On the Works of Stephen Sondheim- The Sweeney Todd Suite

When Sweeny Todd was on Broadway, I was about 21. An older composer friend in CA put on a party--he invited about 20 of us and just played the soundtrack straight through. It changed my entire outlook on harmony, on lyric-writing, on the art of the musical itself.

Two years later, the Broadway cast hit the road with George Hearn and the incredible Angela Lansbury--don't laugh until you've heard her in the role. Anyway, they were playing an extended role in SF and another friend knew the director. He told the show was bombing and they had started cutting numbers in an effort to make it tighter and more accessible. The cast had been demoralized but were hanging in there.

This second friend got us tickets to closing night in SF. The show had started picking up steam but it was too late to extend the run. However, they had been putting numbers back in and on the night he got us tickets, they decided to do the show in its entirety one last time.

You can't imagine the shock of hearing that whistle live. The terrible beauty of Pretty Women. It was on of the true high points of my life, watching that talented cast tear through that amazing piece of work--it was as if they were having a party onstage.

Decades later, I of course saw the movie and enjoyed it somewhat--I'm a Burton fan anyway, and I didn't expect it to be as glorious as live theater anyway. What horrified me away was them leaving out what I consider the most important theme which bookends the musical: Attend the Tale of Sweeny Todd. Still, considering that you can't see the musical live in any big budget productions now, I'd say it's worth the watch.