Full of despair and in shock, Todd embraces the dead Lucy. [16], The first national U.S. tour started on October 24, 1980, in Washington, D.C. and ended in August 1981 in Los Angeles, California. (The number of percussionists may vary for different shows, though the percussion book is written for two players). Prince's scenic metaphor for Sweeney Todd was a 19th-century iron foundry moved from Rhode Island and reassembled on the stage, which critic Jack Kroll aptly described as "part cathedral, part factory, part prison, that dwarfed and degraded the swarming denizens of the lower orders. [3], Sondheim has often said that his Sweeney Todd was about obsession – and close friends seemed to instinctually agree. The music helps to give it that dimension. Sweeney Todd est un personnage fictif qui est apparu comme le méchant de l' époque victorienne penny terrible série La chaîne de perles (1846-47).. An original Broadway cast recording was released by RCA Red Seal in 1979. On 2 July 1994, the Royal National Theatre revival production starring Denis Quilley and Julia McKenzie was broadcast by the BBC. The show receives three 2015 Helen Hayes Awards nominations for Best Musical, Outstanding Director of a Musical (Melissa Baughman), and Outstanding Music Director (Charles W. Johnson). City on fire!Mischief! Sign of the devil!City on fire!Witch! A simpleton who works first for con-man Pirelli and then for Mrs. Lovett, but does not trust Todd. The wide-openness of my portrayal had to do with my sink or swim attitude toward it. This concert also played in San Francisco, from July 19, 2001 to July 21, with the San Francisco Symphony. ‡ This song was moved to after "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd. "[7], With Prince absorbed in staging the mammoth production, Lansbury and Cariou were left largely to their own when it came to developing their characters. Concert version was performed at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre on March 12–14, 1999 with Kelsey Grammer as Todd, Christine Baranski as Mrs. Lovett, Davis Gaines as Anthony, Neil Patrick Harris as Tobias, Melissa Manchester as The Beggar Woman, Roland Rusinek as The Beadle, Dale Kristien as Johanna and Ken Howard as Judge Turpin. This production was also broadcast on Spanish television. After a day of hard work, while Todd remains fixated on his revenge, Mrs. Lovett envisions a seaside retirement ("By the Sea"). It has since had numerous revivals as well as a film adaptation. [39], Irish tenor David Shannon starred as Todd in a highly successful Dublin production of the show at the Gate Theatre, which ran from April 2007 through June 2007. As Anthony and Johanna flee, the asylum's freed inmates prophesy the end of the world, while Todd and Mrs. Lovett hunt through the sewers for Toby, and the beggar woman fears what has become of the Beadle ("City on Fire/Searching"). When Todd asks after the empty upstairs apartment, she reveals that its former tenant, Benjamin Barker, was transported on false charges by Judge Turpin, who, along with his servant, Beadle Bamford, then lured Barker's wife Lucy to the Judge's home and raped her ("Poor Thing"). The original production premiered on Broadway at the Uris Theatre on March 1, 1979 and closed on June 29, 1980 after 557 performances and 19 previews. The production debuted in October at The Theater at Solaire. The production received 5 Ovation Awards including the Franklin Levy Award for Best Musical (Smaller Theatre) and Best Director (Musical) for Dang. Once he has the Judge in his chair, Todd soothes him with another conversation on women, but this time he alludes to their "fellow tastes, in women at least". Johanna Sweeney Todd. Casually slitting his customers' necks, Todd despairs of ever seeing Johanna, while Anthony searches London for her ("Johanna – Quartet"). The ensemble cast, soon joined by the risen Todd and Mrs. Lovett, sing a reprise of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" warning against revenge (though admitting that "everyone does it"). A "Reprise!" NYMT took the show, directed by Martin Constantine, out of a conventional theatre space and staged it within a converted Victorian warehouse in the city's East End. In Bond's reincarnation of the character, Todd was the victim of a ruthless judge who raped his young wife and exiled him to Australia. Directed by Gale Edwards, it featured Lyndon Terracini as Todd, Nancye Hayes as Mrs. Lovett and Peter Cousens as Anthony. Notably the 2004 production starred Mark Delavan and Elaine Paige. The score, effective enough in its own way, demanded things of the opera singers that opera singers as a class are reluctant to produce."[74]. The cast included Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett, Len Cariou as Todd, Victor Garber as Anthony, Sarah Rice as Johanna, Merle Louise as the Beggar Woman, Ken Jennings as Tobias, Edmund Lyndeck as Judge Turpin, Joaquin Romaguera as Pirelli, and Jack Eric Williams as Beadle Bamford. In autumn 2015 the Welsh National Opera and Wales Millennium Centre produced a co-production with West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Royal Exchange Manchester as part of the WNO's "Madness" season. In 1995, the Barcelona cast recorded a cast album sung in Catalan. Opera is not just a matter of everything being sung. 6. [24] This marked the first time in nearly ten years that a Sondheim show had been presented in the commercial West End. Johanna hears the beggar woman entering and hides in a trunk in the barbershop. The followings songs were cut: "Wigmaker Sequence", "The Letter", "Parlor Songs", "City on Fire", and half of the final sequence (which includes "The Judge's Return"). Panicked at first on learning of Pirelli's murder, Mrs. Lovett swipes his leftover coin purse and then asks Todd how he plans to dispose of the body. The look of the production was quite abstract. An evil smell!Every night at the vespers bell —Smoke that comes from the mouth of hell —City on fire! A modern American opera."[2]. Smoke! [75] It was selected by the National Recording Registry for preservation in 2013. The taped production was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards in 1985, winning three including Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program (for George Hearn). Leaving Anthony, Todd enters a meat pie shop on Fleet Street, where the owner, the slatternly widow Mrs. Lovett, laments the scarcity of meat and customers ("Worst Pies in London"). The cast consisted of Lajos Miller as Sweeney Todd, Zsuzsa Lehoczky as Mrs. Lovett, Sándor Sasvári as Anthony, Mónika Vásári as Johanna, Róbert Rátonyi as Judge Turpin, Tibor Oláh as Tobias, Péter Kocsmáros as Pirelli, Ildikó Kishonti as Lucy/Beggar woman, and István Rozsos as Beadle Bamford. [78] This recording was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.