Sunday, January 27, 2008
Edgy staging inspires 'Sweeney Todd' cast
Post Gazette: "Still, the unusual tour that arrives Tuesday for a week at Heinz Hall has made 'Sweeney Todd' eccentric all over again. British director John Doyle has intrigued and mesmerized Broadway for a year through his radical expedient of shrinking the cast to 10 and banishing the orchestra, leaving the actors to play their own accompaniment even as they act and sing."
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8 comments:
i think the author of this article described the way the instrments and the actors meshed together onstage beautifully. i saw the revival of company recently and they also merged the orchestra and actors, and i thought it not only worked but gave it much more depth.
I have not yet seen this show (or the movie) but really want to. I find it interesting that they chose to have the actors play the instruments. Why do this? This article also brings up a problem with some touring shows, some shows are location and venue dependent. Touring shows have to learn to adapt.
I really want to see this, as well as the movie, I love the music form Sweeney Todd, and a m really excited to see the show. I think that a lot of the staging is very interesting. I saw the whole actors playing instruments thing in Company last year, and it was really cool. I agree with the people in the article that the biggest challenge with the tour is producing an intimate show, in massive tour houses such as Heinz Hall.
I've never seen the show, and I really would love to. I know it's playing right now (or soon?), but I always hesitate to buy theatre tickets in advance because of crew and how fickle the schedule can be. I'm really intrigued by the thought of the actors playing instruments. I'm wondering if they all have experience with the instruments, or if just some of them do and the rest take lessons.
I haven't seen the show, and for some reason have no recollection of there being a movie (of course what movie have I seen?). I do think that this small orchestra-less cast sounds fascinating. The self-sufficiency of the actors would definitely bring something to any piece. Although I would be curious to see how house size plays a role. I guess we'll see soon enough!
I've seen the show on Broadway and it is incomparable to the movie. Film and Theatre are two completely different experiences. Sweeney Todd is just not a show that works well as a movie since it is so theatrical. One reason why Sweeney Todd is so theatrical is because of the actors. As much as everyone loves to see Johney Depp frolicking and singing along Fleet street is not the same as having an actor sing and play the instrument. The nice thing about theatre is that you can create have of it in your own head instead of having Tim Burton apply his dark and gothic look to it. The movie can be good to those who have seen it but when you've seen it on Broadway you can't relate the two
I have never seen the actual show, but did watch the short piece they did on the Tony Awards and it seems like this is one show where having the actors and orchestra as one work quite well. I just wonder how the Unions worked around this. Do the performers have to be members of both? I think it would be interesting to read the contract for it to see the differences
sounds like they have come up with a great way to save money and make thing interesting all at once. i think this is great news as far as new steps in performance go, but at the same time i find myself think back to the "what music has lost" article and asking myself whether or not they are really playing. i sure hope they are.
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