murderershair (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
murderershair) wrote2023-12-02 12:01 am
murderershair) wrote2023-12-02 12:01 am
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Attend The Tale Of Two Sweeney Todds
I have now been extremely extremely privileged enough to see two different Sweeney Todds (Josh Groban and Nicolas Christopher) in the same production! (The current Broadway revival) So of course I must compare them. I would also love to see another Mrs Lovett, but I absolutely do not expect to be able to see the show again (though I am incredibly curious about Sutton Foster coming in February) and in a way it was useful having Annaleigh Ashford both times to more directly compare. Though I have to say, I'm... not the biggest fan of Ashford in the role. Maybe I'll get into that later? Let's start with the Sweeneys!
First Impressions
Groban's Sweeney feels more Benjamin Barker, at least at the start of the show, while Christopher immediately exudes menace (though he tones it down a bit between his entrance in Ballad and No Place Like London). Groban's Sweeney feels immediately intensely sad and grim, but the anger doesn't quite read until later, which I do think is a valid choice! Christopher's Sweeney-- ok this is already getting too annoying, let's call them JGS and NCS. NCS hits the anger harder and faster especially on No Place Like London. I would say NCS is a more typical take, but both are worthwhile here.
My Friends
One thing Groban has that Christopher does not is the ability to make just about any phrase sound exquisitely lyrical. I don't know enough about vocal terminology to really define it, but I guess I'd say he's a tenor's tenor, if that makes sense. His "Barber And His Wife" and "My Friends" was achingly beautiful, and allowed me to see Benjamin as more parallel to Anthony-- a twisted, embittered future Anthony, that is, a male ingenue gone wrong. NCS does not sing those songs with the same effortless depth of sound BUT his "At last, my right arm is complete again!" sent chills down my spine in a way I simply don't remember JGS doing. (And to be clear, his voice is still very beautiful and powerful and emotive! Groban just has a very particular sound which, while I find it meh on overproduced covers of standards, did wow me live)
Comedy and Chemistry (Pt 1: Annaleigh Ashford)
So, Mrs Lovett. Listen, Angela Lansbury is the definitive Lovett, and anyone's going to be hard pressed to compete with the memory of her... which is why you've got to swing big to make the character your own, IMO. Ashford does get there in Act II, but she sings Worst Pies too prettily in my opinion, and a lot of her comedy bits just don't hit quite hard enough. I have one hyper specific grievance, which is the main reason I really wish I could see another actress in the role in the same production, because I'm insanely curious if the issue is direction or execution. There's a specific physical comedy bit where I have twice watched Ashford rush through setting up the joke, so that the payoff simply doesn't make sense. People still laughed, because it's physical comedy, but the first time I watched it I had no idea there even was setup, and this time I looked for it specifically. My mother also had no idea it was a setup/payoff, but like me she noticed the payoff and it confused her deeply. So, to preserve the feeling of that confusion, I'm going to explain by giving the payoff first!
Judge Turpin arrives at the shop. Mrs Lovett is at the top of the stairs, starts to go down to greet him. She pauses, halfway down, and decides to slide down the stairs with one leg out, beaming. The audience laughs because this is a peculiar way to go down stairs. But why is she doing it?
Several lines earlier, perhaps when she was rushing up and down the stairs to keep Toby from finding Pirell's dead body, Mrs Lovett complains about her knees. This does not register at all because she's still running as she does it, and in general she's a very youthful, spry Nellie Lovett.
This is such an easy fix that I am desperately curious if any of the understudies/Sutton will get it right. All you have to do is actually stop on the stairs, make a point of clutching your knee and moaning in pain, say the line about your knees, and then hobble dramatically upstairs. It would take a bare few extra seconds but it would READ and then everyone would understand why she's sliding down the stairs later: to spare her knee!! OTOH, if Jeanna de Waal and/or Sutton Foster also skip the setup, I'd know that it's the director's fault because they've been told to do it that way instead of it being Annaleigh Ashford skipping it herself.
Anyway, now that I've complained about a split second moment for paragraphs, let me be positive, too. By The Sea is now an absolute highlight of the show, and something Annaleigh Ashford deserves credit for making completely her own. I just wish she could loose that unhinged horny energy earlier in the show, because her climbing all over Sweeney and writhing around on him is exactly the sort of BIG you need in this part (and the seagulls!! The screaming seagulls with aggressive arm claps, completely inspired, guarantee you there will be imitations of that for years to come). Go hornier in Worst Pies? Or something, something that doesn't make me want to give notes. It's not even like her timing is off or she can't hit the notes, it's just... to dust off an old phrase from school, "make stronger choices."
