<p>I'm going to a midnight showing - so excited!</p>
<p>Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was sad that there was a lack of Johanna and Anthony singing....but I knew that going in. And there seemed to be something missing without the ballads and any chorus singing whatsoever but I still really loved it. The blood didn't disappoint. :)</p>
<p>the vocals disappointed me a little, but better to see actors-who-sing than the reverse. otherwise, i really thought it was phenomenal. i've only ever seen the revival version, so seeing it in its full grandeur was very cool. the dream sequences and such are FANTASTIC- my friends and i were absolutely howling with laughter during "by the sea."
warning: it IS very gory, though. not for the faint of heart.</p>
<p>I had never seen a production of Sweeney and was not familiar with the music -- So before I saw the movie I had no clue what to expect. I loved it!!! Intense, gory, & not your typical musical movie with actors simply "breaking into song". I was not at all bothered by the voices - When I go to a movie I want a good story, good acting. WHen I go to a musical on stage, I want all of that plus good singing.</p>
<p>Anyway, I loved it and would definitely recommend it..</p>
<p>OK - I must be one of those "faint of heart", but I couldn't watch many of the scenes in the movie. Not only very gory, but extremely graphic, to the point it made me almost sick at my stomach. I'm sure it's an excellent movie, but it's not one that I'm recommending to my friends! The music was memorable, and I couldn't get some of it out of my mind later.</p>
<p>Ericsmom, I thought it was a good adaptation of the stage musical. However, in the stage musical, it is not as graphic. You know he is slitting throats but it is at a distance and as soon as he does, the body goes down a chute. I was tipped off by my D about the graphic nature of the gory scenes in the movie and knowing myself (who sounds exactly like you!!), when I knew he was about to kill anyone, I closed my eyes for a moment so I didn't have to see the gory aspect. The rest of the movie was good, LOL.</p>
<p>Ughh! How about the sound effects as the bodies hit the floor of the basement? Ughh! Much too graphic, even for someone like me who absolutely loves zombie movies...which are less realistic I guess!</p>
<p>Just got back from seeing Sweeney, and this is all I can say: God, That's Good!!</p>
<p>Magnificent acting by Johnny Depp (though I expected nothing less) and I was absolutely impressed by Helena Bonham Carter as a singing actor. I did find parts of it hard to watch (those bodies being dumped out of the mechanical chair and ricocheting off the basement floor, for instance), but then again, the story is about violence begetting more violence and the inhumanity of the Industrial Revolution. That came through loud and clear.</p>
<p>OK, y'all are going to shoot me. My daughter and I BOTH said ST was the most godawful film we've ever seen. (well, she said it wasn't THE worst, but I did!) The only decent singer was the little boy; MY voice is better than Helena's (yes, I DO expect an EXCELLENT singer who can ALSO ACT when I see a major motion picture version of a musical!) and I can't sing AT ALL. The acting was good, but I actually fell asleep a couple of times and it was way too gory. Of course, I didn't like the stage version, either, so I guess I'm the wrong person to judge. I was disappointed in Johanna's voice; she had no energy whatsoever for Green Finch, and that's one of my fav Bwy songs. Johnny Depp's voice actually wasn't bad, considering he's probably never had a voice lesson.
OK, I'll go crawl into my basement now... maybe I'll take the mechanical chair route, lol.....</p>
<p>^^^J, LOL about the mechanical chair route to your basement! :D
For some reason, my D has always loved this musical. It is not a favorite of mine but I have seen it a couple of times at her theater camp and it was done well there. She is a lover of Sondheim and that is likely part of it. I thought the film was good as a drama (though I truly feel it didn't need to be so gory in how it was depicted but I am very squeamish that way). I tried to overlook that musically, these were not the best singers. It was an adaptation. My D really liked it a lot. She feels that one shouldn't expect the movie musical to be like a stage musical, but rather an adaptation and she felt this was a very good adaptation for the medium. Just sharing her perspective as she relayed it to me (she saw it before I did).</p>
<p>The best part was the acting and the lead characters were good in that way, I thought. Depp's singing was decent, considering that is not his background. Carter's wasn't so hot but they seemed to downplay the musicality and played up acting the songs (which she did well). Yes, given all the great MT actresses out there, you would come to expect one to be cast but it seems that in most movie musicals, they are casting movie actors, not MT ones! I'm not agreeing with that but simply an observation. I agree that the little boy playing Tobias sang very well. I thought the guy playing Anthony sang well but did not look right for the part. And yes, Green Finch and Linnet Bird was very ordinarily done and there are so many MT actresses who could have done it better. Overlooking the singing, I thought it was well done as a MOVIE. Had that been the singing in a stage musical, it would have been more problematic. I realize as theater goers, we come to expect great singing in musicals but it seems for the movie musicals, they are casting movie actors mostly. Some sing very well (like Renee Zellweger in Chicago) and some so so, such as some in this movie. Now, YOUR D could have run circles around the actress playing Johanna when it comes to singing that song!! It seems that being a great soprano singer wasn't the criteria used in casting this Joanna. I thought the cinematography was good in terms of the setting/period. Coincidentally, my D just called from.....London!</p>
<p>My daughter at this moment is off to see Sweeney for the 4th time. Obviously, she loved it. Everytime she sees it she says she sees something new and clever the Director did. Why she loves it...I don't know. She decided she wasn't interested in opera after seeing Aida - she likes the humor, joy and happiness of Musical Theatre AND the happy ending. I don't see this in Sweeney any where.</p>
<p>As for me, I couldn't even watch a lot of the scenes as they were just too gory. The acting and cinematography is fabulous. Sondheim is...different....I appreciated this difference in Into The Woods. I just wasn't as awed by the music in Sweeney - maybe it was those songs others have said were cut that makes this so popular on the stage? For the record, I've never seen Sweeney on stage and I'm not a Tim Burton fan - so chalk up my review in that context.</p>
<p>Oh, lawd, it pains me to hear people not lovin' themselves some Sweeney! :) I am surprised at those who did not like the music: whenever I hear it, it stays in my head for days and days. (I think it's a good thing when that happens. I like it less when it's Andrew Lloyd Webber music ...:)) I did find myself missing "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" and hearing Anthony and Johanna sing together. But overall, I loved this movie, despite the fact that I found myself holding my breath and not able to look at the screen at times. It is just haunting.
