This afternoon I was able to "attend the tale of Sweeney Todd." This is one of the best shows I've ever seen on Broadway.
This revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" is very stripped down from previous productions. No set changes and the cast of actors doubles as the orchestra. (You haven't lived until you've seen Patti LuPone playing the Tuba."
Reducing the show to the music, lyrics and basic staging ups the intensity of the story of a murderous barber who teams up with a woman who needs "meat" for her pies on Old Londontown.
LuPone (who won the Tony for her performance in "Evita" in 1980) is great. But Michael Cerveris (who I previously saw in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and who won the Tony for his performance in "Assassins") steals the show with his powerhouse performance.
The way the show is staged much of the drama takes place in your head -- which is far more frightening than seeing it acted out on stage.
I'm confident this show will win the 2006 Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.
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