Read an off-site Synopsis of the show on Musicals.Net.

This is my new favorite movie.

George Hearn is so wonderful as Sweeney Todd. People say Len Cariou was better; I say maybe he was, but he couldn't have been too much better. How can you be better than perfect? (Not to demean Len Cariou in any way. If you read my review of the Sweeney Todd OBC CD you'll find I love his vocal performance, but I never saw him live. Since I wasn't born yet.) Anyway, I was talking about George Hearn: he simply is the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. People have said he overacts, but I never noticed it. As I point out in my review of the OBC CD, there are two ways to play this role well: loud, over-the-top nutcase, or subtle madman. Reportedly, Len Cariou was subtle and was very good at it, always projecting the image of a raging insanity hidden behind a very, very thin veneer of civilization. That can be wonderfully scary, and it's definitely hard to do it well. However, I disagree with the statement that it's harder than the over-the-top approach Hearn uses. Certainly it's easier for an actor to foam at the mouth than to be subtle, but it's very hard to play rage really well.

Let me compare this to sports. The subtle approach can be compared to, say, a complicated gymnastic stunt. It's very hard to do, and you can either do it or you can't. There are different degrees of doing it badly, well, and very well, but most everyone agrees that even doing it badly takes a lot of talent. Therefore, subtlety can only be attempted by an actor who can pull it off, and you don't see a whole lot of people who try it and fail in public. The director or somebody is usually smart enough to tell them they had better try something else.

On the other hand, the over-the-top approach might be compared to, say, running. Anybody can run, assuming they have two good legs. But there are very few people who can run well. As a member of my high school cross-country team, I found out pretty quickly that you either have it or you don't. (I don't, I just run for fun and exercise.) Running really well is no less difficult than doing a complicated gymnastic stunt. And running even moderately well takes some kind of talent, even if it's just the right kind of genes and body type. But because everyone can stick one foot in front of the other, the general impression is that running is "easy."

So what does this have to do with Sweeney Todd? Lots, actually. Cariou was subtle; he could do something that a lot of people know they couldn't do, and he's respected for it. Hearn tends to get the short shrift because anyone can run about the stage, foaming at the mouth and screaming. People forget that if you, I, or any random person were to run about a stage foaming at the mouth and screaming about killing people with a razor, we would look (in the words of Sondheim's Little Red Riding Hood) "pretty foolish." Hearn is like one of the elite runners; he's got the talent to do it really well, and we fall right under his spell. And let's remember that Sweeney Todd is a very angry character, so it really works in the context of the show.

This is the end of my long discourse on this subject… on to the rest of the movie. Angela Lansbury is perfect as Mrs. Lovett. It is this movie that really made me love her in this role. I was skeptical at first (still being stuck in the isn't-that-Mrs.-Potts mindset) but by the time she finished "The Worst Pies in London" that idea was gone forever. She's so incredibly talented. Even her body language is absolutely perfect. She definitely deserved the Tony award for this role, and I'm convinced she would have won it no matter who she was up against. (I looked it up, and I've never heard of the other nominees, but even if they were world-famous and marvelously talented, they still wouldn't be this good.)

Cris Groenendaal is a good Anthony. He tends to… I don't know… not overact, really. He has this thing where he turns to look at the audience while he's singing, and he suddenly has this facial expression exactly like one of those people in little kids' shows who are so bubbly and cheerful that they're incredibly annoying. It's not really that bad, though – he loses it quickly enough… and he's got an incredible voice. So I recommend shutting your eyes for a bit if his face annoys you too much. It's not bad, though, and it's completely forgivable because the character is so blah anyway.

Edmund Lyndeck was the original Judge Turpin, and he is really really good. He's so disgusting. This is actually a compliment, believe it or not. He is so perverted he makes my flesh creep. "My child… how sweet you look in that light muslin gown…" Ewww. If I met this dude in the street, I'd definitely scream and run away. His voice isn't too bad either. The only song he really sings is "Pretty Women" and that comes off really well. ("Mea Culpa" had been cut from the show at this point. Kind of too bad – I would have liked to have seen it.)

Ken Jennings is a great Tobias. He was great on the OBC CD too. He's really awesome… he portrays a perfect balance between the character's street smarts and social awkwardness. Or not awkwardness per se. Tobias's emotional intelligence has been stunted by rough living conditions and years of abuse from Pirelli, so even though he's probably supposed to be about fourteen or so, he tends to have the emotional reactions of a boy of nine or ten. This is tough to play, but this guy is perfect.

Betsy Joslyn… well… she plays Johanna. And she really annoys me. Part of it's her voice – when she hits the high notes in "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" she has one of those shrill, ear-piercing soprano voices that actually hurts my ears. But most of it is the character, and her interpretation of it. Johanna may annoy me anyway, but she is not supposed to be a complete ditz. It all goes back to my occasional wish that Todd would get rid of her and Anthony while he's at it. And what's with the wig? First of all, it doesn't even look like a fake wig, it looks like a yellow mop. Fine, if they don't want it to look like real hair, at least have a fake-looking wig. Not a mop. (And did they reuse the same one later for Rapunzel in Into the Woods or what?)

A small complaint about Beadle Bamford's costume. Does he really need to be that fat? There was some obvious stomach padding going on here. If they were going to pad his stomach they ought to have done something to the rest of him; his pants sort of hang there, and it looks a little strange. I think he's actually on the heavy side, but the stomach padding put everything out of proportion. That said, Calvin Remsburg was pretty good in the role.

All in all? This is my new favorite movie, as I said. You must go out and find it. It's out of print and really hard to find; I got mine through the local library. If you live in eastern MA and have a Minuteman library in your town or a nearby town, you're set. There are a couple of libraries on the Minuteman Network that have copies; you can request them from any Minuteman library. I'd check your local library wherever you live, to see if it's on such a network. You never know. Also I believe you can usually find a copy on Ebay. Definitely do your best to track this down and see it, it's fantastic!

Also see my reviews of the sweeney Todd OBC and Live in Concert CDs.

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Canzonetta Sull'Aria was launched on July 14, 2003 by Laura.
Its predecessor, The Musical Theater CD Website, was launched on December 16, 2001.
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