Nina Teal Broadway: the American Musical pgs 360-365 THE 320

sweeny todd

He never forgets and he never forgives. Stephen Sondheim & Harold Prince, after their musical Pacific Overtures Sondheim saw a new stage production about Sweeney Todd while in London in 1973.
The real Sweeney Todd! Lived in the late 1700s alcoholic parents Abandoned at 12 or 13 Fascinated by torture devices After a jail stay of 14-19, he opened his own barber shop. His first murder was of a young man who can in bragging about a certain girl that lived on the street. Todd realized he was talking about his wife, to whom he was never actually married. He used one of h is razors to cut the man from ear to ear. As far as we know, he only killed one person using his specially altered barber chair. He did actually c confess to putting people in pies. His Mrs. Lovett, whose first name may have been Margery, confessed to being an accomplice and later killed herself. Todd was hanged and butchered for medical research.

Sondheim wanted to write an updated musical about Sweeney Todd; Harold was difficult to convince.

Operatic score, with direct quotes for the Mass of the Dead - Lots of patter song type numbers - Original Todd and Lovett were Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury - Loved by critiques and audiences won 8 Tony awards But still closed in the negatives after over 500 performances on Broadway Although not a financial success in its Broadway debut, Sweeney Todd has resurrected time and again on theatre and opera stages throughout the world, making it the most critically acclaimed musical theatre piece since Porgy and Bess. ---- Said our textbook.

merrily we roll along

Last collaboration between Sondheim and Prince. Cast from teens and very young adults. NO OUT OF TOWN TRY OUTS. They did previews in the same theatre that the show would play in, and the entire show changed almost every night. Including music, book, costumes, and even the leading man and choreographer were replaced during the previews. It closed after just 16 performances and the team never worked together again. Critiques attacked the show for having several really fantastic musical numbers, but putting them in such a haphazard show. The concept musical just didnt work out the way they wanted it to.