it though -- don't get me wrong, I really love his work and Johnny Depp works brilliantly with him. But the Sweeney Todd story is _already_ so dark and quirky and Tim Burton-ish that if Tim Burton gets involved the universe might cave in on itself with all the Tim Burton-ness going on!

i am obsessed with this.

seriously.

i think the performances were excellent. i'll justify that if required. johnny and helena were well matched. i was glad to see that it wasn't just the musical on film.

i personally - bring the flames - hated the lupone/cerveris revival. i was disappointed in the "orchestration" and thought that the vocals were way too broadway. i always imagined the characters as being much darker and more subverted.

I am sooooo spanking you when I see you next :mad:

:D

Also, on ION at 9:00 EST tonight is the 1998 version with Ben Kingsley, Campbell Scott, and Joanna Lumley (FABULOUS!!!!!)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147582/

From ww.nytimes.com

Review Summary

John Schlesinger directed this razor-sharp retelling of the familiar Demon Barber legend, previously a Victorian penny-dreadful by Christopher Bond (The Story of Pearls), a stage play by George Dibdin-Pitt, a Tod Slaughter film (the 1936 Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street), and the 1979 Stephen Sondheim stage musical (Sweeney Todd). Sondheim's musical has been televised in a production with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury heading the cast. This John Schlesinger drama, scripted by executive producer Peter Shaw, is set in turn-of-the-century London where bald barber Sweeney Todd (Ben Kingsley) runs a cutting-edge business with an affluent clientele. He also has several sidelines, including the sale of his murder victims' jewelry, plus a profitable agreement with Mrs. Lovett (Joanna Lumley), who uses an industrial-size meat grinder to prepare her tasty "meat pies" for her unsuspecting customers. American insurance investigator Ben Carlyle (Campbell Scott), tracking $50,000 worth of missing diamonds, encounters corruption throughout the city as he attempts to solve the case. Victorian London locales seen here were actually filmed in Dublin. Shown April 19, 1998 on Showtime. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide



I have the popcorn here ready to be popped!

Oh, I'll bring the flames...

No one messes with La Lupone. Isn't it bad enough she gets snubbed for awards and fired by Andrew Lloyd Webber for a job well done?

(I think I might have to make a YouTube video: Leave Patti Alone!!!! with the requisite mascara and bleach blonde hair)

I recorded it, but I haven't watched it yet. It should be interesting, as I am only familiar with the Sondheim musical.

^^

It was okay. Very different from the musical. It is hard to watch flithy, obviously unbathed people with bad teeth :laugh:

That's why I never go to family reunions...

ITA. she was really good on Life Goes On...


:laugh:


i just didn't love her as mrs. lovett. the turn she did with george hearn and the NY philharmonic didn't grab me and i utterly hated the recent revival. i guess we all look for different things in a performance.

Like talent?

:p

YOU ARE SO BAD!!!!

Seriously, I loved Lupone, but she was no Lansbury.

Okay, I just want to say this brings tears to my eyes every time!



Does musical theatre get any better than that - ever?

Also - here is her Sunset audition (different lyrics) - which to this day sends chills

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5MaRPcL5HAI

With one look I touch everyone
With one glance I eclipse the sun
Take a look and you will see
Why the world watches me

Indeed La Lupone - you are sublime!

:D

Not much better. I love a good reunion.

She really is. I would have loved to have seen her in Sunset. I did get to see Buckley, and she was incredible. Her performance was better than Close's by far. It would have been great to see Patti do the show after it was retooled...

I saw Close and she was good. But, she does this funny thing with her voice in that she sings in a lower range in a strong voice and then when she goes up an octave, it is this little head voice. Close has only one and one-half lungs or something like that due to a childhood illness. So, that may have something to do with it.

But, BB was positively a show stopping belter from the old days. It was almost too much voice, if that is possile :laugh: And, as you know, her vibrato is Nicksian :laugh:

As an aside, I saw Petula Clark in the road show and let me just saw I wish she had put on a bedazzled gown and lipsynched "Downtown" because she was horrible. Joe, however, on the road was great and very nice looking. He opened the second act by singing "Sunset Blvd." in a square cut swimsuit :eek:

Who is the greatest Broadway star of all time?

That song "Bring Him Home" is a total ripoff of the Puccini Humming Chorus. But it's still the best number in the show. I think the rest of the music is indistinguished, a lot of caterwauling & shrieking, with tunes that go nowhere & a tawdry adaptation.

But I think it could be a masterpiece. What do you think?

Have you heard the Forbidden Broadway number 'Patti Class'? They rip on Close's upper and lower registers. It is hilarious.

Of all time? Ethel Merman, but Lupone and Buckley are tied for second. The new crop of stars (Chenoweth, Menzel, Block) are showing a lot of promise as well.

That's mu very humble opinion...

By and large, I am not a fan of Les Miz as a whole. I think it has some standout numbers, and some of the performances from both sides of the pond have been great. I was actually appalled at the fact that they recently revived it. I mean, it just closed less than 5 years ago, if I am correct.

I did like Patti's number, even when I saw Randy Graff perform it.

IMO, the greatest actress is Uta Hagen, though Zoe Caldwell is a close second. But, there are some greats out there.

If actors' opinions count for anything, it was Laurette Taylor.

I love one Day More, On My Own, Stars, and I Dreamed a Dream. I like the whole show and think it is genius. I get that there are few original things these days and that they all sample. But, I think it worked in the case of Les Mis.

CLOSE - but no cigaaaaaarrrrrrrr

HYSTERICAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love all the FB's.

For nonstraight plays - those rank up there in my book as well. I might put Julie Andrews up there as well.

I don't know why you're frighTENEEEEENNNNDDD!!!

Yes, Julie too.

And I almost forgot Christine Ebersole. I adore Grey Gardens. She was superb.

YOU'RE JUST BITTER AND MEAN BECAUSE YOU USED YOUR VOICE TO SING!

:eek:

(or something like that :cool: )

I saw Grey Gardens almost on my 40th birthdy with my 80 year old mother, who I took to NYC -- she was in a wheelchair and we had a driver. I was like THIS IS MY LIFE :laugh:

Superb performance to say the least! Actually, the whole cast was fantastic.

The book was okay (it mirrored the documentary) - but the execution was flawless and sublime! What did Elaine Stritch say "Have talent orget off the stage -- then she saw CE in GG and was like WOW POW that's what I am talking about :laugh:

I saw it the week before the Tony awards, so I was incredibly excited when both the ladies won. I think it should have won best musical too. Spring Awakening was ok, but I liked it better the first time I saw it...when it was called Rent.

I liked neither :laugh:

Did you ever read any of John Simon's books of criticism on theater -- "Singularities," "Uneasy Stages," & the latest "John Simon On Theatre: Criticism 1974-2000"?

If you didn't, want me to buy you them for your birthday or Chanukah or something?

Also, do you think that Simon looks like William Kristol?

No, I do not think I have. I will check them out.

I would not wish Kristol's lips and inate smirk on anyone :laugh:

I never understand this statement. Aside from being about young people, including pop/rock music and speaking to young people, I don't really get why people think the shows are essentially the same. They both handle some heavy issues, but they aren't even the same issues.

I really wouldn't agree with Ebersole being on the list of current bests. She did an amazing job and deserves all of the awards and recognition she received, but her presence besides her work in Grey Gardens in recent years hasn't been huge.