Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| LittleRedLovesTheater |
Sweeney too hard???hey all. I've been begging my school's director to do Sweeney next year but he keeps insisting the music is too hard. Does anyone have the actual score? Is it really that hard?our school in the past has done Ragtime, Urinetown, Beauty/Beast, Singin' in the Rain, & currently Evita. to me, it seems like nothing could be harder than Evita right now 
thoughts on the difficulty of doing Sweeney? |
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| Dots Parasole |
Re: Sweeney too hard???
Leagues harder than "Evita" |
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| Sweeney Hyde |
The score to Sweeney Todd, like any Sondheim score from Company onward, is difficult.
However, potentially moreso, the acting is killer. I would say that it is harder than Evita. The score is very intricate. Quite frequently what is being played in the orchestra doesn't match what is being sung at all. In addition, the extremely dark nature of the show lends one to be a bit uncomfortable seeing high schoolers do it. How would you feel watching some kid sing Mea Culpa? |
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| LittleRedLovesTheater |
haha, that's true....*akward* but is there a school version of it? Less bloodier? |
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| Not Dead Yet |
The school version hasn't been released yet. I have heard they do cut out Mea Culpa, Kiss Me, and some of the Beggar Woman's parts (for obvious reasons). Although Kiss Me, I think, is overdoing it. My friend and I have done Kiss Me for competition and we're in High School. But whatever. As far as blood goes, there's no way, school or no school version, that anyone can make Sweeney Todd "less bloody." As far as special effects go and all that jazz, it's really up to your director. My advice: Don't do it. It's harder than all the shows you have listed. It's almost completely sung-through and written in a highly classical style, the score is very long and hard to follow, and it has many MANY complex characters that would be very emotionally taxing for high schoolers (IF done right). |
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| KevinMHofer |
I think the fact that many professional actors couldn't pull off Sweeney well should be reason enough for a high school not to do. There are better-suited musicals you could do. | ||||
| what_the_heck013 |
Re: Sweeney too hard???
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| Kragey |
It's ridiculous for the school version to cut "Kiss Me." That adds a moment of levity to the show, and my friends and I have all made the comment that without that song, the whole love affair is kind of creepy. "I feel you," indeed. | ||||
| Salome |
Re: Sweeney too hard???
The roles in sweeney are alot harder to act than the caractures in Evita, and the stock and trade socio-politcal stereotypes of Urinetown. |
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| theatre_grl |
especially with this guy singing it  creepier than sweeney? I think so.
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| kittengoespop |
It's because they cut "Ah, Miss." There is absolutely no established interacting between the two other than a look, and he conjures up the "I'll steal you" line out of basically nothing. It's really creepy. |
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| postmodern-mango-salsa |
not only is it terrifyingly difficult (omg, word of advice, don't even THINK Of doing Epiphany for an audition. It's hella harder than it sounds or looks >< thankfully, I realised that in time) but also HS voices and fully adult voices are very different in nature, and as a result, no matter how well you sing, you're probably STILL going to sound like a teenager.
And a sociopathic teen as opposed to a sociopathic old guy are two different degrees of scary. the teen just sounds emo, while the old guy truly disturbs you. |
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| adcahela |
Re: Sweeney too hard???[quote="LittleRedLovesTheater"] Is it really that hard? [quote]Sweeney Todd cannot be done by any high school, not even a fine arts specialized school. Sondheim wrote the musical originally planning for it to be ENTIRELY sung through with no dialogue, but the final result was that would have been impossible. The show is consistently performed by OPERA corporations because it borders on the Musical/Opera line, which practically no musicals can do. A high school doing this work would be like a college performing a middle school level play, it would be that humorously terrible. The subject matter is nothing near what most parents would want to see their children performing. Also the vocal strain put on the mains in order to sing the entire show straight through is too much for untrained voices. Also, here's a common misconception of the show, I will simply list the mains and the voice parts that absolutely MUST sing those parts: Sweeney Todd - Baritone Anthony - Tenor Tobias - Tenor Judge Turpin - Bass Johanna - Soprano Mrs. Lovett - Alto/Mezzo Soprano Pirelli - Tenor Beadle - Tenor Beggar Woman - Mezzo Soprano/Soprano But to share this great work, I suggest you study the score anyway, and this is for anyone else that wants this amazing gift. Here is the FULL SCORE to Sweeney Todd in it's entirety: http://www.sendspace.com/file/at87cy |
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| Joshua |
Dude, that's kinda illegal^.
Just edit it and delete it and we'll never speak of this again... 
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| Pannic |
Re: Sweeney too hard???
1. A competent bass could easily play the part. More accurate labeling of the role is bass-baritone. 2. Anthony does not go that high. The Singer's Musical Theatre Anthology, Volume 1, initially put "Johanna" in the Bass/Baritone book. Anthony is much more accurately labeled as a lyric baritone. 3. Like Sweeney, more accurately labeled as a bass-baritone, considering the fact that he goes almost as high. He holds a high F during Mea Culpa 4. ILLEGAL |
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| ErikProuvaire |
"Kiss Me" has nothing inappropriate for high schools. I'd say the cutting of it for the school edition is because of the difficulty of it. How many high schoolers do you know who could pull off all the conflicting lyrics and melodies when Anthony, Johanna, The Judge and the Beadle are all singing completely different things simultaneously? |
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| EponineBarker |
You do have a good point about that, 'cause whenever I'm listening/singing along to that song on either of the cast recordings I have, I know Johanna's part by heart, but whenever I try to sing Anthony's part, (it's kinda weird that I can hit some of his notes despite being a girl) I find that I miss lines and/or my timing's off. 
That's song is really confusing 'cause they're so much going on. |
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| KevinMHofer |
I've said it before, I'll say it again. No one should ever ever take Epiphany out of the context of the show and perform it by itself for any reason(audition, competition, review). The effect of that entire sequence is dependent upon the actor's character choices thus far in the play. Your performance leading up to that song plays the largest factor in the effect and overall quality of the performance of that song. The end. |
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| Kragey |
Doesn't change the fact that, without "Kiss Me," Anthony's Johanna is pretty creepy. I prefer to think of Lovett as a mezzo rather than an alto because of some of the notes she hits. I'm a true blue alto, and they give me a bit of trouble. |