Comedy and Chemistry (Pt 2: Sweeney)
I was very curious to see how Ashford's chemistry differed with Christopher vs Groban, and I have to say... I think she actually had more chemistry with Christopher! There were a few moments that didn't really read or click with Groban that clicked perfectly with Christopher, and not all of it was even down to acting, lol. (Ashford's Lovett does a lot of groping of Sweeney's chest and arms... which makes a lot more sense when Sweeney has visible biceps and towers over her, like Christopher's does) They also felt like they were actually enjoying playing off each other in Pirelli's Miracle Elixir, and honestly, this is maybe the first time I've actually thought "yeah, it's possible this Sweeney and this Lovett banged after A Little Priest." (Once and never again, though) She was also very obviously trying to get Christopher to break after By The Sea, which he eventually did, for just long enough that it worked when her next line was "give us a kiss." I've never found these characters so shippy, tbh.
Epiphany and Apotheosis
And here we are, the, er, meat of the performance, if you will. Let me get right to the point: after seeing Nicolas Christopher, I barely remember Josh Groban's Epiphany. I know I thought it was perfectly good at the time, but Christopher was otherworldly. There was no question this man was ready to murder now, and yet he was also wracked with grief, and holy shit the singing. I don't even know how to explain what happened on "not one man, not a hundred" but it was like somehow he just kept gaining power and strength as he kept going even though he was storming all around the stage, it was unbelievable. By the last note he was dripping with sweat and tears and the audience absolutely erupted with cheers. Completely stopped the show for several minutes. The one thing I've retained of difference from JGS was that he got close enough to pull Mrs Lovett into an intimate embrace on "even you, Mrs Lovett, even I" which did not happen for NCS because he was already so feral that she backed away immediately. (I'd say Groban's Sweeney knows Mrs Lovett has a thing for him enough to taunt her with it that one time, while Christopher's Sweeney isn't thinking about Mrs Lovett at all in that song, he's precisely making the point that she matters as little to him as anyone else)
Speaking of grief, despite the fact that Groban's Sweeney sung more tenderly, my recollection is that his emotions felt more... numbed? He sung about Lucy and Johanna like he'd already accepted they were gone, and the sweetness only lasted while he sung, like he was temporarily entering a memory of them and then leaving it behind. Which, I have to say, absolutely wrecked me on Johanna Quartet. Christopher, otoh, ran hot in all ways, and his grief still felt incredibly raw and powerful. What gutted me was his reaction to discovering he'd killed Lucy himself. I truly believed those tears, and that final reprise of Barber and His Wife. So honestly, both good interpretations!
Conclusion
I'd actually recommend both these performances, though it depends on how you like your Sweeney, of course. I will say I slightly favor Christopher for his dynamic with Lovett and that fucking astonishing Epiphany, and also for the fact that you can in fact hear Groban's singing on the cast recording, while Christopher is only available live.
I would also like to take the time to shout out the rest of the cast, in particular Maria Bilbao's Johanna. Johanna is my fave and Bilbao absolutely nails the role, every note every moment every bit of subtext. For my second performance, I was seated in the fifth row and I was able to see a little, perfect moment in the final reprise of Ballad: when the Beggar Woman/Lucy gets up and starts singing, Johanna turns and looks at her, for just a few moments, still in character and there was so much longing and wistfulness in that look. It was everything I wanted, god.
I saw different Tobys and Pirellis on both performances. While Daniel Torres had more consistent accent work, I think I preferred Raymond J Lee's performance as Pirelli overall. As for Toby, Daniel Marconi was spectacular, believably youthful and earnest and also great at showboating for the crowd. Daniel Yearwood was also a great, sweet Anthony, and Ruthie Ann Miles breathes new life into the role of Beggar Woman. As a whole, the Ensemble were spectacular.
(I don't care for the interpretation of Beadle Bamford, but I blame the director for that. Sure, it gets cheap laughs from the audience, but it's 2023, can the camp evil gay stereotype die please? Just felt like a very homophobic portrayal overall, the one really sour note in this production)
Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford will be leaving on January 14, and Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster will be starting in mid-February, most likely giving Nicolas Christopher and Jeanna de Waal a few weeks to take the leads while Tveit/Foster rehearse. I don't know Tveit at all, so can't speak to him or his casting, but I have seen Sutton Foster in two of her signature roles (Drowsy Chaperone and Anything Goes) and I think it's absolutely genius casting her here. The thing about Sutton Foster is she has that gorgeous smile and bright energy that immediately makes you root for her no matter what her character is doing... which is the closest I can think of to what Angela Lansbury herself brought to the role. That immediate likeability and charm is such a good fit for audience dissonance, and I am fully here for Sutton's villain era. I do hope she works hard on the Cockney accent though, haha, because come to think of it she usually plays the All American Girl, but that doesn't mean she can't do it! (Anyway, Annaleigh Ashford's accent slips a lot so... the bar has not necessarily been set to unreachable heights, that's all I'm saying) I probably won't be able to see her do it, but you know, rooting for her on principle. (And Tveit too, I may not know him but I've got nothing against him)
Groban's Sweeney feels more Benjamin Barker, at least at the start of the show, while Christopher immediately exudes menace (though he tones it down a bit between his entrance in Ballad and No Place Like London). Groban's Sweeney feels immediately intensely sad and grim, but the anger doesn't quite read until later, which I do think is a valid choice! Christopher's Sweeney-- ok this is already getting too annoying, let's call them JGS and NCS. NCS hits the anger harder and faster especially on No Place Like London. I would say NCS is a more typical take, but both are worthwhile here.
