<p>Johanna</p>
<p>I feel you, Johanna,
I feel you.
I was half convinced I'd waken,
Satisfied enough to dream you.
Happily,
I was mistaken, Johanna!</p>
<p>I'll steal you, Johanna,
I'll steal you.
Do they think that walls can hide you?
Even now I'm at your window.
I am in the dark beside you,
Buried sweetly in your yellow hair.
I feel you, Johanna,
And one day I'll steal you.
Till I'm with you then I'm with you there,
Sweetly buried in your yellow hair.</p>
<p>LOL Susan! I'm printing them right now :D</p>
<p>If you are interested in hearing and seeing an excellent concert version of Sweeney Todd, you can purchase a DVD of the San Francisco Symphony with George Hearn as Sweeny, Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett, Davis Gaines as Anthony, Lisa Vromen as Johanna, Neil Patrick Harris as Tobias, Victoria Clark as Lucy, and Stanford Olsen as Pirelli. The singers are all excellent. PBS featured the performance on their Great Performances series in 2001. Amazon.com:</a> Sweeney Todd in Concert: DVD: George Hearn,Patti LuPone,Neil Patrick Harris,Timothy Nolen,Davis Gaines,Lisa Vroman,Victoria Clark,John Aler,Stanford Olsen,Lonny Price</p>
<p>I pulled out my copy of Sweeney last week to hear Davis Gaines. I'd heard Mr. Gaines on Dec. 15 at a benefit performance of "Man of La Mancha" at FSU. I was curious to find out how he would sound in a different role. I had not watched Sweeney in a few years, so I did not remember the performance well. Mr. Gaines was a wonderful Anthony and he did a spectacular job as Don Quixote at FSU. (In addition to Mr. Gaines, guest artists also played the roles of Aldonza / Dulcinea and Sancho. FSU students played the supporting roles. D was tapped to play Quixote's niece, Antonia, and had a nice song feature.)</p>
<p>I made the mistake of watching the tape I made of the Sweeney performance back in 2001 the same day I went to see the new movie. Though I enjoyed the movie and I knew not to expect great singing, it was still a bit of a let down not to hear the same type of glorious singing I heard on my video. My husband, D, and I all agreed that the young boy who played Toby (Tobias) was the best singer in the cast. He totally outshone Helena Bonham Carter in their duet. I found the casting of Johanna particularly interesting. The girl who played the role had a very doll-like look about her. She did not seem quite real. Perhaps that was intentional. I did not care for her voice. The first thing that popped into my head when she opened her mouth was, "Oh my gosh! She reminds me of the warbly-voiced woman who played the title role in Disney's Snow White." </p>
<p>Did anyone else laugh when the first victim slid out of the chair and landed on his head? My family and I and most of the people in the theatre with us laughed out loud. It was just such an absurd scene! The "gore" did not bother us in the least. The blood did not look real. I thought the entire picture had a very surreal, fairy-tale like quality. It very much had the stamp of a Tim Burton picture to me.</p>
<p>I would recommend the movie to friends, but I actually much prefer the stage version of Sweeney. I hope that readers who have not had the opportunity to see a stage production of Sweeney get to see it in all of its glory soon :).</p>
<p>^^ that's a phenomenal version. i'd never seen sweeney, and before i went to see the revival my friend insisted i watch the hearn/lupone/clark version-- it was good because i sort of knew what was going on in the show.</p>
<p>i was fine with the blood and gore except for mrs. lovett at the very end-- i was scrunched all the way down in my seat covering my face, haha.</p>
<p>dancersmom, the bodies hitting the floor were actually one thing I could NOT stand to watch. And I agree with deenierah: Mrs. L in the bake oven at the end was way too much for me, too.</p>
<p>Almost all the scenes in the meat preparation room (bodies, body parts, bake oven, grinder, etc.) were way too much for me - much worse than the blood when throats were slit.</p>
<p>WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW is all I have to say! I thought it was one of my favorite movies ever, I'm not sure why either. I think at first it was weird to see Johnny Depp singing b/c he's an actor not a singer, but, I soon got used to and later enjoyed it! </p>
<p>I think the songs, like "Johanna," were so cute and well done! </p>
<p>It would've been cool with dancing too, but even without I loved it. I thought the acting was first rate, top of the line, great. </p>
<p>I know a lot of people who didn't like it and I don't know how!</p>