Is next year's "Sweeney Todd" certain to make a killing? (Don't Miss Today's Weekly Blast)
Is next year's "Sweeney Todd" certain to make a killing? (Don't Miss Today's Weekly Blast)
Upcoming Josh Groban version is the best revival that hasn't yet opened
Shalom!
This week, The Broadway Maven looks at Sweeney Todd and, for the first time, the music of Hamilton.
• On Sunday, December 18 at Noon ET and Monday, December 19 at Noon and 7 pm ET we’ll have a FREE class exploring Sweeney Todd, taught by our music educator Mateo Chavez Lewis. Register here.
• On Tuesday, December 20 at Noon and 7 pm ET, we’re offering a Master Class on the music of Hamilton. This is a 75-minute class that will not be recorded and will not be repeated, with all-new material at an advanced level taught by our music educator. Register here.
• This Weekly Blast includes:
A) an ESSAY anticipating a successful revival of Sweeney Todd on Broadway next year (included here FREE in this preview issue);
B) a YouTube GEM mash-up of BOTH Sweeney Todd and Hamilton;
C) a REPORT on a school production of Sweeney Todd in which real throats were slit (by accident);
D) a YouTube GEM about the musical theater references in Hamilton;
E) a SURVEY about Lin-Manuel Miranda; and
F) a LAST BLAST about Dear Evan Hansen (included here FREE).
Mickey Jo Boucher: Is it too soon to have the 2023 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical inscribed with the words: Sweeney Todd? The upcoming production, set to open in March, is perhaps the most hotly anticipated new show this season, thanks largely to its accomplished and decorated creative team. Director Thomas Kail is reuniting with his Hamilton collaborator Alex Lacamoire, who will be musical supervisor. The addition of award-winning blockbuster play choreographer Steven Hoggett and Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 set designer Mimi Lien dials up the volume on the awards buzz plenty.
True, too, is that a fully staged revival of Sweeney Todd has been a long time coming. The murderous musical has been seen in concert, on screen and even in a site-specific staging in a pie shop since its last Broadway outing in 2005, which itself was a pared-back “actor musician” staging from director John Doyle. If an 18-year wait doesn’t create appetite enough for a grand staging, the outpouring of love for Stephen Sondheim’s works in the wake of his death has been enormous. So this horror musical, perhaps Sondheim’s best-known work as a composer-lyricist, is sure to light the box office at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre ablaze.
And yet, it isn’t without its naysayers. That’s largely due to the unconventional principal casting, with popular recording artist Josh Groban as the titular Demon Barber and Tony-Award winning comedienne Annaleigh Ashford as his baking accomplice, Mrs Lovett. They are a young, attractive duo (ages 41 and 37, respectively) who, in their careers thus far, have yet to display much broadness, villainy or, in Ashford’s case, a convincing British accent.
Nonetheless, my faith that this production will prove a triumph holds strong and no serious competition for the Best Revival nod has yet to emerge.
(Follow Mickey Jo across the Web @mickeyjotheatre.)
The ALL-ACCESS Passes for 2023 are on sale. For the one-time price of $225, you get automatic paid registration for all classes, workshops, series, and seminars; a full (paid) Weekly Blast subscription; and two exclusive Passholders-only experiences per month. Passes only available through December 31.
Our FREE Sweeney Todd class meets this Sunday, December 18 at Noon ET and Monday, December 19 at Noon and 7 pm ET.
ALL-ACCESS Passholders do not need to register. Just show up.
Our MASTER class on the music of Hamilton will be a real treat. Music educator Mateo Chavez Lewis has designed a 75-minute lesson peeling back the layers of the musical themes and songs in the show from a music theory perspective. Students should already be familiar with the show’s score. The class will be 100 percent new, and will not be recorded or repeated.
The Master Class meets Tuesday, December 20 at Noon and 7 pm ET. Cost: $12.ddd
For your Sweeney Todd homework, watch the video below and answer in the comments: Is Sweeney Todd a villain, a hero, or an anti-hero? Explain your answer.
And here’s your homework for the Hamilton Master Class:
Note: links to register for ALL classes are ALWAYS available at TheBroadwayMaven.com.
• Sunday, December 18 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Noon ET, FREE)
• Monday, December 19 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Tuesday, December 20 MASTER CLASS on Hamilton (Noon and 7 pm ET, $12)
• Sunday, December 25 NO CLASS
• Monday, December 26 Assassins (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Monday, January 2 A Chorus Line (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Sunday, January 8 Bye Bye Birdie (Noon ET, FREE)
• Monday, January 9 Bye Bye Birdie (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Tuesday, January 10 Watch Party: The Producers (7 pm ET, ALL-ACCESS Only)
Reminder: ALL-ACCESS Passholders do not need to sign up or pay for anything. Just show up!
LAST BLAST: Is Evan Hansen Jewish? It’s not directly addressed in the show, but there are hints he might be. (His Jewishly named cousin Jared Kleinman boasts of a hookup with an Israeli girl at summer camp, for example.) Much of the show’s creative team is Jewish (director Michael Greif, co-composer-lyricist Benj Pasek, book writer Steven Levenson) and Ben Platt is one of the most Jew-y Jews to have played Broadway. Evan’s own identity, though, can possibly be teased out through the show’s symbols, many of which are quintessential national objects like apples and baseball. Evan’s experience “on the outside always looking in,” too, has historical resonance for many American Jews.
The Broadway Maven, David Benkof, helps students further their appreciation of musical theater through his classes, his YouTube Channel, and his Weekly Blast. Contact him at DavidBenkof@gmail.com.