"Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Stephen Sondheim believes that ""Sweeney Todd"" is a story of revenge and how it consumes a vengeful person. He has asserted, ""…what the show is really about is obsession."" Unlike most previous representations of the story, the musical avoids a simplistic view of devilish crimes. Instead, the characters’ “emotional and psychological depths” are examined, so that Sweeney Todd is understood as a victim as well as a perpetrator in the ‘great black pit’ of humanity. Sondheim's score is one of his most complex, with orchestrations by his long-time collaborator Jonathan"
"risen Todd, Mrs. Lovett, and the others, sing a reprise of ""The Ballad of Sweeney Todd"" warning against revenge (though admitting that ""everyone does it""). The company exits. Todd scowls at the audience for a moment and vanishes, ending the play. Notes on the songs: The original production premiered on Broadway at the Uris Theatre on March 1, 1979 and closed on June 29, 1980 after 557 performances and 19 previews. Directed by Hal Prince and choreographed by Larry Fuller, the scenic design was by Eugene Lee, costumes by Franne Lee and lighting by Ken Billington. The cast included Angela"
"Sweeney Todd (ballet) The ballet Sweeney Todd, Op. 68 by Malcolm Arnold was completed in 1959. It is a one-act ballet based on the legend of Sweeney Todd. The scenario and original choreography were by John Cranko and the scenery and costumes by Alix Stone in the style of Victorian toy theatres. It was first performed by the Royal Ballet touring company on 10 December 1959, at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, with the Royal Opera House Orchestra conducted by John Lanchbery. The dancers who created the roles in the first production were Donald Britton (Sweeney Todd), Johaar Mosaval (Tobias),"
"Music"". The director was Lee Blakeley with choreography by Lorena Randi and designs by Tanya McAllin. The cast featured Rod Gilfry and Franco Pomponi (Sweeney Todd) and Caroline O'Connor (Mrs Lovett). Directed by Joseph Fowler with staging by Cressida Carre and designs by Jamie Todd. The cast featured Simeon Truby as (Sweeney Todd) and Natacza Boon (Mrs Lovett) The Lyric Stage Company of Boston produced a run in September and October 2014 with the company's Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos staging and directing the show. The cast included Christopher Chew as Sweeney Todd and Amelia Broome as Mrs. Lovett. Quebec City-based"
"Ramey, Jerry Hadley, Dom DeLuise, Ruth Ann Swenson and Julia Migenes; and ""The Green Album"", among others. Thomas Z. Shepard Thomas Z. Shepard is a prolific record producer who is best known for his recordings of Broadway musicals, including the works of Stephen Sondheim. Shepard is also a composer, conductor, music arranger and pianist. He has won twelve Grammy Awards and produced the original cast recordings of many of the Sondheim musicals, including ""Sweeney Todd"", ""Company"" and ""Sunday in the Park with George"", among others. He also produced the original cast recordings of ""1776"", ""La Cage aux Folles"" and ""42nd"
"productions have included ""Candide"" (1974), ""Grind"" (1975), ""Pacific Overtures"" (1976), ""Side By Side By Sondheim"" (1977), ""On the Twentieth Century"" (1978), ""Merrily We Roll Along"" (1981), ""A Doll's Life"" (1982), ""Zorba"" (1983), ""The Rink"" (1984), Pulitzer Prize winner ""Sunday in the Park with George"" (1984), """" (1996), ""High Society"" (1998), ""The Frogs"" (2004), and ""110 in the Shade"" (2007). Gemignani has been the Musical Director for three separate productions of ""Sweeney Todd"", including the original Broadway and London productions (1979 - 1982), the Royal Opera House production in London (2003-2004) and the 2007 film version with Johnny Depp (music conductor"
"runs in 1986 and 2004. Notably the 2004 production starred Elaine Paige as Mrs Lovett. The show was also performed by Opera North in 1998 in the UK starring Steven Page and Beverley Klein, directed by David McVicar and conducted by James Holmes. In the early 2000s, ""Sweeney Todd"" gained acceptance with opera companies throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, Israel, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia. Bryn Terfel, the popular Welsh bass-baritone, performed the title role at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2002, with Judith Christian, David Cangelosi, Timothy Nolen, Bonaventura Bottone, Celena Shaffer and Nathan"
