The show was a first for the RNT in a string of successful musical revivals which included Sondheim’s ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ and ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’. Both leads ultimately won Olivier Awards for their performances, along with the award for Best Musical Revival. Starring Julia Mckenzie as Mrs Lovett and Alun Armstrong in the title role, the show was praised for its staging and its regression back to that of a chamber piece. Having shown a previous success rate with musicals, the show was presented in the intimate Cottesloe Theatre – the smallest of the building’s three houses. The first London revival occurred in 1993 courtesy of the Royal National Theatre on London’s South Bank, directed by Declan Donnallan. The show did however end up winning the Olivier Award for Best Musical, with Dennis Quilley (who collected the award saying that he was sure it would come back in some form for a longer run. After opening in July 1980 the production closed after only 157 performances, despite mixed-to-favourable reviews. Sweeney Todd’s first incarnation in London was seen as a commercial flop, as it struggled to fill the vast Theatre Royal Drury Lane in an original production which starred homegrown talent Sheila Hancock. As genius as it seems to be, the average theatre goer can feel excluded from shows such as ‘Assassins’ or ‘A Little Night Music’ as the humour and characterisation are less obvious than other musicals with the wit and charm coming directly from the lyrics themselves. Critics have had a difficult relationship with Sondheim over the years, with many growing to appreciate his work a second or third time around.
Sondheim himself jokes that his work only becomes ‘fashionable’ (and by fashionable he means commercial) once they are revived, and Sweeney is no exception. As rewarding as these parts are to play, the demands they place on the actors who rise to the challenge are unlike others in the modern musical theatre repertoire. Every word was specifically chosen, with each pause, rest and beat carefully created to stir some form of reaction from the audience.
In an interview with the Guardian Imelda Staunton likened Sondheim to Shakespeare, saying that Mrs Lovett was one of the hardest parts she has ever had to play. That being said, there are many hidden traps along the way for actors to fall into, as the score is so delicately written that even songs that on first listen sound dainty and facetious upon study prove to be brutally demanding and difficult to deliver. Actors can approach these roles in an individual way, not worrying about whose shoes they are stepping into but rather how they can make those shoes unique. Any actor worth his salt has either Sweeney or Mrs Lovett in their ‘bucket list’ of ‘must-doos’, and thanks to the flexibility of the characters successful performances have been as widely removed as Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp, to Jason Donovan and most recently Michael Ball. Much of the show’s success, and indeed the success of its London revival comes from the strength of the lead characters.
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Nowadays the show seems to be wedged somewhere between the two, with professional opera companies the world over presenting concert performances, along with new revivals by directors such as John Doyle and Jonathan Kent reinventing the show for new audiences.
Was it an opera? Elements of the score would suggest so. Was it a musical? Hal Prince was directing. The problem of form affected the show early on, with fans not knowing exactly where the show fell.
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From humble beginnings in both London and New York, the show has spawned multiple professional revivals around the world, opera concerts, a blockbuster Tim Burton movie as well as living a fruitful life on the amateur and high school stage. Original London Production – Drury Lane 1980Īs Sondheim’s most gruesome musical, Sweeney Todd has had a long and sometimes difficult journey into West End success.
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