main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Amph The Magic of Musicals - for lovers of shows on stage or screen: Revival of Sweeney Todd

Discussion in 'Archive: The Amphitheatre' started by SithLordDarthRichie, Oct 8, 2010.

  1. Nevermind

    Nevermind Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 14, 2001
    Saw "Fiddler on the Roof" on TV yesterday. Topol was good, but all the decent songs were in the first half.
     
  2. Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon

    Jedi_Keiran_Halcyon Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2000
    Amused as hell at the lack of Sondheim on that list.

    Less amused by the lack of The Music Man.

    Also, Oklahoma!, The King and I, and South Pacific are all way better R&H shows than The Sound of Mucus.
     
  3. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    Most of that list was voted for by people who like the movies more than the actual shows and women who fancy John Travolta :p

     
  4. lovelucas

    lovelucas Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 19, 2004
    "Once On This Island" anyone? Every song is memorable in a good way.
     
  5. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    I don't expect a lot of musicals the majority of the general public won't have heard of to be in the list, but I do expect them to vote for the decent famous ones.

    Grease has a habit of winning these things, it topped a poll by Wales Millennium Centre in 2005 for best musical too, although that had a more reasonable top 10
     
  6. Nevermind

    Nevermind Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 14, 2001
    No "The Band Wagon"?

    No "Easter Parade?"
     
  7. Thrawn1786

    Thrawn1786 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 8, 2004
    It's hard to take any ranking of Grease in any polls seriously these days. The recent Broadway revival was widely panned by both critics and Broadway enthusiasts alike. While that may have been in part to the reality show that cast the Danny and Sandy, at the same time it could have been because altogether the musical is just not that good. There have also been too many revivals and the wild popularity of the film doesn't help either.

    Also, I'm not taking that list seriously because Gypsy isn't on it. While this is another show that has had enough revivals to satisfy a lifetime IMO, the music and book are pretty hard to beat. There's a reason it's been called the greatest American musical. :p
     
  8. JohnWesleyDowney

    JohnWesleyDowney Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2004

    There's a reason it's been called the greatest American musical.

    Anything created by Stephen Sondheim, Jules Styne and Arthur Laurents has just about as good a pedigree as you can get. :cool:
     
  9. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    2011 looks to be a good year for musicals.

    London's West End is getting a new production of Sweeney Todd starring Michael Ball, a new production of The Wizard of Oz with Michael Crawford & Danielle Hope and Shrek the Musical will be arriving in May.

    Australia will be getting Love Never Dies.

    Broadway will be getting - Catch Me if You Can, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Sister Act & The Book of Mormon to name but a few.
     
  10. Nevermind

    Nevermind Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 14, 2001
    "Catch Me If You Can"? That'll be tough to adapt.
     
  11. Nevermind

    Nevermind Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 14, 2001
  12. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    The idea of it seemed pretty bad.

    Love Never Dies is nominated for 7 Olivier Awards this year. It is up for Best New Musical as well as nominations for Ramin Karimloo & Sierra Boggess.
    Legally Blonde has 5 nominations & Love Story has 3.

    A friend of mine went to the second preview of The Wzard of Oz yesterday and was impressed. Any problems with the show should be ironed out before it officially opens in March.
     
  13. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    Legally Blonde won 4 What's On Stage Awards

    Leading lady Sheridan Smith won Best Actress in a Musical & Jill Halfpenny won Best Supporting Actress.
    The show also won Best Choreographer & Best New Musical.

    Love Never Dies star Ramin Karimloo won Best Actor in a Musical and Joseph Millson won Best Supporting Actor.

    Wicked got the Best West End Show award.
     
  14. Nevermind

    Nevermind Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 14, 2001
    "The Book of Mormon" is a new musical by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, with somebody writing the music. Sounds extremely intriguing.
     
  15. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    Parker and Stone do great faux Broadway, which is all it takes to do semi-great Broadway. I at first thought this was a musical adaptation of the actual Book of Mormon. Which would be incredibly odd. But that article makes it sound great.
     
  16. Nevermind

    Nevermind Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 14, 2001
    Andrew Lloyd-Webber's new stage "The Wizard of Oz" appears to be very successful in London.
     
  17. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    Indeed it does. I have yet to see it, but the video footage indicates the staging is very impressive, plus having a legend like Michael Crawford in place does help. Danielle Hope is clearly a great talent and she will get better as Dorothy the more she does the role.

    Reviews have been pretty good, although a few say while it looks great it seems to lack heart.Also I hear some of the new songs Lloyd-Webber has included are not that memorable or don't always fit with the original stuff featured in the film musical.
    But the new lyrics are by Sir Tim Rice, so it's sure to be miles better than the stuff Glen Slater did for Love Never Dies.
     
  18. Merlin_Ambrosius69

    Merlin_Ambrosius69 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 4, 2008
    Hmmm... so, the songs from the film are included, as well as additional music by Webber and Rice? I admit I'm intrigued.
     
