[what_the_heck013]

Sweeney Todd would be such a diffuclt show to adapt for film. Here are my ideas for a film version of Sweeney Todd:

I would take the concept of Tobias telling the story in an asylum as used in the current revival. I would start it by showing Tobias being taken away from Lovett's pie shop and cut to Sweeney being taken away 20 or so years before, and keep cutting back and forth between the two to show the similarities. Then Tobias would begin with "Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd". The chorus, who sings in the "Ballad of Sweeney Todd" would just be a voiceover and never seen, and if they were to be seen, they would be the lunatics in the asylum that Tobias has been put in.
Songs I would cut:
1. Ah, miss--this could very well be dialogue
2. Johanna (Reprise I)--a.k.a the creepy one with Judge Turpin. I would cut it because I don't much like it.
3. Wait--just shortened
4. By The Sea--just shortened
5. The Letter
6. Wigmaker Sequence--shortened

[Kad]

I would not do the whole Tobias Telling the Tale thing. I like the idea, but feel the film would work better without it.

I'd stay closer to the original production. The film would open with a dark cemetary in the dusk/early evening in a poorer part of the city. It will be very warped and Tim Burtonish (tombstones coming out at odd angles from the ground, placed randomly, etc.) A factory would whistle offscreen as the camera moves through the graveyard, to an open grave with a very generic tombstone. A small group of curious onlookers looks into the open grave. In the crowd are (although not very recognizable, faded almost) are the non-Lovett and Sweeney characters. They begin the Prelude. Etc. tec.



The mandatory changes:

Ah, Miss! would become dialogue.
Judge's Johanna would not be cut. It would be shortened, with more dialogue.
Wait would be turned into dialogue.
The Letter and Wigmaker Sequence would become dialogue, as well.

[Sweeney Todd]

As much as I like Kad's idea, what_the_heck013's is more similar to the revival, which more people seeing the movie will have seen and will relate too. The revival is also he version that Mr. Sondheim prefers. Also, it provides a definite narrator, which is vital in a film.

[Megan the Phantom Girlie]

I like the idea of Tim Burton doing the film.

[Salome]

If the Judge's Johanna song was cut i wouldnt even see the film.

[La Boheme]

[RainbowJude]

Since when is a narrator vital in a film? Narrators are often used in films but they're hardly essential. And more often than not, they are used inconsistently in a film, straining credibility to the utmost. I'm always left wondering how they can tell us about things they never saw or why they disappear halfway through the film.

That's one thing that is brilliant about the narration in Sweeney Todd. It is consistently utilised throughout the film by an omnipotent chorus (which happens to be made up partially of characters who appear in the narrative) and the narration comes full circle at the end. It's brilliant!

At any rate, I would like to see a really good title sequence on a film version of Sweeney Todd. I really miss elaborate title sequences, especially in musicals. I don't like the idea of using Toby as a narrator for the film. And I think that a really imaginative title sequence would be a wonderful way of translating "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" onto the screen. The orginal production had that wonderful map of the British class systems. Perhaps there's something in that visually, moving through illustrated members of the classes, including each of the characters of the play, until we finally reached Sweeney Todd in his place in the class system.

I don't know if I'd make any changes to the text. I think it's one of the few pieces that could make the transition from stage to screen untouched, as it is so beautifully structured. One thing that is highly problematic in shows like Phantom, which I hate, and Les Mis, which I love, is that I get the feeling that the characters are singing things that could be spoken. I have never felt that with Sweeney Todd. It's a perfectly balanced text.

And, in a sense, that's why I think I wouldn't mind Tim Burton directing this film - IF the text remained intact. He would bring a strong visual style to the film. And the text is strong enough to counteract Burton's inability to maintain the momentum of his films.

Later days
David

[what_the_heck013]

The problem would be that most people going to see it in theatres would not have seen Sweeney before. So I don't think that they would expect such little dialogue. Most movie musicals today have few musical numbers.

[RainbowJude]

[what_the_heck013]

No, I'm saying that this is what probably would happen if big-shot Hollywood producers decided to turn Sweeney into a film.

[Salome]

actually todays movie musical have more numbers than in the past. the whole score of producers except one song stayed in tact. rent is almost completely sung. chicago cut 4 songs but there were still at least 14 numbers in the film.

don't forget most "made for screen" musicals in the past had maybe 7 songs if you were lucky. look at Singin in the rain or even more to the point "the pirate". that film only had 5 songs and was considered a musical film.

[EsmeraldaDaae]

I was thinking of flashbacks during the songs...especially during "By the Sea",little Nellie Lovett in a bathing outfit with a hairdo like Cindy Lou Who from Jim Carey's The Grinch.And Fat Aunt Nettie sitting in a crumpled deckchair.
For the "Johanna" trio-
Anthony up to her window...
Sweeney entering from outside...going up the stairs...picking up the razor...him,Lucy,and baby Johanna...
Johanna looking out the window...it's raining...we see the rain drip down the window...the blood drip from the razor...a framed picture of a happy family...Johanna holding her reticule to her chest...

you get the idea...a montage fit for a trio...huh?