My Friends
One thing Groban has that Christopher does not is the ability to make just about any phrase sound exquisitely lyrical. I don't know enough about vocal terminology to really define it, but I guess I'd say he's a tenor's tenor, if that makes sense. His "Barber And His Wife" and "My Friends" was achingly beautiful, and allowed me to see Benjamin as more parallel to Anthony-- a twisted, embittered future Anthony, that is, a male ingenue gone wrong. NCS does not sing those songs with the same effortless depth of sound BUT his "At last, my right arm is complete again!" sent chills down my spine in a way I simply don't remember JGS doing. (And to be clear, his voice is still very beautiful and powerful and emotive! Groban just has a very particular sound which, while I find it meh on overproduced covers of standards, did wow me live)
Comedy and Chemistry (Pt 1: Annaleigh Ashford)
So, Mrs Lovett. Listen, Angela Lansbury is the definitive Lovett, and anyone's going to be hard pressed to compete with the memory of her... which is why you've got to swing big to make the character your own, IMO. Ashford does get there in Act II, but she sings Worst Pies too prettily in my opinion, and a lot of her comedy bits just don't hit quite hard enough. I have one hyper specific grievance, which is the main reason I really wish I could see another actress in the role in the same production, because I'm insanely curious if the issue is direction or execution. There's a specific physical comedy bit where I have twice watched Ashford rush through setting up the joke, so that the payoff simply doesn't make sense. People still laughed, because it's physical comedy, but the first time I watched it I had no idea there even was setup, and this time I looked for it specifically. My mother also had no idea it was a setup/payoff, but like me she noticed the payoff and it confused her deeply. So, to preserve the feeling of that confusion, I'm going to explain by giving the payoff first!
Judge Turpin arrives at the shop. Mrs Lovett is at the top of the stairs, starts to go down to greet him. She pauses, halfway down, and decides to slide down the stairs with one leg out, beaming. The audience laughs because this is a peculiar way to go down stairs. But why is she doing it?
Several lines earlier, perhaps when she was rushing up and down the stairs to keep Toby from finding Pirell's dead body, Mrs Lovett complains about her knees. This does not register at all because she's still running as she does it, and in general she's a very youthful, spry Nellie Lovett.
This is such an easy fix that I am desperately curious if any of the understudies/Sutton will get it right. All you have to do is actually stop on the stairs, make a point of clutching your knee and moaning in pain, say the line about your knees, and then hobble dramatically upstairs. It would take a bare few extra seconds but it would READ and then everyone would understand why she's sliding down the stairs later: to spare her knee!! OTOH, if Jeanna de Waal and/or Sutton Foster also skip the setup, I'd know that it's the director's fault because they've been told to do it that way instead of it being Annaleigh Ashford skipping it herself.
Anyway, now that I've complained about a split second moment for paragraphs, let me be positive, too. By The Sea is now an absolute highlight of the show, and something Annaleigh Ashford deserves credit for making completely her own. I just wish she could loose that unhinged horny energy earlier in the show, because her climbing all over Sweeney and writhing around on him is exactly the sort of BIG you need in this part (and the seagulls!! The screaming seagulls with aggressive arm claps, completely inspired, guarantee you there will be imitations of that for years to come). Go hornier in Worst Pies? Or something, something that doesn't make me want to give notes. It's not even like her timing is off or she can't hit the notes, it's just... to dust off an old phrase from school, "make stronger choices."
