Haines His Way

Last night, at Rose Hall in Jazz at Lincoln Center, a lucky few of us got to see about 25 minutes of footage of “Sweeney Todd.” This is the long-awaited film version of Stephen Sondheim’s magnificent 1981 Broadway musical, directed by Burton and starring Depp as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, his accomplice.

The Oscar race just officially became really, really interesting.

The three set pieces we saw were, in a word, spectacular. They were also just enough to light a fire and suggest that Paramount Dreamworks has a potential Best Picture nominee in “Sweeney Todd,” and maybe even a winner.

Both Depp and Carter sing, as do Sacha "Borat" Baron Cohen, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and three important newcomers: Jayne Wisener, Jamie Bower and Ed Sanders.

Of the three, we only got to hear Bower besides Depp and Carter. But young Bower turns out to be a winner. His rendition of my favorite number from “Sweeney” — “Joanna” — just knocked out the crowd.

And just a hint of what Depp does in this film was demonstrated in a number called “My Friends,” in which Sweeney sings to his recovered barber tools after returning from 15 years in prison. The number was breathtaking.
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This much I can now confirm: as Sondheim said in this column a few weeks ago, the film version is shorter and a little different than the stage musical. The main song, “Attend the Tale,” has been removed, as have a few others, including some interstitial material.

“I had to let the movie and the story stand on their own," Burton said. “'Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd' framed it for a theater audience. And we’ve actually added a lot of music back into the show.”

Fans of the show needn’t worry, though. The instrumental score remains intact, and you can hear bits and pieces of the excised songs in it.

As a “Sweeney Todd” buff, I can tell you that the movie seems very true to the stage version. There doesn’t seem reason for worry.

What there does seem reason for is celebration. Burton may have pulled off a great theater-to-film transfer. He’s retained the grisly aspect of the show, of course: Sweeney slits a lot of throats and "there will be blood," even more than in the movie of that name. It spurts and squirts in quantities.

But this is what we also got from seeing this footage: Johnny Depp can sing, and he makes for an impressive Sweeney. The look and attitude are right. The performance should earn him an Oscar nomination as well.

...I'm in a Michigan sweatshirt...

Thanks, DR dB!  I didn't doubt that it was happening, I was more wondering about the thought process of anyone who would DO such a thing.

Am SO anticipating tonight's combo of GHOST WHISPERER and MOONLIGHT. This has pretty much become my favorite two hours on TV. I think only UGLY BETTY/GREY'S ANATOMY and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES/BROTHERS & SISTERS can compete.

Not even served like this?