"of Sweeney Todd' when you could just go ahead and attend it?"" Sondheim acknowledged that, in adapting a musical to film, the plot has to be kept moving, and was sent MP3 files of his shortened songs by Mike Higham, the film's music producer, for approval. Several other songs were also cut, and Sondheim noted that there were ""many changes, additions and deletions... [though]... if you just go along with it, I think you'll have a spectacular time."" To create a larger, more cinematic feel, the score was reorchestrated by the stage musical's original orchestrator, Jonathan Tunick, who increased the"
"time the show had been presented in an intimate house (Equity 99-seat). The production received 5 Ovation Awards including the Franklin Levy Award for Best Musical (Smaller Theatre) and Best Director (Musical) for Dang. The 1997 Finnish National Opera production premiered on September 19, 1997. Directed by Staffan Aspegren and starting Sauli Tiilikainen (Sweeney todd) and Ritva Auvinen (Mrs. Lovett). Translated by Juice Leskinen As part of the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration, ""Sweeney Todd"" ran from May 10, 2002 through June 30, 2002 at the Eisenhower Theatre, starring Brian Stokes Mitchell as Todd, Christine Baranski as Mrs. Lovett, Hugh Panaro"
"Sarah Travis Sarah Travis is a British orchestrator and musical supervisor for theatre and film. She received the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations for the 2005 revival of Stephen Sondheim's ""Sweeney Todd"". Travis attended City University and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She has been the musical supervisor and/or orchestrator for many musicals, both in the West End and at regional British theatres. Some of the latter include ""Crazy for You"" and ""Me and My Girl"" (Aberystwyth); ""Annie"" (Belfast Lyric); ""Pal Joey"" (York). Additionally, she has composed music for several shows,"
"1990 after 189 performances and 46 previews. It was produced by Theodore Mann, directed by Susan H. Schulman, with choreography by Michael Lichtefeld. The cast featured Bob Gunton (Sweeney Todd), Beth Fowler (Mrs. Lovett), Eddie Korbich (Tobias Ragg), Jim Walton (Anthony Hope) and David Barron (Judge Turpin). In contrast to the Broadway version, the production was designed on a relatively intimate scale and was affectionately referred to as ""Teeny Todd."" It was originally produced Off-Broadway by the York Theatre Company at the Church of the Heavenly Rest from March 31, 1989 to April 29, 1989. This production received four Tony"
"version"" of ""Sweeney Todd"", the first rock orchestration of the score. The production plays at DC's Warehouse Theatre in August 2014. Directed by Melissa Baughman. Music Direction by Charles W. Johnson. Prog Metal Orchestration by The Fleet Street Collective (Andrew Lloyd Baughman, Spencer Blevins, Charles Johnson, Lance LaRue, Ray Shaw, Alex Vallejo, Andrew Siddle). The cast features metal band front singers Nina Osegueda (A Sound of Thunder) as Mrs. Lovett, Andrew Lloyd Baughman (Diamond Dead) as Sweeney Todd, Rob Bradley (Aries and Thrillkiller) as Pirelli, and Irene Jericho (Cassandra Syndrome) as Beggar Woman. The show receives three 2015 Helen Hayes"
"Thomas Z. Shepard Thomas Z. Shepard is a prolific record producer who is best known for his recordings of Broadway musicals, including the works of Stephen Sondheim. Shepard is also a composer, conductor, music arranger and pianist. He has won twelve Grammy Awards and produced the original cast recordings of many of the Sondheim musicals, including ""Sweeney Todd"", ""Company"" and ""Sunday in the Park with George"", among others. He also produced the original cast recordings of ""1776"", ""La Cage aux Folles"" and ""42nd Street"", among over a hundred others. He has produced hundreds of classical music and popular music recordings."
