When "Sweeney Todd" opened at New York's Uris Theater on March 1, 1979, it inspired diverse reactions. He then took the project to Prince, who suggested he collaborate with British author Hugh Wheeler, who had previously written the book for Sondheim's "A Little Night Music." The rest is Broadway history. "I realized the whole thing was going to be as long as Wagner's `Ring' cycle if I didn't stop," he confesses, wryly. In a rare departure from his usual practice of composing the music with the book already in hand, Sondheim wrote the first portion of "Sweeney's" libretto himself, but turned to others when he got bogged down in his own words. "It was both funny and creepy at the same time, and that's what attracted me," he recalls. The play rekindled his interest in Grand Guignol, and something about it immediately suggested theatrical possibilities. Sondheim was firmly established as the preeminent composer of the American musical theater in 1973 when he happened to catch a production in London's East End of "Sweeney Todd" as adapted for the stage by Christopher Bond. Melodrama always has been a prime interest of Sondheim's - thus, "Sweeney" and Sondheim were a musical marriage waiting to happen. Indeed, a serialized version of his shocking exploits became one of the most popular of the so-called penny dreadfuls gobbled up by Victorian-era readers. The character of Sweeney (who may or may not have been a real person) was a fixture of British melodrama, both in fiction and onstage, for more than 150 years. Terfel regards Sweeney, for all his gruesome deeds, as a sympathetic figure - a victim of the social rot afflicting lower- and middle-class London at the dawn of the Industrial Age in the mid-18th Century. ![]() ![]() ![]() If I considered myself to be only an opera singer, I couldn't do roles like Sweeney." "It straitjackets someone into a particular musical style, whereas the rudiments of singing apply to any kind of music. At the same time, Terfel bristles at the suggestion that he is in any way "crossing over" by taking on the role of the vengeful barber.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |