MC as Sweeney

Jul 02, 2012 10:41

(Youtube clips from the 2005-2006 Broadway revival.)



How I wish I could have seen this in person!

MC, about Patti LuPone (from a TheaterMania interview):
"There's a real comfort zone, a kind of shorthand between us, and we know we can count on each other"

Patti LuPone, about MC (from her memoir):
"Like George Hearn before him, Michael always gave me plenty of room for the laughs to register. That does not always happen if you're the comic relief and a female. We had a shared history, having worked together at Ravinia, and our relationship onstage had developed a shorthand. We played well together."

2006 Tonys medley ("The Ballad of Sweeney Todd"/"The Worst Pies in London"/"My Friends")

"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd"/"No Place Like London"

"The Worst Pies in London"/"Poor Thing"

"Epiphany" / "A Little Priest"

Here's a different performance of "A Little Priest"
(might make your speakers clip from time to time, but I like the audience reaction on this one; plus it also shows something MC and PL mention in the Theater Talk interview--they could adlib the blocking from one show to the next.)

"God, That's Good!"

"Johanna"

"By the Sea"/Wigmaker Sequence/Ballad of Sweeney Todd/The Letter

Trivia item: When you see Sweeney rise out of the coffin at the beginning of the show, he's been in there for more than half an hour...

I didn't even notice this until a fan asked him about it on Twitter. Then I looked at that intro again.
There is no curtain, so when the house doors open to let the audience in, the stage is set... meaning MC is already inside the coffin. Usually the house opens 30 minutes before the scheduled start time. Even if they start on time, it's still a few more minutes before Lovett and the beggar woman open the coffin (and Johanna and the beggar woman remove the sheet).

In this behind the scenes video from Broadway.com, Manoel ("Toby") asks MC whether he ever got claustrophobic in that coffin, to which MC responds that he panicked on the first day of rehearsals, but after that, "it's the only place that's quiet, so I actually look forward to going in there..."
"Nice way to start the evening", he said on Twitter.
Broadway.com - Backstage at Sweeney Todd - hosted by Manoel Feliciano

Theater Talk interview

Pretty Women, from Sondheim's birthday concert (2010), with George Hearn. Too bad the clip doesn't include their banter before the song, which is quite amusing...

Broadway revival (full show), closing night

1982 Broadway production: George Hearn and Angela Lansbury

2001 concert: George Hearn and Patti LuPone

theater, mc, sweeney, fbnote

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