Sweeney vs Pacific Overtures
Sweeney vs Pacific Overtures
#1Sweeney vs Pacific Overtures
Posted: 4/29/17 at 5:53pm
I may only have room for one of the two current Sondheim revivals on my next trip to NY. This may seem like a no brainer but I am deeply on the fence. I love SWEENEY to death but this would be my forth or fifth time seeing it live (the John Doyle revival, at San Francisco Opera, and a couple of local productions) - is the production truly worth missing out on Pacific Overtures, which I have never seen? On the other hand, going beyond the cuts made to the score (which I have kinda made my peace with), is the rare privilege of seeing Pacific Overtures at all worth seeing a production that I might not think is great?
#2Sweeney vs Pacific Overtures
Posted: 4/29/17 at 5:58pm
I'd go see Sweeney. Carolee Carmello is a stunning Lovett. This Pacific Overtures is hacked to death. You wouldn't be seeing the REAL Pacific Overtures. I would watch the video of the OBC on Youtube instead.
vegas2
Featured Actor Joined: 12/5/09
#3Sweeney vs Pacific Overtures
Posted: 4/29/17 at 6:07pm
This was my first exposure to Pacific Overtures, and I found it to be wan. I could happily have waited for a better production, and look forward to seeing one someday.
I am looking forward to Sweeney.
#4Sweeney vs Pacific Overtures
Posted: 4/30/17 at 2:36am
During the original run of SWEENEY, there was many an evening when we stood in the TKTS line seeking tickets for some new show, only to look at each other and say aloud: "But we could just go see SWEENEY again." And so we did; I lost count of the number of times.
That was 40 years ago and I've seen many other versions, but I still feel more or less the same way (particularly for a PACIFIC OVERTURES without "Chrysanthemum Tea"
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If you someday get a chance to see a PO that respects the original text, by all means make the effort!
#5Sweeney vs Pacific Overtures
Posted: 4/30/17 at 7:58am
As it happens, I saw both shows yesterday.
The discussion at the 'PO previews' thread sums up pretty clearly the situation over at Classic Stage. A group of wonderfully talented actors and musicians are making the best possible case for (what I think is) a deeply flawed concept.
The score is wonderfully performed and 'Someone in a Tree' is very rewarding, but--overall--I can't say you will see a production that will give you that uniquely satisfying experience of ***finally*** seeing the show that goes with an OBCR you've been listening to for years. In fact, if it's really an OBCR that you've been listening to for years, you're likely to be repeatedly aggravated and disappointed.
'Sweeney Todd', on the other hand, is a thrilling, extraordinarily satisfying production that hits almost every note that you are hoping it will hit yet is almost certainly unlike any version of the show that you've seen before.
If you choose 'Sweeney', do everything you can to sit at the front tables--seats 'A' through 'F'--doesn't matter where, or which direction the seats face.
You think, what do you want?
You think, make a decision...
Updated On: 4/30/17 at 07:58 AM
#6Sweeney vs Pacific Overtures
Posted: 4/30/17 at 10:22am
That is excellent feedback. To give further context to my approach to Pacific Overtures, I have been working off of both the OBC, the Revival Cast and the video of the OBC, the existance of which is enough to make me question my status as an agnostic.
