[Perogo Ness]

I recently got the DVD of the touring cast and I loves it.

George Hearn was awsome! So freakin scary! And really great singing for Sweeney.

Angela Lansbury was the best. Perfect Mrs. Lovett. "Smooth as a baby's arse"

For the rest of this semi review I shall refer to the actors by there character names.

I liked Antony's singing, but disliked how he looked and acted. Johanna was a fine actress but had a horrid voice. Beadle was awsome, I loved him. Judge was great too, so perverted. Tobias wasnt anything special, didn't really look like a kid. Acted and sang like one though.

In all I thought it was really great

::Goes and watches it again::

[HeroTheBishop]

Anthony had a toupee and Johanna was cross eyed. Slightly. And yes, she had an annoying voice.

[Tenor4Life]

[MBoy]

I agree . . . Betsy's performance made me laugh . . . and that's not a good thing . . .

[Salome]

see..i loved betsy's johanna a twittering litle bitd who is already half man from being kept by the judge.


as for chris I loved his anthony too.. perfectly melodramatic..and you need than in playing anthony. too many people think he is the straight rle.

sal mistretta is also wonderful as pierelli....some of you may know him as sheldrake in sunset blvd.

[MimiRapp]

...personally, I hated that video...see, I'm not really a George Hearn fan, and, although I adore Angela Lansbury, I just couldn't see her being the oh so lovable Mrs. Lovette....and I couldn't stand Joanna...

Pirelli was amusing, though, as I recall...

[Salome]

how could you not be a geaorge hearn fan? he is one of the most brilliant and emotional actor/singers out there. he is the gielgud of musicals.

[MimiRapp]

I don't know all that much of him, but what I did see just didn't impress me in the slightest. I've found that he overacts and just can't pull off a lot of his roles. Hopefully, he'll prove me wrong in the upcoming La Cage Aux Folles...

[Salome]

uhh...sweeney is a melodrama. thats the correct acting style for melodrama. he was also brilliant in Sunset Blvd, putting it together, diary of anne frank and follies in concert.

I did not see him in La Cage but on the album he is brilliant. (he isnt in the new version Gary Beach has his role).

[MimiRapp]

Yes, I know he's not in La Cage, that was a mis-type, I meant that I'm getting the CD shortly. And I'm aware that Sweeney is a melodrama, and I found that he couldn't pull it off. That's just my opinion, though, so please, don't get bent out of shape about it!

[Salome]

well most sondheim acfficianados consider him the ultimate sweney. if he cant pull it off no one has ever been able too.

[MimiRapp]

Much as I adore Stephen Sondheim, I just don't like George Hearn...

Oh, well! We can agree to disagree.

[Valentin]

[Chris]

I'm with you there - not a big Hearn fan. While I love his 'big sing' delivery of Epiphany, the impact's just so diluted by his constant raging throughout the show. Yeah, yeah, I know it's supposed to be a melodrama. But surely that means the 'explosions' need to feel as big as possible. And Hearn's constant anger just makes me not care.

Plus, the way he screams "My right arm is complete again"... Where's the truth in delivering it like it's already a famous line? I find it much scarier Cariou style, with Sweeney just saying the words, speaking oh-so-intimately to his beloved razors, those instruments of death!

Like you say, give me Len or Denis Quilley any day.

[Salome]

sorry i cant see how you find no depth in one of the most emotionally charged and well layered performers to hit musicals since John Cullum.


Dennis Quilley was a wonderful comic actor and a respected shakespeaerean 2nd lead, and cariou is a charming high comedian but neither come near hern's Todd.

I am a a huge Daniel Massey fan..another one of my favorite actors..esp. as noel Coward in Star and as lord Dudley in Mary Queen of Scots..butt he london production fuucked up his musical material. He was denied Ben's two most potent numbers..road you didnt take and Live Laugh and love. the latter replaced by the much too optimistic and less wmotional "make the most of your music".

[Chris]

[Salome]

yes we should stop..since i look for powerful acting in a musical and alot of people prefer just hitting the notes and sounding pretty instead.

[Valentin]

[Salome]

i guess we are seeing two different things. i have never seen a musical actor as emotionally in the moment and as layed as Hearn since John Cullum.


As for Quiley. he was always better as a high comedian in things like high SPirits, Privates on Parade...or in character roles like Murder on the Orient express. I reallyl iked Quilley as an actor but i dont think he was a great tragedian. his death though was a tragic loss.


Massey on the other hand was a true genius. dramatic, comedic, shakspearean, musical actor and director. a great loss ot stage and screen.

[Megan the Phantom Girlie]

I just watched this again and noticed that the Judge looks an awful lot like my vice-principal. I think I am scarred for life.

[Ghost]

Salome, I suppose you've seen Quilley as Sweeney...

[Demon Dream]

Are we talking about the concert DVD?
Or is there another one?

[Ghost]

Yes, there's a DVD of the 82 US tour starring George Hearn (sadly he is on both DVDs, I would have loved to have Len Cariou's or Bryn Terfel's performances recorded) and Angela Lansbury along with Edmund Lyndeck and Ken jennings from the original production.

[Jennyanydots]

[Ciarön]

[RainbowJude]

When I was doing my Masters degree, I found an ancient copy of the Hearn-Lansbury recording on video and took it to the viewing room to watch. I was completly blown away. With no other performance of Sweeney Todd to compare this video with, I have to say that I cannot fault the performers or the staging.

Hearn and Lansbury were fantastic; I can't say that I found Hearn "blustery" and I think that what he does the part is fantastic. For me, whether or not there are performers that can interpret the role better is not relevant. Here he is a magnetic performer. Lansbury is, as always, wonderful to watch. Her timing is spot on and if, as I've heard, this performance is a shadow of what she delivered on Broadway then she must have been so brilliant that I cannot comprehend such a performance within the scope of my imagination. I found the supporting cast impeccable and and the staging was just so clever - nothing was excessive and the show just flowed smoothly from start to finish.

When I watched that video I felt that I was witnessing a record of something truly great - a trult phenomenal work of art. I am still haunted by that experience. It took me on an emotional journey that was so immense I can barely find the words to describe it.

Later days
David

[Ghost]

Another thing people complain with Hearn is that he completely lacked the chemistry Cariou had with Lansbury.

Cariou's Sweeney was far more better acted than Hearn's in my opinion and that's what pretty much everybody who saw both says.

[theatre4life]

[pinkstiletto510]

[TychoBrahe]

Does he look as did in the '82 version?