<p>A break from audition discusion? Anyone going to see Johnny Depp Friday?</p>
<p>I wish! My MT D has a cast party that night, and I cannot go without her. So Saturday it is ...... I can't wait! ST is my favorite musical of all time.</p>
<p>I wish. I have to get ready for xmas and going into NYC to see a friend, see seafarer, cyrano, and is he dead?. i'll probably see it while i'm in NYC with my friend though</p>
<p>I might go see it on Thursday night if I don't have to much school work undone. I'm so excited.</p>
<p>"Sweeney" is so staggeringly brilliant, and Johnny Depp is so...well, heck, he's so Johnny Depp!...that of course I can't wait to see it. But after reading Sondheim's description/explanation of the many ways in which the movie is different from the show <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/theater/16gree.html?_r=1&oref=slogin%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/theater/16gree.html?_r=1&oref=slogin</a> (only 10 songs!!), I'm altering my expectations -- not lowering, mind you, but definitely altering.</p>
<p>I think I'm seeing it Sunday. I have the soundtrack (got a leaked copy from a friend) and Helena Bonham Carter is TERRIBLE. Depp sounds fine, a little 'pop' but I think it will work for the film. The fact that Toby is played by a little boy threw me off at first, but he sounds so adorable.</p>
<p>is this movie is a big enough deal that there'll be thursday midnight showings? thoughts?</p>
<p>Oh I don't think there are any midnight showings. I just see new movie releases at my job the night before they come out.</p>
<p>I personally didn't find Helena Bonham Carter bad. Her interpretation of the character is much more coniving and subdued than other stage Lovetts who are usually big and brassy. Her acting is incredible and if you really can't judge her performance based entirely on what you hear on the CD because the key to her performance is watching what and how she does something, while she's singing.</p>
<p>Sondheim did approve of Bonham's casting and said that he prefers actors who sing rather than singers who act. Of course, I guess it didn't hurt that she and the director live together. They had their second child over the weekend BTW. I am really looking forward to seeing her in the role. I'm a Dep fan too, but I think she can probably act circles around him.</p>
<p>A few theatres in the DC area, including one just a couple miles from our house, are having midnight shows on Thursday (actually 11:59pm, for whatever reason). My D and a couple of friends are planning to go, and she even said it would be fine for me to join them. I just might do it, as I'm not working Friday.:cool: There's also a 2:15am show...appropriate for "Sweeney," but implausible for ol' artsymom.</p>
<p>This show is opening opposite National Treasure (#2) on Friday, which is big for my family. We preordered National Treasure tickets for the whole family for Friday night and Sweeney Todd for my MT son and me for Sat. afternoon. Can't wait - I haven't seen the stage show.</p>
<p>Another I want to see is opening Friday too - "Walk Hard." I'm a big fan of John C. Reilly, ever since Boogie Nights and when he stole the show in the "Chicago" movie, although not a difficult thing to do in that movie.</p>
<p>cartera, we're also looking forward to Walk Hard. John C. Reilly is a favorite of ours, and, not surprisingly, started in theatre in Chicago. My favorite role of his was in the Broadway show True West, where he shared the stage with another favorite of ours, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who, I believe, is probably one of the best transformational actors of our time. It was a Sam Shepard play, with John and Philip each playing both lead roles, switching them up on a nightly basis. Both received Tony nominations that year. Fabulous theatre!</p>
<p>We'll probably see Sweeney sometime next week. I'm looking forward to it but I'm surrounded, both family and many friends, with hardcore Sweeney fans and they all are feeling some trepidation about the film, which happens with every stage to screen adaptation.</p>
<p>Friday morning, 12:01am...I'm going! Very excited. A little nervous, though, as it's a favorite and I hope they did it justice...</p>
<p>Just do not expect to see the stage version made into a movie; according to the NY Times, there have been substantial changes made.</p>
<p>^ I almost feel like that's better when the movie and stage show of a musical are two completely separate entities-- what works on stage does not necessarily work on screen. I almost feel like they tried too hard to be true to say, Rent, and that's why it turned out so oddly (at least in my opinion)...</p>
<p>I have a feeling I will love it as a Tim Burton film but not as an interpretation of the musical, if that makes sense.</p>
<p>My D is seeing it tonight at midnight. She is both a huge Tim Burton fan (one of her dream roles is to play Sally someday in a stage version of Nightmare before Christmas) and of course, Johnny Depp.</p>
<p>If you get a chance, go see the national tour. I saw it at ACT in San Francisco and was blown away. The actors are the band, and all are accomplished on thier instruments. They play he entire score by memory, and sing and act well too. I didn't get to see it on Broadway but many of the cast members are the same.</p>
<p>D and I were fortunate to score last minute front row tickets and enjoyed seeing ST on Broadway 2 weeks into the run. After the show we met Lauren Molina who is an absolute doll and who said she would have committed to learing to play any instrument for the opportunity to be on stage alongside Patty Lupone. We loved it and found it one of the most impressive shows ever, in part due to its complexity in its simplicity. I realize that that seemingly makes no sense, but I am referring to the almost minimalistic approach of the staging and the fact that the actors in a very subtle way pulled double duty as very talented musicians. We did feel though that some audience members did not really know "what to make of it" :) and were longing for the "traditional version", which is of course the beauty of personal preference.</p>