Last night, I saw a nearly unbarable production of "Sweeney Todd" at City Opera. I am an enormous fan of "Sweeney", but this production was completely lifeless and unenjoyable. First of all, the enormous State Theatre immediatly stripped any creepiness from the work. There's nothing eery about an enormous and brightly lit opera house. Rather than begining the evening with the wonderful organ solo that serves as a sort of overture, the pit simply tuned up as they would before a concert and began "The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd", which was sung by a chorus of weak singers whose vibrattos threw one another off pitch. The audience couldn't help but be distracted by the multi-colored pieces of tape all over the floor of the stage and the enormous supertitles being projected above the performers, both of which detracted from my enjoyment of the show (Call me a shallow audience member!). Then we were introduced to Timothy Nolen as Sweeney. Clearly a talented singer, Nolen filled the theatre with his beautiful bass, but didn't do much else. His acting was wooden, if not non-existant, and he tried to match the tone of his speaking voice with his singing voice, causing his dialogue to sound completely unnatural and forced. He, along with many members of the cast, sang at one dynamic for the entire performance, without any variation whatsoever. Elaine Paige's Mrs. Lovett was fine, but she had a tendency to slow the tempo of her solos and muck up the lyrics, which you really can't do when the lyrics are being projected above your head! She also seemed to be channelling Patti LuPone all evening, saying certain lines exactly the way Ms. LuPone did when she played the role. Scott Hogsed (A young man with a rather unfortunate name) was a travesty as Anthony. He sang as well as spoke with a thick Italian accent, making him comletely unbelievable and unpleasant to watch. Some much needed acting ability was brought to the cast by Judy Blazer as the Beggar Woman, who was both subtle and incredibly moving when necessary. Tonna Miller sang the role of Johanna beautifully, even though she was the only singer who you needed supertitles to be able to understand. Walter Charles was a fine Turpin, though he delivered one line in a New York accent, which was completely out of character. Strangely, though they included Turpin's "Johanna", the scene where he proposes to Johanna was cut. Regardless, Charles played the role very nicely. The true highlight of the evening, though, was Keith Jameson as Tobias. Not only does he have a gorgeous voice, but he's a fine actor who suited his role. The staging, which is almost an exact replica of Prince's original direction, is completely boring. In my estimation, most people who will see this production are already familiar with "Sweeney Todd". If that is the case, why show them the same production they've seen before? I've seen this staging performed many times and, frankly, I'm sick of it. Also, the original lighting does not work in the State Theatre because it's far too big and bright and it almost gives an air of cheeriness that is completely inappropriate. I was especially disapointed by the "Epiphany", which is one of my favorite moments in the score. Nolen seemed to be preserving his voice, so he over-compensated for his vocal reserve by thrashing about the stage and rolling on the floor. I'd much rather hear my Sweeney spitting out the syllables passionatly than hear him singing them in the same lovely, lilting fashion with which he might sing "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning". I enjoyed a recent high school production of "Sweeney Todd" more thoroughly than I enjoyed this production because, though the young singers could hardly handle the score, they could at least act! This piece seemed dead and unexciting last night at City Opera. I was incredibly disapointed.
...That being said, I'll be seeing it again on the 27th because I already have tickets.
