My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Sondheim Files - Sweeney Todd

I was on my way to college when my parents brought the family to New York for a week of theater going and sight seeing. I had been living in Switzerland and hadn’t heard of SWEENEY TODD. I had developed a small appreciation for Sondheim through West Side, A Little Night Music and Merrily We Roll Along. At a record store in the village I bought SWEENEY TODD; I took it to college and my first bachelor pad and began listening to it, in all its’ bizarre blackness. Well. It didn’t take me long to fall in love. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. I was already a die hard Angela Lansbury fan and A Little Night Music and Applause had me hooked on Len Cariou. Victor Garber’s voice was so beautiful and, oh!, those songs! I played the OBC over and over until I thought I would have to replace it. It should, therefore, follow that the OBC is the one in my Ipod and the one I listen to – and that is absolutely true. All of it. I am still a devoted fan of the show (and, frankly, the movie too). Pat and I went to that odd little revival with the instrument playing actors and I was terrified I was going to hate it but I DIDN’T. Sitting in that theater, I went on the exact journey John Doyle and co. wanted me to go on. I was stunned by Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone (and I walked in prejudiced against her but, boy, was I wrong! I thought THIS would be her second Tony!). The only thing is – I don’t listen to the cd. It sounds canned. It sounds lifeless. The mics are too close to the singers. Onstage we got to hear both those beautiful belts and, here, they are practically whispering the songs into their mics. Snore. So I keep the SWEENEY obc and I think the cuts from the revival are The Worst Pies in London, Epiphany, Wait and A Little Priest. Oh. And By the Sea, a song I always love to hear, no matter who is singing it. The truth, though, once you have heard the original cast singing that score, you don’t need any other version.