[Monsieur D'Arque]

For the first time, most people have heard of Sweeney Todd, and been confronted with the (frankly, somewhat iconic) image of Johnny Depp's pale face and wild black hair with a shock of white. Some people have contested that from now on, Sweeneys should return to the very standard, traditional, if a bit generic, image of Sweeney as a man with limp hair and suspenders. Others argue that this new image is iconic, and is a respected alternate look for Sweeney that will not be offensive if used in theatrical productions.

Let's look at both sides of the audience.

PURIST: Sweeney shouldn't be thin, dark and dramatic looking. Sweeney is drab as drab can be by design- a lifeless husk of a man. Besides, to copy Burton's costume designs would be completely unoriginal and show a total lack of creativity on the part of directors and artistic designers.

REVISIONIST: The only reason most productions design Sweeney's costume as described above is because there was no other image of what Sweeney can or should think of. Many of them got their ideas from the Lansbury/Hearn production, and the public was none the wiser, since, let's be honest, they had no idea who Sweeney Todd was. He just wasn't a mental image for them. Now, however, thanks to ingenious casting and directing, Sweeney Todd is one of the most successful and memorable mainstream musicals out there. There's a reason most Little Orphan Annies have curly red hair (and don't say because of the comic strip- she was a blonde mop-top there), and that Rocky Horror casts all over the world tend to look and dress a certain way. It's because the film has become an iconic thing, and these characters have a certain presence in the public eye. While a Sweeney dressed like Len Cariou will outrage no one, a Sweeney dressed like Johnny Depp, wig, vest and all will be a recogized, anticipated and beloved figure- the ultimate antihero or tragic hero, depending on who you ask.

Where do YOU weigh in?

[musical_maven]

To tell you the truth, I like Tim Burton's costume idea for Sweeney. It's something fresh and new. I mean, the new movie and the musical are two seperate things. But I don't prefer one look over the other, one is new and the other is classic. I think that non-musical lovers tend to like the movie versions better because they haven't been exposed to the actual stage musical that started it all. (At least that's what my friends think.)
-Musical_Maven

[pish123c]

A production with many aspects that were copied from an obvious source (That could be the OBC Sweeney, the revival Sweeney, or the movie Sweeney) says a lot about the director's lack of creativity. That applies to all shows.

[ConverseSneaker]

To be honest, I never really liked the orginal design, although I could understand where they are coming from with it. However, I do adore the movie's Sweeney look, but I do fear that it will become the iconic verison for all the stage shows now.

[Dvarg]

I´m really not a "purist" in the sense that I want all Sweeneys to be replicas of Len Cariou. I like the Depp grey thing, but I think it´s not very subtle at all. It rubs your nose into "being different and having experienced trauma in the past".

[Brock07]

Personally, while costuming is very important, I tend to focus on the story and how the actors handle their parts rather than the way they are dressed. I don't care if Sweeney's dressed like Hearn or Depp, just as long as I get sucked into the emotion of the play and what's going on.

[ConverseSneaker]

[Mistress]

I rather liked the revival costumes, but the same time, I love seeing new and original ideeas, which is why i love watching shows at a local theate festival that I attend annually. The ideas for Shakespeare are usually very interesting, but the musicals have some decent ideas too, especially into the woods. My favourite was the witch. They had her put on the post spell costume (this is allan assumption, but I don't how else it would work) and then put her "ugly hag" outifit overtop. That outfit was an overcpat of plastic veggies complete with a matching face mask and brussle sprout wand. When it came time to "transform" there was smoke screen behind which the actress would take to the coat and mask off. It's creative things like thsi I like to watch. Same deal with Sweeney. I think "traditional" costumes and clone productions-like POTO-get boring because they all look exactly the same.