Hal Prince gave it an epic sense, a sense that this was a man of some size instead of just a nut case. It was essentially charming over there because they don't take Sweeney Todd seriously. The effect it had at Stratford East in London and the effect it had at the Uris Theater in New York are two entirely different effects, even though it's the same play. I had a feeling it would be a new animal.
What I did to Chris' play is more than enhance it. Sondheim felt that the addition of music would greatly increase the size of the drama, transforming it into a different theatrical experience, saying later: He was able to take all these disparate elements that had been in existence rather dully for a hundred and some-odd years and make them into a first-rate play.” He also infused into it plot elements from Jacobean tragedy and The Count of Monte Cristo. because wrote certain characters in blank verse. Sondheim once noted, “It had a weight to it. īond's sophisticated plot and language significantly elevated the lurid nature of the tale.
Stephen Sondheim first conceived of a musical version of the story in 1973, after he went to see Bond's take on the story at Theatre Royal Stratford East.
In Bond's reincarnation of the character, Todd was the victim of a ruthless judge, who exiled him to Australia and raped his young wife, driving her mad. The musical was, in fact, based on Christopher Bond's 1973 play Sweeney Todd, which introduced a psychological backstory and motivation to Todd's crimes. By the 1870s, Sweeney Todd was a familiar character to most Victorians. An expanded edition appeared in 1850, an American version in 1852, a new play in 1865. The murderous barber's story proved instantly popular – it was turned into a play before the ending had even been revealed in print. Set in 1785, the story featured as its principal villain a certain Sweeney Todd and included all the plot elements that were used ever since. A story called The String of Pearls was published in a weekly magazine during the winter of 1846–47. The character of Sweeney Todd had its origins in serialized Victorian popular fiction, known as penny dreadfuls.
6.9.5 1997 Finnish National Opera, Helsinki.6.8 2015 London and 2017 Off-Broadway revival.6.1 Original Broadway production and tour.
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