Comedy and Chemistry (Pt 2: Sweeney)
I was very curious to see how Ashford's chemistry differed with Christopher vs Groban, and I have to say... I think she actually had more chemistry with Christopher! There were a few moments that didn't really read or click with Groban that clicked perfectly with Christopher, and not all of it was even down to acting, lol. (Ashford's Lovett does a lot of groping of Sweeney's chest and arms... which makes a lot more sense when Sweeney has visible biceps and towers over her, like Christopher's does) They also felt like they were actually enjoying playing off each other in Pirelli's Miracle Elixir, and honestly, this is maybe the first time I've actually thought "yeah, it's possible this Sweeney and this Lovett banged after A Little Priest." (Once and never again, though) She was also very obviously trying to get Christopher to break after By The Sea, which he eventually did, for just long enough that it worked when her next line was "give us a kiss." I've never found these characters so shippy, tbh.
Epiphany and Apotheosis
And here we are, the, er, meat of the performance, if you will. Let me get right to the point: after seeing Nicolas Christopher, I barely remember Josh Groban's Epiphany. I know I thought it was perfectly good at the time, but Christopher was otherworldly. There was no question this man was ready to murder now, and yet he was also wracked with grief, and holy shit the singing. I don't even know how to explain what happened on "not one man, not a hundred" but it was like somehow he just kept gaining power and strength as he kept going even though he was storming all around the stage, it was unbelievable. By the last note he was dripping with sweat and tears and the audience absolutely erupted with cheers. Completely stopped the show for several minutes. The one thing I've retained of difference from JGS was that he got close enough to pull Mrs Lovett into an intimate embrace on "even you, Mrs Lovett, even I" which did not happen for NCS because he was already so feral that she backed away immediately. (I'd say Groban's Sweeney knows Mrs Lovett has a thing for him enough to taunt her with it that one time, while Christopher's Sweeney isn't thinking about Mrs Lovett at all in that song, he's precisely making the point that she matters as little to him as anyone else)
Speaking of grief, despite the fact that Groban's Sweeney sung more tenderly, my recollection is that his emotions felt more... numbed? He sung about Lucy and Johanna like he'd already accepted they were gone, and the sweetness only lasted while he sung, like he was temporarily entering a memory of them and then leaving it behind. Which, I have to say, absolutely wrecked me on Johanna Quartet. Christopher, otoh, ran hot in all ways, and his grief still felt incredibly raw and powerful. What gutted me was his reaction to discovering he'd killed Lucy himself. I truly believed those tears, and that final reprise of Barber and His Wife. So honestly, both good interpretations!
Conclusion
I'd actually recommend both these performances, though it depends on how you like your Sweeney, of course. I will say I slightly favor Christopher for his dynamic with Lovett and that fucking astonishing Epiphany, and also for the fact that you can in fact hear Groban's singing on the cast recording, while Christopher is only available live.
I would also like to take the time to shout out the rest of the cast, in particular Maria Bilbao's Johanna. Johanna is my fave and Bilbao absolutely nails the role, every note every moment every bit of subtext. For my second performance, I was seated in the fifth row and I was able to see a little, perfect moment in the final reprise of Ballad: when the Beggar Woman/Lucy gets up and starts singing, Johanna turns and looks at her, for just a few moments, still in character and there was so much longing and wistfulness in that look. It was everything I wanted, god.
I saw different Tobys and Pirellis on both performances. While Daniel Torres had more consistent accent work, I think I preferred Raymond J Lee's performance as Pirelli overall. As for Toby, Daniel Marconi was spectacular, believably youthful and earnest and also great at showboating for the crowd. Daniel Yearwood was also a great, sweet Anthony, and Ruthie Ann Miles breathes new life into the role of Beggar Woman. As a whole, the Ensemble were spectacular.
(I don't care for the interpretation of Beadle Bamford, but I blame the director for that. Sure, it gets cheap laughs from the audience, but it's 2023, can the camp evil gay stereotype die please? Just felt like a very homophobic portrayal overall, the one really sour note in this production)
Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford will be leaving on January 14, and Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster will be starting in mid-February, most likely giving Nicolas Christopher and Jeanna de Waal a few weeks to take the leads while Tveit/Foster rehearse. I don't know Tveit at all, so can't speak to him or his casting, but I have seen Sutton Foster in two of her signature roles (Drowsy Chaperone and Anything Goes) and I think it's absolutely genius casting her here. The thing about Sutton Foster is she has that gorgeous smile and bright energy that immediately makes you root for her no matter what her character is doing... which is the closest I can think of to what Angela Lansbury herself brought to the role. That immediate likeability and charm is such a good fit for audience dissonance, and I am fully here for Sutton's villain era. I do hope she works hard on the Cockney accent though, haha, because come to think of it she usually plays the All American Girl, but that doesn't mean she can't do it! (Anyway, Annaleigh Ashford's accent slips a lot so... the bar has not necessarily been set to unreachable heights, that's all I'm saying) I probably won't be able to see her do it, but you know, rooting for her on principle. (And Tveit too, I may not know him but I've got nothing against him)