Sweeneey Todd original production- Broadway vs. tour

[Thomas Jefferson]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 3:21pm

I found a question on an old message board about Sweeney Todd, but nobody answered it.  I'm curious about the same thing: 

"What was changed, set-wise, for the touring production that was taped for TV? I've seen some photos of the set from the Broadway production in the published libretto, and it seems to me that there is more at either side of the stage, and above."

I also want to know any details about the production that were changed from the 1979 Broadway production for the first national tour that was released on video.  Basically, what would I have gotten from seeing the show on Broadway in 1979 (other than the cast) that I'm not getting from the Hearn/Lansbury DVD.  Does anybody know?

P.S.   I'm pretty sure that they cut the tooth-pulling and Parlor Songs sequences, so it would be cool if anyone could confirm that and tell me anything else that was changed.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 4:44pm

I'm not sure about the specifics, but Eugene Lee's set for the Broadway production was framed by a huge factory ceiling that was at least partially built from the parts of an actual disused factory that he disassembled. You can get a sense of the scale in this photo (the ceiling was made of hundreds of colored glass panes):



The set was so big that they couldn't do out-of-town tryouts. The exact changes made to the touring production are unknown to me but the factory shell certainly didn't travel.

[Thomas Jefferson]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 4:47pm

Yeah, there definitely isn't a glass panel in the tour video.  Thanks for the photo as a reference!

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 4:58pm

Interestingly, Sweeney Todd and Wicked’s Broadway vs. touring sets are very similar in what is scaled back for the road. (And they opened on Broadway in the same theatre, designed by the same man, which is fascinating to me.)

The original set for Sweeney, similar to Wicked, extended past the proscenium to act as a frame for the whole stage. Eugene Lee enjoys extending his sets into the audience; subtly immersive designs that make the whole theater feel closer to the action.

On tour, everything got placed behind the proscenium and the set pieces inside were scaled down to be able to fit into any space. I’m unsure if Sweeney also did this, but Wicked travels with its own proscenium frame for the Time Dragon Clock and branch framing.

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 5:36pm

To be fair, the Judge's Johanna/Mea Culpa and the tooth-pulling bit never made it to opening night, so the overwhelming majority of the Broadway audience never saw them either

[¿Macavity?]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 5:46pm

The songs in the parlor as well as the tooth pulling sections were cut in previews for the Broadway production - IIRC - for the sake of time.

I also recall reading that the lighting was made significantly brighter for the taped performance so the cameras could pick it up better.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 5:54pm

The tooth-pulling sequence and Parlor Songs were in the Broadway production after opening. It opened in March 1979 and I saw the show in May. In the Pirelli scene I think the "Now signorini, signori..." section was cut, but added back in for the cast recording and I think it has been included in most productions ever since. 

[Thomas Jefferson]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 5:59pm

Smaxie said: "The tooth-pulling sequence and Parlor Songs were in the Broadway production after opening. It opened in March 1979 and I saw the show in May. In the Pirelli scene I think the "Now signorini, signori..." section was cut, but added back in for the cast recording and I think it has been included in most productions ever since."

This is what I've seen on multiple threads (confirmed by people who saw it and have researched it).

[Smaxie]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 6:17pm

You can view both of those sequences here. This had to have been shot several months into the run, as replacements Cris Groenendaal and Betsy Joslyn are the Anthony and Johanna. (Either that, or Victor Garber and Sarah Rice were both out that day? Who knows). 

 

[NameGreg]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 7:49pm

I don’t believe Parlor songs has ever been cut from a production, at least I’ve never heard of that. The Judge’s performance of Johanna was indeed cut on Broadway, I believe during the preview period, though it was still recorded on the cast album.

As for the tooth picking scene, I think that wasn’t cut until the show hit the West End. There’s a documentary on the making of the London production, and you can see when Hal Prince decides to cut this moment.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 8:54pm

“Tower of Bray” is the part of “Parlor Songs” that usually gets cut.

[¿Macavity?]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 9:14pm

^My apologies, that is what I meant by parlor songs. And I didn't realize the tooth bit stayed until London, my bad.

Do productions ever use those bits/are they allowed to?

[NameGreg]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 9:20pm

^ They are optional cuts, it varies from production to production.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 11:52pm

The Broadway production also used a stage elevator for Sweeney’s rising from the grave in the opening and closing. At least for the filmed L.A. tour stop, this was not possible (or too expensive to install).

[morosco]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 12:29am

[Leadingplayer]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 12:45am

Is it true Victor Garber and Sarah Rice were fired? 

[morosco]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 1:14am

I've been a fan since the original production and over the many years I have never heard any rumor of Garber or Rice being fired.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 3:05am

Yeah, I worked at 54 Below back in the day and they both - Garber and Rice - worked there and no one ever mentioned a word of that. 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 7:04am

I only ever saw the NY set, never the tour. But I can vouch for this: Eugene Lee’s sketch of the NY set above is preliminary and misleading in two key ways: the left and right sides of the stage where wings would normally be was crammed with 2 stories worth of actual foundry machinery. The machinery was disassembled from an abandoned one (in Rhode Island I heard), and had pistons and gears pumping and spinning throughout the prologue. Cast members walked up metal stairs to 2nd floor galleries left amd right that would connect to the gantry (bridge) you see moving thruout the show. All that factory machinery meant the factory whistle made perfect sense when you were watching the show. To my knowledge, the machinery was absent from the tour set.

Also, as you can see from the photo of the glass ceiling posted above, the w-trusses Lee sketched for the ceiling were replaced with hidden supports above the glass panes. The vast engraving of the Docklands that served as a backdrop behind most scenes actually extended out of the proscenium onto the side stages left and right (where the organ was placed).

The whole installation was gorgeous and spectacular and never for once diminished the action held within it (imho). Such a shame it couldn’t ALL have been recorded for posterity.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 8:53am

In fairness to those confused about exactly when the tooth pulling got cut, Sondheim and Prince themselves have made the same mistake. The change was made so early in the show's history and implemented in so many productions as a result that it's easy to be confused.

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 11:56am

It’s further compounded by the fact that there were TWO tooth-pulling cuts: the Toby tooth-pulling sequence, and a second patter portion about pulling the Queen’s teeth. The patter portion was cut, and doesn’t even appear in the score. The Toby part is often cut, but was still in the show.

Interestingly, the only time I’ve ever been in a production with the tooth pulling and the Tower of Bray NOT cut was the single time I played Toby, so I got to do both sequences.