The Songs of Johnny Go

You may be asking yourself, "Say, , who wins at life and everything?"

The answer, my friends, is angrylemur:



If you don't get it, read my previous post and click on the various links.

And there you go, nymphgalatea and zhinxy. See you there for opening night in 2012. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go serve a dark and a hungry god. He craves Trader Joe's Oreos.

So we're winding down to the end of the number "My Friends" and I'm starting to shift anxiously in my seat. Mom is eyeing me suspiciously as I tell myself, "don't do it, don't do it, don't do it," and the music swells. It's rising, higher, more triumphant, and I'm squirming even more, barely able to contain it bubbling up inside me. "Don't do it, don't do it, don't--!" And Johnny Depp rises like a reborn fiery angel of vengeance, proclaiming just as the music hits...: "At last... my arm is complete again!"

Me (swinging my arms in my theater seat, singing full blast): LIFT YOUR RAZOR HIIIIIGH, SWEE-NEY, HERE IT SINGING YESSSSS! SINK IT IN THE ROSY SKIN OF RIGHTEOUSNESSSSSS!!!!!!

... Erm... I was lucky the movie theatre's sound was blasted up high, or I might have been really embarassed.

Sorry, I just... well I missed the chorus, damn it! Seriously, between that and none of the patrons of Mrs. Lovett's pie shop singing "God that's good!" during the song "God that's good!", it's like Burton and company were like, "One person singing = good, two people singing = tolerable, more than that is FORBIDDEN!"

Other than that, I kinda fucking loved SWEENEY TODD.

And it's tricky, because you have to understand, I was a seriously recent and hardcore convert to the Angela Lansbury/George Hearn version (there entirety of which you can watch HERE), and wasn't sure if the movie would be able to live up to it, what with a cast of actors who--it seemed--couldn't really sing.

Well, can they? The answer is yes... in the context of the film.

With the exception of Toby, the singing alone is not all that great. Only the Hot Topic generation totally unfamiliar with the original show will likely snap up the soundtrack and lovingly listen to it on its own, not realizing that--relatively speaking--it's not that strong.

But when you combine the acting behind those vocal performances... and you combine Tim Burton's sumptuous visuals... and you throw in the extra sounds you wouldn't get in a stage version, the metal ring of blades, the scrape of silver against soft wet flesh... taken as a whole, it about evenly matches the seductive and awesome power of a great stage SWEENEY TODD.

While being two very different beasts. Apples and oranges, really.

And that's exactly how this should be viewed. Sondheim was right, it's not the stage version, but it's every bit as deserving of the title of SWEENEY TODD.

Burton hasn't made it his own, mind you. Perhaps if he'd has a bit more fun in some places (why so dour all the time, folks?!) it might well have been, but no, Angela Lansbury's legacy is well intact, thank you very much. It's not going to be the definitive version of SWEENEY TODD anymore than BEOWULF earlier this year will be the definitive version of that story either.

But let's talk actual Sweeneys. After watching the George Hearn version, listening to the original Len Cariou production, and seeing Johnny Depp, I'm going to have to say that Hearn is my favorite. It's hard to compare Cariou on voice alone, so I'm willing to grant that on stage he had a lot more going on, but Hearn had far more passion and anguish.

That's the thing that bugged me about Depp's performance. Look, he was excellent, he was intense, he was powerful... but look back at Hearn's performance. What struck me most about Hearn was that this was a man who was constantly and forever hurting, whereas Depp's Sweeney seems to have lost his humanity long ago. He spends the entire film glowering, rarely showing any of that humanity, and even at the end, when he should be feeling utter anguish... he almost just seems to deadpannedly accept it all and inevitable.

Depp is all burning revenge without the pain that spurred it forth, and while it's mostly exciting to watch (and it worked beautifully in the "By the Sea" number), it's not exactly sympathetic. Sure, you could have a Sweeney who's lost his humanity, but would you really want to if given the choice?