"of the story. In the play, Sweeney Todd’s mental collapse and the subsequent plan for Lovett's meat pies take place in less than half a page of dialogue, much too quickly to convey the full psychological impact, in the view of scholar Larry A. Brown. Sondheim's version more carefully reveals the developing ideas in Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett's demented minds. Sondheim has often said that his ""Sweeney Todd"" was about obsession – and close friends seemed to instinctually agree. When Sondheim first played songs from an early version of the show for Judy Prince (wife of the show's director),"
"of the authors who had revised the tale of ""Sweeney Todd"" over the years, had put the plot into the story. Nevertheless, in 1977, he wrote of Sondheim ""I needn't tell you that Stephen Sondheim is, both musically and lyrically, the most sophisticated composer now working for the Broadway theater."" In reviewing Leonard Bernstein's ""West Side Story"" he focused on the dancing: ""the most savage, restless, electrifying dance patterns we've been exposed to in a dozen seasons... The dancing is it. Don't look for laughter or—for that matter—tears."" In his review of the original 1956 Broadway production of ""Candide"", he"
"is never mentioned and the person who threatens Todd is in actual fact Danny O'Higgins, Pirelli's true name. In this version, he claims to have known the real Sweeney Todd and recognises Todd as an imposter. As it happens in the musical, Todd kills him. In the , he was played by Joaquin Romaguera. He was played by John Aron in the 1980 London production. In the 2005 Broadway revival staged by John Doyle, he was played by Donna Lynne Champlin. In Tim Burton's , he was portrayed by Sacha Baron Cohen. In the musical, Adolfo Pirelli sings two numbers"
"for the film ""Barney's Great Adventure"", and he orchestrated two songs for""South Park"" and was Music Supervisor/Orchestrator ""Mrs. Santa Claus"" , ""What's the Worst That Could Happen"", ""The Kid"", ""Kiss the Girls"", ""The American President"", and many other films and television shows. Blank composed the music for the film ""That Championship Season"". In March 1999 He conducted the 20th Anniversary Production of SWEENEY TODD at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles with Kelsey Grammer and Christine Baranski. Blank has conducted at Carnegie Hall, and guest conducted in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia,for the New York Philharmonic, The"
"March 21, 1987, at the age of 68. He was survived by his wife, Catherine, and father, Frank. The 'Music Man' --and His Song Robert Preston (actor) Robert Preston Meservey (June 8, 1918 – March 21, 1987) was an American stage and film actor best remembered for originating the role of Professor Harold Hill in the 1957 musical ""The Music Man"" and the 1962 film adaptation; the film earned him his first of two Golden Globe Award nominations. Preston collaborated twice with filmmaker Blake Edwards, first in ""S.O.B."" (1981) and again in ""Victor/Victoria"" (1982). For portraying Carroll ""Toddy"" Todd in"
"work is the 1938 film of ""The Mikado"" referred to above. Of Toye's original music, the waltz from ""The Haunted Ballroom"" has been recorded several times, including one in the 1990s by the Marco Polo record label. A complete recording of the ballet was made in 2001 by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. Geoffrey Toye Edward Geoffrey Toye (17 February 1889 – 11 June 1942), known as Geoffrey Toye, was an English conductor, composer and opera producer. He is best remembered as a musical director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and for his association with Sadler's Wells Theatre. One of"
"Geoffrey Toye Edward Geoffrey Toye (17 February 1889 – 11 June 1942), known as Geoffrey Toye, was an English conductor, composer and opera producer. He is best remembered as a musical director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and for his association with Sadler's Wells Theatre. One of his ballets, ""The Haunted Ballroom"" (1934), became popular and was revived several times, and the new overture that he prepared for Gilbert and Sullivan's ""Ruddigore"" in 1919 became the standard version. Born in Winchester, Hampshire, Toye was the younger son of Arlingham James Toye and his wife Alice Fayrer ""née"" Coates. Toye's"