Those who haven't seen this musical on stage should try to do so. It's a quite different experience.</p>
<p>"She decided she wasn't interested in opera after seeing Aida - she likes the humor, joy and happiness of Musical Theatre AND the happy ending. I don't see this in Sweeney any where." MomofaPrincess, I laughed out loud when I read this!! And I LOVE the screen name!! I noticed you said you liked Sondheim's "Into the Woods". Coincidentally, my daughter will be playing Little Red in Cap21's production in Feb, and that is one of my LEAST favorite musicals. Sondheim just isn't my cup of tea, I guess. (Sorry, SoozieVT's daughter! My my, isn't she the world traveler! London - FABULOUS!!) And SoozieVT, my daughter did sing Green Finch at her last voice recital at MY coaxing - she loves the song, and it is totally in her range, but she says it's overdone so she won't use it for auditions. I disagree! But what do I know?
As far as ST goes, yes, I agree Anthony had a nice voice; forgot to mention him.</p>
<p>Red Riding Hood is a fabulous role. Congratulations to your daughter. I grew up thinking of musicals as Berlin, Oscar, Hammerstein and Rodgers. The first time I saw/heard Into the Woods it was strangely different. After hearing it over and over and seeing the challenge of singing Sondheim it grew on me. I have a new appreciation. Those songs started lingering in my head the way Sweeney does in yours.</p>
<p>Just for the record -- the STAGE version of Sweeney Todd will be the last production at Syracuse in the spring -- around the end of April. It's always been one of my favorite Sondheim shows -- and it'll be especially interesting to see it again after seeing the movie, which was practically a different show. If you're anywhere nearby, be sure to check it out!</p>
<p>Yes, congrats to your d rossji, a lead role!
I haven't seen the stage version of ST either and would definitely go if and when it tours our area. Acting on a tip from my S who is a big Dep fan, I found a website that tells how he actually started out trying to make it as a musician. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this prior, but I did a quick search and came up with this interesting site that has his past musical credits. I can't tell if he was much of a singer but he seems to have a good musical foundation for pulling off his character in Sweeney Todd.
Johnny</a> Depp Discography
I think he did a great job & my S has been going aroung the house singing bits from the movie without ever having heard the music before.
Now for the big question, should I surprise him with the Movie soundtrack or the Broadway version? He even wants to dig out his old sheet music and is talking about auditioning for shows again! I'm glad we saw the show together. Don't know if my D will tho, she's SO squeamish and hasn't seen it yet.</p>
<p>melsmom, if you're interested in getting a recorded version for your S, I'd recommend ANY of the cast recordings over the soundtrack. I especially like the latest revival cast recording with Michael Cerveris, Patti Lupone, et al. It's a particularly talented cast vocally. The current tour cast is excellent but there's no cast recording for them. :) See them if they're coming to a town near you!</p>
<p>I agree....get a Broadway cast recording over the movie. The singing was not as central or as good in the movie as in the stage show. It didn't matter THAT much as in that medium, the acting carried it. Had it been a stage show with those actors, the singing would not have been good enough. But if you are just listening to the music with no visuals, it sure is a lot better in the stage version. Still the movie adaptation was done well, in my view, as it is not meant to be just like a stage musical. Also, there are some songs in the stage version that were not in the movie.</p>
<p>This recording of the music live at the New York Philharmonic is excellent - a great mix of musical theater and operatic talent. Two of my favorites are on this one - Audra McDonald and Heidi Grant Murphy. </p>
<p>Thanks for your educated replies...as I'm hearing "I'll steal you Joanna" coming from the shower upstairs! Wish he knew more of the words! I'll see what I can do about getting a CD today :)</p>