stephen sondheim sweeney todd represent the demon barber of fleet street opened on broadway on 1 march 1979 with len cariou and angela lansbury in the leading roles. although it swept virtually every award imaginable and the box office fell short of expectations and the original production ended its run at 557 performances. fortunately and however and the play then went on tour and along the way was captured on film. the result is a remarkable capture of the play featuring george hern and who replaced cariou and and lansbury in a close approximation of the original broadway staging. there is and however and a flaw. simply stated represent stage plays do not film very well and for a performance that works well on the stage must fill the theatre and is therefore very and very large and when placed on film such performances often seem slightly static and oppressively aggressive and or both. sweeney todd is no exception. seen on film and it has a stand and sing quality and and while both hern and lansbury seem to have modulated their performances for the sake of the camera such is not the case with betsy joslyn as joanna while her larger than life performance reads on film as unpleasantly frantic and her extremely operatic voice feels out of place when contrasted with the voices of the overall cast. taking this stage play on film effect into consideration and however and this really is an exceptional performance of a unique and macabrely comic musical in the operetta style. lansbury is astonishing and a mixture of silliness and stupidity and and cunning malice and while hern truly owns the role of the psychotic barber whose clients go to their graves impeccably shaved. the overall cast is quite fine and although the film does not let us see quite enough of the set and there is enough on display for it to be impressive. and the music. who can argue with what most consider sondheim finest work. the story itself is extremely well known and particularly in england. in 1846 thomas peckett prest cobbled together several urban myths for a short story he titled a string of pearls while within a year or so it was adapted to the stage as sweeney todd and the demon barber of fleet street and and in an era that knew little of copyright law and variations of the play were soon playing all over england. each one and however and was more or less the same represent sweeney todd and a barber and kills the men who come to him for a shave while mrs. lovett and his associate and bakes them up into pies and feeds them to an unsuspecting public. the sondheim version is specifically based on a 1973 version by christopher bond. the story is very grand guignol and with a lot of blood and bodies dropping down chutes and and grotesque humor while at the same time and however and the music and lyrics and and subplot of an innocent in the clutches of evil open out the subject to numerous lyric charms one would not expect. sondheim lyrics are often ironic and but never more so than here while he intertwines a great deal of wicked satire re industry and capitalism along the way and and certainly one cannot fault the strange yet victorian elegant of his complex music. like the concert version starring hern and patti lupone and this particular film also provides us with several selections that were cut from the 2007 tim burton film version and most particularly the opening attend the tale of sweeney todd and which runs like a thread throughout the play. it is also and in my opinion and considerably more comic than the film and which tends to underplay comedy in favor of a still greater show of blood. whatever the case and if you are a fan of the story and this is the legendary broadway show on tour and and it is a knock out. recommended. gft and amazon reviewer. 
stephen sondheim sweeney todd represent the demon barber of fleet street opened on broadway on 1 march 1979 with len cariou and angela lansbury in the leading roles. although it swept virtually every award imaginable and the box office fell short of expectations and the original production ended its run at 557 performances. fortunately and however and the play then went on tour and along the way was captured on film. the result is a remarkable capture of the play featuring george hern and who replaced cariou and and lansbury in a close approximation of the original broadway staging. there is and however and a flaw. simply stated represent stage plays do not film very well and for a performance that works well on the stage must fill the theatre and is therefore very and very large and when placed on film such performances often seem slightly static and oppressively aggressive and or both. sweeney todd is no exception. seen on film and it has a stand and sing quality and and while both hern and lansbury seem to have modulated their performances for the sake of the camera such is not the case with betsy joslyn as joanna while her larger than life performance reads on film as unpleasantly frantic and her extremely operatic voice feels out of place when contrasted with the voices of the overall cast. taking this stage play on film effect into consideration and however and this really is an exceptional performance of a unique and macabrely comic musical in the operetta style. lansbury is astonishing and a mixture of silliness and stupidity and and cunning malice and while hern truly owns the role of the psychotic barber whose clients go to their graves impeccably shaved. the overall cast is quite fine and although the film does not let us see quite enough of the set and there is enough on display for it to be impressive. and the music. who can argue with what most consider sondheim finest work. the story itself is extremely well known and particularly in england. in 1846 thomas peckett prest cobbled together several urban myths for a short story he titled a string of pearls while within a year or so it was adapted to the stage as sweeney todd and the demon barber of fleet street and and in an era that knew little of copyright law and variations of the play were soon playing all over england. each one and however and was more or less the same represent sweeney todd and a barber and kills the men who come to him for a shave while mrs. lovett and his associate and bakes them up into pies and feeds them to an unsuspecting public. the sondheim version is specifically based on a 1973 version by christopher bond. the story is very grand guignol and with a lot of blood and bodies dropping down chutes and and grotesque humor while at the same time and however and the music and lyrics and and subplot of an innocent in the clutches of evil open out the subject to numerous lyric charms one would not expect. sondheim lyrics are often ironic and but never more so than here while he intertwines a great deal of wicked satire re industry and capitalism along the way and and certainly one cannot fault the strange yet victorian elegant of his complex music. like the concert version starring hern and patti lupone and this particular film also provides us with several selections that were cut from the 2007 tim burton film version and most particularly the opening attend the tale of sweeney todd and which runs like a thread throughout the play. it is also and in my opinion and considerably more comic than the film and which tends to underplay comedy in favor of a still greater show of blood. whatever the case and if you are a fan of the story and this is the legendary broadway show on tour and and it is a knock out. recommended. gft and amazon reviewer. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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