"2003's Sweeney Todd. The Olivier Award winning Regent's Park Open Air Theatre production, directed by Timothy Sheader and choreographed by Liam Steel, ran for a six-week limited season from 6 August to 11 September 2010. The cast included Hannah Waddingham as the Witch, Mark Hadfield as the Baker, Jenna Russell as the Baker’s wife, Helen Dallimore as Cinderella, and Judi Dench as the recorded voice of the Giant. Gareth Valentine was the Musical Director. The musical was performed outdoors in a wooded area. Whilst the book remained mostly unchanged, the subtext of the plot was dramatically altered by casting the"
"part of a team that received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Drama Series Directing in 1995. Source: BroadwayWorld Lonny Price Lonny Price (born March 9, 1959) is an American director, actor, and writer, primarily in theatre. He is perhaps best known for his creation of the role of Charley Kringas in the Broadway musical ""Merrily We Roll Along"" and for his New York directing work including ""Sunset Boulevard"", ""Sweeney Todd"", ""Company"", and ""Sondheim! The Birthday Concert"". Price was born in New York City, the son of Edie L. (Greene), a merchandise manager, and Murray A. Price, a car"
"Musical Theater in Cardiff, Wales: A Lyrical Opera Made By Two (Gertrude Stein and William Turner’s cubist lesbian romance) and Songs for a New World. He was Musical Theater Coordinator for the Kevin Smith/Miramax film Jersey Girl, and appears in the film as Sweeney Todd. He has also directed for Opera Delaware and the National Music Theater Network. He is currently Treasurer and Past President of the Musical Theater Educators Alliance, an organization of which he is a founding member. Gilbert received his MFA in Directing from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1977 and his BA as a ""Dean's Scholar"" in Musical"
"Robert Preston (actor) Robert Preston Meservey (June 8, 1918 – March 21, 1987) was an American stage and film actor best remembered for originating the role of Professor Harold Hill in the 1957 musical ""The Music Man"" and the 1962 film adaptation; the film earned him his first of two Golden Globe Award nominations. Preston collaborated twice with filmmaker Blake Edwards, first in ""S.O.B."" (1981) and again in ""Victor/Victoria"" (1982). For portraying Carroll ""Toddy"" Todd in the latter, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 55th Academy Awards. Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey"
"productions at the off-off-Broadway Equity Library Theatre in New York City, including directing ""A Little Night Music"" in 1985. She directed the York Theatre Company production of Stephen Sondheim's ""Sweeney Todd"" in 1989, which Sondheim happened to see. Impressed by her work, he recommended her for the upcoming Broadway revival. She directed the 1989 Broadway revival, earning a Tony Award nomination as Best Director of a Musical. She then directed the 1991 musical version of ""The Secret Garden"" on Broadway, which garnered her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Director of a Musical. In 1994, she returned to the"
"and piano to Slater, and his ""Ballad of Heroes"" to Slater and his wife Enid. He died in London. His literary papers and correspondence are held at the University of Nottingham. Published works ""Maria Marten & Sweeney Todd: Two Classic Melodramas"" London : Gerald Howe, 1928. ""Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street ... A traditional acting version"", edited, with an introduction, (Barnstormer Plays. no. 2.) London : Gerald Howe, 1928. ""The Second City"" London : Wishart & Co, 1931. ""Haunting Europe"" London : Wishart & Co, 1934. ""Easter : 1916 (a play)"" London : Lawrence & Wishart, 1936."
