Sweeney Todd was fantastic! My DSL was down for three days, so thats why Im late reporting. (Smart phones are terrible for posting links, etc.) I had a front row 1st Tier box seat on the left, midway back. Perfect position! Oh --- on the way in I talked with Meryl Streep about her selfie at the Oscars. It was totally spontaneous. From my seat, I saw Bernadette Peters in the audience. Many other film and Broadway stars were there, Im sure. After all, this was opening night! The stage was set with the New York Philharmonic on stage. A runway partitioned the upstage area into left and right, running down the middle of the stage, stopping about half-way down, meeting another runway running from side-to-side. So the orchestra was quartered, so to say. A downstage extension was built, extending the stage out into the theatre. A few rows of seats were removed to accommodate this. Music stands were already on stage, and the backdrop was the traditional Philharmonic gold. Everything looked beautiful. However, when has the set for Sweeney Todd ever been beautiful? Those of you who know the show know its set in Victorian London, about the same time period of Dickens Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities. Conditions were not nice, and the class structure could not have created a more disadvantaged state for the working class Londoner. The opening was crazy. The orchestra seats itself, the concertmaster comes on to applause, the conductor comes on to more applause, and then the principle singers march on with their music in hand, with Bryn Terfel (Sweeney) and Emma Thompson (Mrs. Lovett) coming on last. The 30 chorus members are standing all around on those runways I mentioned earlier. Then, well, Charles Isherwood of The New York Times says it better than me. As the prologue began, the books were dropped, the music stands knocked to the ground, some disturbingly dainty floral arrangements bit the dust, and the cast began ripping apart their formal wear. Let the gruesome fun and games begin. This was one hell of a show! Emma Thompson was like Angela Lansbury on steroids. The Beggar Woman was played by Tony winner Audra McDonald (what a voice!) Bryn Terfel sang wonderfully, even if his acting was a bit operatic. I should mention that in November 2007, I spent an hour with Mr. Terfel at the Queen Elizabeth II September 11 Garden in lower Manhattan, and took him on a tour through India House. Hes a very nice man. As soon as the final note sounded, and before the cast could gather for their bows, this audience, as sophisticated as it was, was immediately on their feet, clapping, screaming, hootin and hollerin! You would have thought it was a rock concert. After all the bow, the two leads stepped into the audience, went tow-thirds up the aisle, and got this older gentleman out of his seat and brought him on stage. It was Stephen Sondheim! Tomorrow, Ill post a picture I took of him on stage taking a bow. The New York Times link is below, and other links in the Comments section. What a night in the theatre! nytimes/2014/03/07/theater/first-to-die-at-sweeney-todd-decorum-at-the-philharmonic.html?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DSectionFront%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3Darts%26t%3Dqry164%23%2FSweeney%2BTodd%2Fsince1851%2Fallresults%2F1%2Fallauthors%2Fnewest%2F
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 04:58:25 +0000