The Songs of Johnny Go

On the Danny Elfman fans' LJ community recently, some folks were lamenting Elfman's lack of involvement in SWEENEY TODD. They were wondering why oh why Danny wasn't scoring the film? Did he have a falling out with Burton again?

...

When I pointed out that it was a, y'know, established musical by Stephen fucking SONDHEIM, they responded with shock and surprise. "Really?!" Many never heard of it. Nonetheless, one person still wished Elfman were involved somehow.

Now, y'all know that I worship Elfman's music, but... it... they... *headdesk*

In fairness, the trailer does its best to disguise the fact that it's a musical, and until yesterday, I had never actually seen SWEENEY TODD. Which I did, thanks to Netflix: the 1982 stage performance starring George Hearn and Angela Lansbury.

The entirety of which is here on YouTube:



Oh.

Oh. Wow.

Now, there's also a recording of SWEENEY TODD IN CONCERT from 2001, with George Hearn reprising the title role (he doesn't need the old-man makeup anymore!) with Patti LuPone and Neil Patrick Harris... the entirety of which is also on YouTube:



... all of which I have not yet seen, but plan to. LuPone's gonna have to work to erase the memory of Lansbury's Tony-winning performance, but she's more than earned the fair shot, from what little I know of her.

Umm. Yeah, folks, if y'all have a few hours to kill, uh, do yourself a favor and watch either of these, if you're totally unfamilar with SWEENEY TODD.

So with these in mind, I can only wonder what the hell Tim Burton is gonna do with the movie. Will audiences respond to it? Fuck if I know. The subject matter alone will likely turn many people off, and Sondheim is... not the most accessible musical scribe, shall we say?

I mean, shows like SWEENEY TODD and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE aren't so much musicals as they are operettas. And even then, unlike operas with arias, there're very few hum-able melodies in Sondheim shows. They're more like plays written 90% in melodic recitative (recitative usually being my very least favorite part of opera).

And then there's the cast.

I am not at all worried about Sacha Baron Cohen as Perelli, Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin, or Timothy Spall as Beadle Bamford. I mean, it'll be interesting seeing Rickman actually play lecherous*, but otherwise, they'll be fantastic, I have no doubt. Cohen especially should be an absolute blast; watch the 1982 version, and the second Perelli shows up, you'll be like "Oh fuck, it's Borat."

No, the main worries are Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. With the latter, I honestly have no idea what to expect, but with the former... well, he's not a singer. Not an opera singer, anyway. But he doesn't need to be, of course. We live in a day and age of mics, where non-opera singers with weak voices can perform LA BOHEME on Broadway, and perhaps non-operatic voices would be work just fine, perhaps even better, in film.

Even then, though, it seems Depp's not really singing, but more like that "sing-talking" thing. Which also might work, if done well. One thing I noticed about George Hearn's performance was how tortured he seemed, whereas Depp in the trailer appears to be more outright sinister and devilish.

All in all, I'm more interested than ever to see the film. I just hope Burton doesn't forget to imbue some heart and humanity in the proceedings, which I felt were sorely lacking from his faithful-but-cold CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.

In the meantime, I'm just gonna watch SWEENEY TODD IN CONCERT and swoon.

(side-note: it looks like in 2008 there'll be a Broadway revival of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. I'm sorely tempted to make the trek, even though the original Mandy Patinkin/Bernadette Peters recording is one of my very favorite films of all time)


*is he anything less than delightfully unpleasant in real life? I think he'd be even less fun to hang out with than John Cleese.