"(1967), ""Lady Caroline Lamb"" (1972) and ""Equus"" (1977). His scores for ""Far from the Madding Crowd"" (1967), ""Nicholas and Alexandra"" (1971), and ""Murder on the Orient Express"" (1974), each earned him Academy Award nominations, with ""Murder on the Orient Express"" gaining a BAFTA award. Later works include ""Enchanted April"" (1992), ""Four Weddings and a Funeral"" (1994), and ""The Tale of Sweeney Todd"" (1998). He was also a prolific composer of orchestral works, piano solos, choral works and operas. Despite this eclecticism, Bennett's music rarely involved stylistic crossover. Solo: with Marion Montgomery with Carol Sloane (singer) with Chris Connor (singer) with"
"production of ""Parade"", Hynd on ""Nutcracker"" and ""Sanguine Fan"" and with Nureyev on ""Romeo and Juliet"". In 1978 he became Music Director of Scottish Ballet, conducting Peter Darrell's major ballets including ""Cheri"" and ""Five Rückert Songs"" (with Janet Baker). From 1984 to 1988 he was Principal Conductor of Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet. During this period he also conducted several British orchestras and appeared as pianist in ""Elite Syncopations"". Tovey conducted the first season of the revived D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1988. Between 1989 and 2001, he was the music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and was instrumental in"
"Homecoming"" at the Wonderhorse Theater. He made his Broadway debut in 1976 in the Lincoln Center revival of Kurt Weill's ""Threepenny Opera"", singing in the ensemble and understudying the role of the Ballad Singer. He next appeared in Stephen Sondheim's 1979 masterpiece Sweeney Todd, originating the role of the villainous Beadle Bamford. Sondheim wrote the exceptionally-difficult vocal lines with Williams' voice in mind. His performances in both shows are preserved on their original cast albums. In 1981 he appeared in the controversial film ""Strong Medicine"". A noted tenor, he once gave a command performance for the King and Queen of"
"to get a babysitter, Michael ordering flowers, Andy getting a pep talk from his director, Phyllis worrying about Cynthia and Bob bonding, and Kevin talking to his sister who happens to be playing a part in the musical. The songs featured in the episode from the actual ""Sweeney Todd"" musical are ""The Ballad of Sweeney Todd"", ""Johanna"", and ""By the Sea"". Erin accidentally references ""The Baby-Sitters Club"", a series of novels by Ann M. Martin, when talking about breaking into the babysitting business in Scranton. Michael brings balloons to the musical, Phyllis notes that they remind her of the 2009"
"George Dibdin Pitt George Dibdin Pitt (born George Pitt , 30 March 1795 – 16 February 1855) was an English actor, stage manager and prolific playwright, specializing in melodrama. He was the first playwright to dramatize the fictional character Sweeney Todd, in his 1847 play ""The String of Pearls; or, The Fiend of Fleet Street"". George Pitt was born on 30 March 1795 in Lancashire to musician George Cecil Pitt and his wife, actress Sophia Pyne. George Cecil Pitt (baptised 1767 – 1820) was an illegitimate son of the actress Harriet Pitt and George Anderson. Harriet Pitt later had other"
"Gunn. It was performed at the Royal Opera House in London as part of the Royal Opera season (December 2003-January 2004) starring Sir Thomas Allen as Todd, Felicity Palmer as Mrs. Lovett and a supporting cast that included Rosalind Plowright, Robert Tear and Jonathan Veira as Judge Turpin. The Finnish National Opera performed Sweeney Todd in 1997-98. The Israeli National Opera has performed ""Sweeney Todd"" twice. The Icelandic Opera performed Sweeney Todd in the fall of 2004, the first time in Iceland. On September 12, 2015, ""Sweeney Todd"" opened at the San Francisco Opera with Brian Mulligan as Todd, Stephanie"
"That's why we cut out a lot of choruses and extras singing and dancing down the street. Each of the characters, because a lot of them are repressed and have their emotions inside, the music was a way to let them express their feelings."" He cut the show's famous opening number, ""The Ballad of Sweeney Todd"", explaining, ""Why have a chorus singing about 'attending the tale of Sweeney Todd' when you could just go ahead and attend it?"" Sondheim acknowledged that, in adapting a musical to film, the plot has to be kept moving, and was sent MP3 files of"