Sweeney Wonka, or Willy Todd

Ok, first of all, let's get this out of the way; it's still dragging on and I'm really getting peeved with the producers for not firing all the striking stagehands and hiring people willing to work. Ok, on to more important topics.

So last night, I had one session with a client and then hurried home in the horrid cold and settled in to watch Reaper in which the onscreen homoerotic tension often warms me up. However, I found it to be very disappointing, first because it was the first episode, at least in my recollection, in which Bret Harrison has remained fully clothed throughout. Normally he spends an extended amount of screentime in only his boxers, or at the very least shirtless, and I was counting on that to help me warm up from the bone chilling cold already settling in, and I was left high and dry. Then, about three quarters of the way through, we got an exclusive extended sneak peak at Sweeney Todd. To start with the good, visually it is not as Burtonesque as I was afraid it could have been. Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Tim Burton in general, when he makes a good movie like Batman Returns or Edward Scissorhands, he makes masterpieces, but when he makes bad movies like Planet of the Apes or Willy Wonka, he makes horrid movies, and his signature visual style, in my opinion, doesn't fully go with the feel of Sweeney Todd. I imagine something sincerely dark with streaks of black humor, not cartoonish dark with a broad wink at the camera, which is what I was so afraid he was going to do. Fortunately, he seems to understand the material and has given it the visual look it deserves, although whether the entire movie will remain consistent with this sneak peak remains to be seen. Unfortunately, Johnny Depp's singing still didn't get any better, and I'm really not sure that he's the right actor for this part. I know, he's chummy with Burton, and those pesky pirate movies notwithstanding, he's an A-List talent (and should have won the Oscar for Finding Neverland), but I think musical theatre is not for him. Why isn't Michael Cerveris, George Hearn, or even Len Cariou playing the part? They could have had a terrific movie, instead by casting Depp, they seem to have settled for making a blockbuster, same as the producers of Hairspray did when they opted for John Travolta instead of Harvey Fierstein. They showed part of the Epiphany number, and again, he was doing it with a very thin voice almost speaking in sing-song rather than actually singing in the menacing snarl the number deserves. I understand that it's a hard number to film while keeping the narrative going, because it starts with Mrs. Lovett in the store, then Sweeney addresses the audience, and then it goes back to Mrs. Lovett and the story resumes. I'm interested to see how they're going to work a lot of that out, hopefully it will be better than the movie version of A Little Night Music, probably the only other Sondheim show besides Forum (which also had a horrid movie adaptation) and Into The Woods with as filmable a narrative as Sweeney, although Passion and Bounce may make good movies depending on who becomes involved should the decision ever be made to cinematize them. Follies, Company, Merrily, and Sunday would be much more difficult, although if Chicago could be done, I'm sure there's a way any of these could as well.

Speaking of Sunday in the Park, I got an email from the Chicago Theatre on Monday announcing a pre-sale for Mandy Patinkin, who will be appearing in concert on March 29. I'm just waiting to hear from my compainon if he wants to go or not and then I'm buying. At least Chicago is still a city for good musical theatre events.