Weighing in on "Sweeney"

So, I went to see "Sweeney Todd" on Broadway tonight. The show ranks among my very favorites. I've seen it before at St. Joe's University and at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia. This, however, was a very, very different production. I didn't dislike it, and I didn't love it. I felt a bit overwhelmed in general. The production tried very hard to present a lot of symbolism, and I didn't really feel as if the stylistic choices and directorial choices really presented any clearcut revelations that I could latch onto.

All of the actors in the show also play instruments in the show, and all of the actors are onstage throughout the entire show. Sometimes this translates into some interesting symbolism, as when Johanna and Anthony play string instruments together and when the Beggar Woman plays clarinet along with Johanna during "Green Finch and Linnet Bird." The sets were pretty interesting, but I don't really see how they served the story at all. The same thing goes for the costumes. Rather than wearing period clothes, there were neckties and all sorts of out-of-place things. I just don't think it's necessary to make different costume and set choices purely for the director's amusement, and there was nothing suggesting there was a reason otherwise.

I felt, sitting there, as if the symbolism should have been better defined. I almost wished I had a critical essay in front of me so I could latch on to some of the lofty ideas being presented.

Now on to the acting. Patti LuPone, who was in the concert DVD with George Hearn, was superb. On the DVD, she's pretty one-note, squawking her way through all of the songs and lines, but it was very obvious that she poured her soul into this performance. She acting on many more varied levels than she did on the DVD. I was very impressed. Her singing was top-notch, totally different than I've heard her in the past.

Michael Cerveris, who seemed oddly miscast as Sweeney, made a good effort. His singing was generally superb, but he's a tenor playing a baritone's role. I've heard criticism that there wasn't much chemistry between Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett, but I definitely noticed some chemistry. The rest of the supporting cast was all really amazing, particularly Donna Lynne Champlin as Pirelli and Manoel Feliciano as Tobias.

One weird thing that puzzled me is that Sweeney cradles a miniature white coffin during a lot of the second act, and I had absolutely no idea why. His child isn't dead. What??

Also, as the second act came to a close, there was a very awkward moment after the "final sequence" was over where the audience thought that the show was over when there was actually a remaining song. The audience took a very long time applauding only to have the cast waiting to begin the final reprise of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd."

Overall, the production made me think a lot about various things about the show. I just find an issue with the fact that most of the things I've been thinking about don't seem to come together in any sort of neat fashion to form a complete thought.

The music sounded really good during the moments when characters were singing solo or in small groups, but I missed the lush sound of a full orchestra and chorus. Even if the production utilizes a small cast, I would have liked for there to have been offstage musicians or singers to enhance the effect. I'm so used to Sweeney having a full chorus and orchestra that such a sparse sound was jarring, which isn't to say that it was necessarily a bad choice to use more limited orchestrations.

So...overall, go see it! Any Sweeney is far better than no Sweeney, but this one is a bit odd. I'm not really even sure yet if odd is good or bad or neither. It was just a very interesting experience. I'm very glad I got to experience it for myself and form my own judgments rather than being limited to reading other people's opinions.