Also, Timothy Spall, known to many here as "Peter Pettigrew" (the things I do to try to connect with my audience, oy), who played Beadle Bamford. The man is a grotesque work of art. Seriously, was anybody else, like, totally transfixed every second he was on screen? That limp hair, that toothy evil grin, the complete and utter absence of a neck, that sliding cane, that entire awesome outfit... and every move he made, it was like he was dancing. His arms were always free, his knees always bent to the side like an elegant and well-fed spider, or perhaps a tick. His very presence was just dazzling in a sleazy gross vile sort of way.

I want their coats. All of their coats. Hats, too. Cravats, while you're at it. I want. Now. Give me dem.

No, you know what I want? Between this and GANGS OF NEW YORK, I want my entire world to be designed by Dante Ferretti. Make this happen. Doom commands it.

Oh, and one more note about the actual singing abilities of the cast: they were good, in the context of the film. On stage, they'd be totally "meh," by and large, but their acting absolutely made up for it. Take the young actor who played Toby, on the other hand: he had an EXCELLENT and powerful singing voice, one that threatened to drown out Carter's weak little thing during "Not While I'm Around," and yet he couldn't act worth shit. So there you go. I still prefer Neil Patrick Harris. But I did like what they did with Toby at the end.

So in summation, I know some people are like, "ew, another dark Tim Burton movie where Johnny Depp is gaunt and weird and Helena Bonham Carter uses up precious oxygen, wah wah wah," yes, those people are out there. But seriously, flaws aside (and mainly, those are just criticisms from a lover of the stage version--one might read as "the REAL version" if you so desired--this truly is the most sumptuous film Burton's made since SLEEPY HOLLOW, and his best since ED WOOD.



Once again, if you wanna see the celebrating classic Lansbury/Hearn version it's all up here for free. Just, y'know, you'd like to see a version with people who can actually really sing.

Seems Don Rickles is performing in Atlantic City this January.

I think that seeing him before he dies is a moral imperative. For Johnny Go, you understand.



So further SWEENEY TODD thoughts...

First, here's a review of Tim Burton's SWEENEY TODD, reviewed by a Sondheim-fan theatre geek. Sounds about what I was hoping to expect. Basically, we just need to appreciate it not just for what it is, but as a different beast entirely. I look forward to it more than ever.

(don't read the comments afterward, though: your brain will melt from the loudmouthed asshattery of internet message boards)

I just watched 2001's SWEENEY TODD IN CONCERT, which is my second exposure to the show. I think I generally still prefer the 1982 version (the entirety of both of which are on YouTube), but the 2001 version was superior, in some respects. It definitely had the better Joanna, IMO, but the Perelli was lacking, clearly a singer more than an actor. The 2001 also had a postmodern snarky quality that was very fun, as opposed to the very earnest 1982 version. Also, Neil Patrick Harris.

George Hearn was still great in 2001, and it's always fascinating hearing how male singing voices can mature and develop, but I think I prefer the raw passion of the 1982 younger Hearn. That's gonna be the hardest thing about the adjustment to Johnny Depp: moving away from operatic fire and into sullen brooding.

Angela Lansbury and Patti LuPone... well, comparing the two is just apples and oranges. Very different takes on the characters, both of them excellent. Lansbury seemed more innocent, in her twisted way, more like a little girl, while LuPone struck me as more seen-it-all, down-to-earth, cynical, sensible, and mature, with a heart of gold... of sorts. I've known some Rudes like her.

Oh, and Judge Turpin 2001 really, really, really, really, really looked like Vigo the Carpathian from GHOSTBUSTERS II. Just sayin'.

So yeah, very much looking forward to the film now, and trying to keep an open mind. In the meantime, I must continue to suppress the urge to run up to customers in the comic store and belt "THEY ALLLLLLLLL DESERVE TO DIE! TELL YA WHY, MRS. LOVETT, TELL YA WHY!"