Stephen Sondheim Tagged Articles at Cinematical

As everyone's been saying for months now, there are going to be two basic camps of people seeing (and talking about) Tim Burton's screen adaptation of Sweeney Todd: those who've seen and love the musical on stage (and/or those who generally go into orgasms of ecstasy for Stephen Sondheim in general), and those who've never seen the stage version, but who generally go into orgasms of ecstasy for all things Burton. There are, no doubt, those who loathe Burton, but if you loathe Burton, why would you go out of your way to see one of his films anyhow?

At any rate, I fall into the second camp -- love Burton, never seen Sweeney Todd on stage. I went into the film knowing only the basic storyline, and that it was gory, and that it was directed by Burton and stars Johnny Depp. That was enough for me to want to see the film, and I wanted to see it not knowing more than that, so I've been avoiding as much as possible all the buzzing about the film on other sites. I even set aside the cool hardcover Sweeney Todd production book that arrived in the mail last week to savor after the screening, so I'd go into the film with as fresh an eye as possible.

The film opens with rivers of bright red blood flowing through the cobblestone cracks of a London nearly as dismal as the Paris we met in the opening of Tom Tykwer's Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (one of my favorite films of last year). Much as Sweeney Todd is going to be compared to Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Edward Scissorhands, for me, right from the opening credits, it evoked Perfume more. After zooming us through a cramped, filthy, dismal London, Burton takes us onto a ship arriving in London, where we meet the beautiful and aptly named young sailer Anthony Hope (Jamie Campbell Bower, who's almost -- but not quite -- prettier than Depp), singing "No Place Like London," in which he's joined by his friend Benjamin Barker (Depp), freshly escaped from an Australian prison and returning home to a London he views with a far darker and cynical eye than the fresh-faced sailor. From the first words Barker sings -- and more, from the way Depp acts the part -- we get a sense of just how dark his story is going to be.

I've loved the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ever since my college days, when a then-boyfriend introduced me to the original Broadway soundtrack with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. I've never had the chance to see a live stage version, only tapes of productions: the 1982 show with George Hearn and Lansbury, and a 2001 concert of the musical numbers with Hearn and Patti LuPone (and Neil Patrick Harris as Toby, although I didn't realize it at the time). When I heard about the play being adapted for film, I was pessimistic, especially when the big-name, small-singing-voice cast was announced. Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett? Hmpf. Although I usually am attracted to movies starring Johnny Depp, I was skeptical that he would make a believable Demon Barber.

Fortunately for me and any other fans of the musical, it turns out that the movie version of Sweeney Todd is quite charming in its dark and twisted way, although not without some flaws and odd choices. The overall look of the film is quite Burton-esque, occasionally to excess (Sweeney's outfit in the "By the Sea" number is unpleasantly jarring), but for the most part this serves the old story of the vengeful barber very well. The tone seems darker than the stage musical, perhaps because we're seeing actors and violent scenes up close.

"I promise to polish you off quicker than any barber in London," simpers Mr. Todd, as played by the obsequious Mr. Tod Slaughter. While we're waiting for the new Depp/Burton Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, we can scan over the ancient version, maybe while playing the Stephen Sondheim album in the background. The 1936 film has a reputation for creaking like a badly-greased windmill, while an eye-rolling British ham goes through his rounds. Expect to hear just that received idea in many a review of the upcoming Sweeney Todd. Such is the craft of what a friend refers to as "bullcrit" (n., the repeating of overheard ideas without personal experience).

In this space, writing about Orson Welles' Mr. Arkadin, I was mentioning how much I was coming to enjoy really ripe theatrical acting. And then comes this brilliant New Yorker article by Claudia Roth Pierpont (only abstracted on their site, unfortunately). She discusses the different approaches to Shakepeare on film by Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles. Both were primarily theatrical actors, given to exotic makeup and putty noses. I'd never compare Olivier and Tod Slaughter, but to use the evolutionary parlance, they had a common ancestor: the flamboyant British stage actor Edmund Kean, whose bravura knife-waving performances of the Bard used to electrify audiences of the early 1800s. As the vengeful razor-man, Slaughter is actually better than you've heard. I was happy to read that then film-critic Graham Greene once praised Slaughter as "one of our finest living actors."

As an enormous fan of both Tim Burton and musicals, I can't wait for Sweeney Todd. Coming to theaters this holiday season, Todd is an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical thriller about "the demon barber of Fleet Street." Aside from Burton's involvement, the most exciting aspect about this movie is the cast. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Alan Rickman are just a few of the names attached, and Dreamworks has confirmed that "All the stars will do their own singing from Stephen Sondheim's music and lyrics." When I reported on the film a few months ago, I mentioned that Burton regular Christopher Lee was a part of the cast. He was to play a "Gentleman Ghost," a character not in the original show. Sad news -- the "Gentleman Ghost" has now been cut from the film, along with several other characters.

The worst part is that the scenes were cut before reaching the shooting stage, so all of the Lee fans won't get to enjoy them on a future DVD release. Says Lee, "It would have been worse if I had done the scenes, but I never got to film them. It's a shame as the lyrics were wonderful, but these things happen." This would have marked Lee's fourth collaboration with Burton -- the others being Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride. Todd tells the story of "a wrongfully imprisoned barber in Victorian England who sets out to seek revenge on the judge who imprisoned him." "I've always wanted to do a musical and Sweeney Todd is my favorite," says Burton. "Stephen's blend of humor, horror and emotion is something that has always connected with me." Sondheim shares the admiration, saying "I'm excited as well as confident that it will be a first-rate and startling movie." Sweeney Todd will get a limited release on December 21st, presumably for Oscar consideration. It goes wide on January 11th, 2008.

It turns out that Jim Broadbent had been cast in the movie Hairspray. A little over a week ago, Martha reported that New Line must have changed their minds about Broadbent and instead cast Christopher Walken. But Broadbent did sign on, only to change his mind, choosing to go for Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd instead. Whether he made the decision because he saw what John Travolta looks like these days (Broadbent would have played his husband) or he got a better offer from Warner Bros., he is set to appear, presumably as Judge Turpin, in the Sondheim adaptation, which will arrive in theaters at the same time as Hairspray.

This makes me happy since I would much rather watch Broadbent -- who I love -- in his final choice. I would prefer not to miss him in anything, but I just couldn't see myself going to see Hairspray. I never liked the original and can't imagine it gets any better as a musical, especially without being able to at least appreciate John Waters' direction.

The big screen, OMG Johnny Depp is So Hot! version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd that we told you about way back in January (and again in June) is finally kicking into high gear, much to the glee of Depp-aholics everywhere (and, based on their comments, the dismay of fans of the show, who think Depp is all wrong for the lead role). Variety reported this morning that the movie, which will mark the sixth collaboration between Depp and director Tim Burton, will be jointly produced and financed by Warner Bros. -- with whom Burton has a strong relationship -- and DreamWorks, with Paramount (domestic) and WB (international) handling distribution.

The current schedule is to begin shooting next February at London's Pinewood Studios, but rehearsals are expected to kick off as early as November; a release in late 2007 is currently being targeted. (And no, there doesn't seem to be any truth to yesterday's reports that Sondheim was demanding vocal tests before allowing Depp to be cast.)

[Sondheim link via Cinema Blend]