  19. Nevermind

    Nevermind Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 14, 2001
  20. JohnWesleyDowney

    JohnWesleyDowney Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2004
    Apparently theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh is a very important fellow if THESE TWO guys would sit down to a piano together and sing his praises.

    I never dreamed I'd see two such different artists singing together...especially since neither of them are singers.
     
  21. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    Plus it's been stated for years that neither Sondheim or Lloyd-Webber actually get on that well with each other, so them setting aside their differences to praise their friend is nice to see.

    I hoped to see the two of them work together on a show, but I doubt it will happen now as Sondheim is 80 and I don't think writes stuff anymore. But Lloyd-Webber & Tim Rice need to do more shows again, many of the lyricist the Lord has used since parting with Rice have been not so good.
     
  22. JohnWesleyDowney

    JohnWesleyDowney Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2004

    I didn't know they didn't get along very well, they seemed fine in the clip, but of course, it was a special occasion honoring a mutual friend and supporter, so I guess they set their differences aside.

    Here's a very interesting comparison between Sondheim and Lloyd Weber.

    Stephen Sondheim versus Andrew Lloyd-Weber
     
  23. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    Many regard Sondheim as the superior talent because he can do lyrics as well as music which is something Lloyd-Webber can't do. Sondheim's shows are usually equally balanced in terms of the quality of music and the lyrics which make them more rounded shows. Lloyd-Webber's shows on the other hand have suffered somewhat since about the mid 1990s from lyircs that don't match up to the quality of the music being produced. But, Lloyd-Webber can adapt his own scores to work for orchestra whereas Sondheim gets people to orchestrate his work for him.

    I do like more Lloyd-Webber shows than Sondheim ones. Sweeney Todd, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum & A Litle Night Music are really the only Sondheim shows I like or listen to much at all. Sweeney Todd is the only one I've actually seen on stage.
    Lloyd-Webber on the other hand has plenty of shows I like and/or have a lot of songs from - Phantom, Evita, Cats, Joseph, Jesus Christ Superstar, Aspects of Love, Starlight Express, Sunset Boulevard & Love Never Dies

    I think it is the grand sclae of Lloyd-Webber's works that make him more successful, both in music and in set design. Sweeny Todd is a great show, but Sondheim likes it done on a small scale not in a huge theatre with big expensive sets and effects as ALW has in his shows. Plus ALW is big on romance which sells with the general public.
    Fancy doesn't always work though, look at the problems that have beset the Spider-Man musical despite it being the most expensive show ever made. Lord of the Rings musical was very elaborate but was never as popular as ALW's stuff.

    The thing about Sondheim though is I think he has more integrity and is willing to stick to his principles more. Lloyd-Webber often has too much creative control over his shows (the main reason he & Tim Rice parted company and haven't worked together for 30odd years until Wizard of Oz) and is prepared to cash-in on his name or the name of his works in order to get more he doesn't need (as evident from Love Never Dies).

    Both are brilliant in their own way, but it's hard to say if either is better than the other.
     
  24. Manisphere

    Manisphere Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 25, 2007
    A Spiderman Musical?:eek: And they say Broadway is dead.

    I'll say this for Lloyd-Webber. He brings in the day trippers. So he wins cause that's what the Broadway musical is about today. Personally I love some of his songs. It's the play that he puts you through that turns me off.

    I find Sondheim the most overrated and underrated writer of Broadway musicals. His songs are often indistinguishable. I remember seeing A Sunday in the Park With George and thinking, lord this is clever but I only like or remember a song or two. Yes he's a genius with lyrics and his shows are far far more intelligent than Lloyd-Webber's shows but take away the purist bias for Sondheim and the purist hatred for Lloyd-Webber and I think they stand side by side as tune-smiths. I loved Cats as a kid. Great music. Then I saw the show. Terrible. Sweeney Todd? One of the top 5 musicals of all time. That's my list of course. It's up there with A Chorus Line and West Side Story. Two intelligent shows where every song is infectious.

    I tend to think all of the musical talent left Broadway two generations ago. They left to be singer songwriters instead. It's only now that their catalogs are being turned into these half baked musicals cause there is no young talent to outdo those older songs.

    ETA: and how could A Chorus Line not even be on the list? It saved New York's tourism in the late 70's. Bugsy Malone? That's there. Who made the list? TV writers?
     
  25. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    If it is, this abomination killed it. The show has been posponed numerous times and had various cast changes due to injury. The only showings so far have been for the media who have totally panned it. It's an over-inflated over-budget piece of self-indulgence and it seems to have rightly failed.

    There is plenty of musical talent still around in terms of the singers/actors. Many of the old greats like Colm Wilkinson & Michael Crawford still make appearances and the new blood is emerging well.
    There are still great writers of shows around, but they just aren't as prolific as a guy like Lloyd-Webber is. We'eve had some great new musical produced in the last decade such as Wicked & Hairspray.