YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

From 4:36-4:50 did they encounter Toby for a second? (He shows up in the slideshow for a brief moment during this part)

the ending was quite shocking, i would prefere if sweeney stayed alive but that would be even more sad because he killed his wife (what left of her anyway) and nearly killed his daughter.

romas1995 6 months ago

I don't understand what's going on from 4:36 - 4:50. Could somebody explain?

yumichan899 1 year ago

@yumichan899 I think that either Anthony came back to the shop OR Johanna ran to find Anthony and got the police...

reveriehill1614 1 year ago

in my personal opinion i prefer hearn but cariou is still amazing iv actually met him he was in broadway backwards last year in new york and my step mom was in it and i went during rehearsal and met the cast and cariou was one of them

trevied1 1 year ago

This is amazing! Thank you so much for posting this video! I love having a glimpse of the early versions of shows and seeing how they evolve over time. I'm extraordinarily envious that you were able to see the show before its Broadway debut! Sweeney Todd is one of my favorites :)

TaurusGirl423 1 year ago

i'm not worried about the video...this audio is absolutely PRICELESS. Sweeney Cariou singing "Nothin's Gonna Harm You" to his dead Lucy...just tears your heart out. God, this is incredible!

Golganek 1 year ago 2

Not While I'm Around is making me teary.

asmileisspecial 1 year ago 2

... Sung right, it can even sound like a gentle, loving forgiveness of Lucy for not being 'true' to him, an affirmation that he *still* sees her as virtuous. It can also show the realisation that while he was, in a way, claiming that *he* was virtuous -- by believing he had the right to judge, to say who was good or bad, and to condemn people like her -- in truth, *she* was virtuous, and *he* was no such thing.

threescoreandten 1 year ago

... but when he sees that the beggar woman was Lucy, he realises just how unfair he was to the whole world, and that he should have shown mercy and forgiveness. He was disgusted by her, instead of pitying her, and if he'd actually spared a *moment* for her, he might have recognized her when he first arrived in London. The "virtuous" line seems very important to show his new perception, and his ability to now pity her promiscuous, diseased, mad state, instead of shun it.

threescoreandten 1 year ago

I also really love the use of "Barber and his Wife" -- as it eventually ended up -- because of the line "and she was virtuous." I think that, if it's delivered well, that line can carry a LOT of weight. Throughout the whole play, Sweeney Todd scorns the beggar woman, offended by her lewdness, her commonness, her being one of the "people who are filled with shit." In his mind, she's nothing like his pure wife; but he's judging harshly, and becomes a harsher and harsher judge over time.

threescoreandten 1 year ago 2

Idea -- I think it could be very moving and lovely if the early and later versions were combined. I can imagine Sweeney Todd singing the first two (maybe 3?) lines of "Not While I'm Around," being overcome with emotion and guilt and unable to go on, and changing songs to "Barber and his Wife," because in that song, he's able to express his own scorn/hatred/shame for himself, rather than claim to have been good to and protective of his wife.

Thoughts?

threescoreandten 1 year ago 2

Thoughts II:

Whoa, very different use of "Not While I'm Around." It's so awful and ironic and sad, to have Todd sing it and consider the lyrics. I see why that was changed, too, though. Because Todd has just had the "What have I done?" revelation about all his sins, it seems like he would have a hard time actually continuing with the whole song. After saying aloud twice that no one would harm her, with him around, I can hardly imagine him going through with singing the rest.

threescoreandten 1 year ago

Thoughts on this version:

I think that Toby's part is much tighter and more effective in the final version; in this one, he sounds too... well... *sane,* when he screams at Todd that he shouldn't hurt anybody; it feels wrong for him to turn around and cut Todd's throat right afterwards, with this delivery. Also, his part seems just a tad drawn-out; the pauses are long enough to lose some of the tension. I like how, now, he talks to himself and babbles bits of nursery rhymes the whole time.

threescoreandten 1 year ago

That whistle managed to terrify the crap out of me. Yet again. I will *never* be immune to that thing!

Thank you so much for posting this! As an artist and writer, I love getting this kind of glimpse into another creator's process, and seeing how their early works evolve into finished products.

threescoreandten 1 year ago

Somebody please fill me in here. I saw Sweeney at one of the 1st previews and Sweeney killed Johanna at that performance. Am I the only one who remembers that version?

markmilliken 2 years ago

@markmilliken Sweeney never killed Johanna in the script. I'm not sure if you're confusing it with another show or play, but I know for a fact that no such ending was ever written, let alone performed.

SuperMonahan 1 year ago

@markmilliken Really? That's very strange, I've never heard of Johanna being killed in any version of the show...Was Johanna killed in lieu of the beggar woman in the performance you saw or were they both killed?

TaurusGirl423 1 year ago

Beautiful, if only they had put it in the movie....

MusicaDelStella 2 years ago

Shows preview in front of paid audiences, these occur BEFORE critics review the show.

The pit was not finished in the Uris Theater until Sweeney had been running a while.

Until the critics came and raved about the show, there were lots of people who walked out on the show.

It has been more than 30 years since Sweeney opened, please forgive my memory lapse :-)

wiseone2 2 years ago

why would they let people see this before it came out on broadway? it gives away the ending....

Treggorz 2 years ago

I had completely forgotten this! I was a member of the orchestra. The pit was freezing..........

Wilmer

wiseone2 2 years ago 2

how could u forget something like being in the pit of sweeney todd???????

Treggorz 2 years ago

Tobias sounds really creepy at the end. And that factory whistle made me jump. I can only imagine what it must have sounded like in the theater...

jammes122 2 years ago

I love George Hearn's rendition better, his "Oh no! Oh my god!" is an example of fantastically moving acting.

raspberryicedtea 2 years ago

@raspberryicedtea I think that Hearn has a valid interpretation on that line. It's impact is much more immediate, much more visceral -- he's almost animalistic at that point. However, I think I a more subdued reading is also affecting -- in that case, it is as though Sweeney is in shock and cannot quite believe what he's seeing. Both versions work, but in different ways.

CandidCandide 2 years ago

That's a very good point, thank you! I like when people reply with another opinion on something like this, it's helpful.

raspberryicedtea 2 years ago

@raspberryicedtea -- I think it depends on how the actor wants to portray Sweeney, especially the rate at which the full realisation of his awful deeds comes crashing down on him. Hearn's reaction seems entirely focused on Lucy -- so he feels complete, intense horror and emotion in the moment. Cariou's reaction seems to run deeper, maybe the dawning realisation that he's become a monster. It also takes him a moment longer to realise and accept that it's Lucy, whereas Hearn sees it instantly.

threescoreandten 1 year ago