Four by Sondheim
Page 37
Directed by Harold Prince
Dance and Movement by Larry Fuller
Production Designed by Eugene Lee
Costumes Designed by Franne Lee
Lighting Designed by Ken Billington
Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
Production Musical Director, Ray Cook
“Parlor Songs” was deleted and a new song, “Beggar Woman’s Lullaby” (pages 167-168), was added.
AWARDS
London Standard Drama Award — Best Musical
Society of West End Theatre Awards: Best Musical and Best Actor in a Musical (Denis Quilley) . Also received a nomination for Best Actress in a Musical (Sheila Hancock).
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street was presented by the Houston Grand Opera (David Gockley, General Director, John DeMain, Music Director) at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, Houston, Texas, June 14-17 and 19-24, 1984 for 10 performances, with the following cast:
ANTHONY HOPE Cris Groenendaal
SWEENEY TODD Timothy Nolen
BEGGAR WOMAN Adair Gockley
MRS. LOVETT Joyce Castle
JUDGE TURPIN Will Roy
THE BEADLE Barry Busse
JOHANNA Lee Merrill
TOBIAS RAGG Steven Jacob
PIRELLI Joseph Evans
JONAS FOGG Rodney Stenborg
CHORUS: Robert Ard, Lezlie Cole, David Edlund, Lauren Edlund, Mary Jane Ely, Janey Hall, Patricia Hendrickson, Darlene Hitchman, Eileen Koyl, Scott Marshall, Ruth Porter, David Rumpy, Carl Saloga, Robert Sheets, James Sikorski, Margaret Stenborg, Rodney Stenborg, Diana Stoerzbach, James Tinkle, Graydon Vaught
SUPERNUMERARIES: Al Briscoe, Richard Engels, Walt Jaeschke, Bob Mitchell, Julie Stenborg, Mike Talcott, Charles Williams
Conductor, John DeMain
Directed by Harold Prince
Assistant to Mr. Prince, Arthur Masella
Production Designer, Eugene Lee
Costume Designer, Franne Lee
Lighting Designer, Ken Billington
Original Choreography, Larry Fuller
Original Choreography re-created by William Kirk
Sound Design, Jerry O’Brate
Chorus Preparation, Conoley Ballard
Musical Preparation, Stephen Sulich (Principal Coach) and
Craig Bohmler (Assisting Coach)
Technical Director, Drew Landmesser
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street was first presented by the New York City Opera (Beverly Sills, General Director, Christopher Keene, Music Director) at the New York State Theatre, New York City, October 11-14 and November 14-18, 1984 for 13 performances, with the following cast:
(In order of appearance)
ANTHONY HOPE Cris Groenendaal
SWEENEY TODD Timothy Nolen
BEGGAR WOMAN Adair Lewis
MRS. LOVETT Rosalind Elias
JUDGE TURPIN William Dansby
THE BEADLE John Lankston
JOHANNA Leigh Munro
TOBIAS RAGG Paul Binotto
PIRELLI Jerold Siena
JONAS FOGG William Ledbetter
Conducted by Paul Gemignani
Directed by Harold Prince
Assistant to Mr. Prince, Arthur Masella
Scenery Designed by Eugene Lee
Costume Designed by Franne Lee
Lighting Designed by Ken Billington
Choreography by Larry Fuller
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street was revived in London by the Half Moon Theatre, Mile End at the Half Moon Theatre, May 1, 1985 for 33 performances, with the following cast:
ANTHONY HOPE Christopher Snell
SWEENEY TODD Leon Greene
BEGGAR WOMAN Ruth Mayo
MARS. LOVETT Gillian Hanna
JUDGE TURPIN Bernard Martin
BEADLE BAMFORD Edward Clayton
JOHANNA Eithne Hannigan
TOBIAS RAGG Andrew Schofield
PIRELLI John Aron
BIRD SELLER Judith Street
Directed by Chris Bond
Production Designed by Elen Cairns
Costume Supervisor, Jayne Lambert
Lighting Designer, Jimmy Simmons
Musical Director, Graham Pike
Sound Designer, Tim Foster
Musical Arrangements, Rick Juckes
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street was revived by Circle in the Square (Theodore Mann, Artistic Director, Paul Libin, Producing Director) at the Circle in the Square Theatre, New York City, on September 14, 1989, with the following cast:
JONAS FOCG Tony Gilbert
POLICEMAN David E. Mallard
BIRD SELLER Ted Keegan
DORA Sylvia Rhyne
MRS. MOONEY Mary Phillips
ANTHONY HOPE Jim Walton
SWEENEY TODD Bob Gunton
BEGGAR WOMAN SuEllen Estey
MRS. LOVETT Beth Fowler
JUDGE TURPIN David Barron
THE BEADLE Michael McCarty
JOHANNA Gretchen Kingsley
TOBIAS RAGG Eddie Korbich
PIRELLI Bill Nabel
Directed by Susan H. Schulman
Choreography by Michael Lichtefeld
Scenic Design by James Morgan
Costume Design by Beba Shamash
Lighting Design by Mary Jo Dondlinger
Musical Direction and Design by David Krane
This production was originally presented off-off-Broadway by the York Theatre Company (Janet Hayes Walker, Producing Director) at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, March 31-April 29, 1989 for 24 performances. Previews began at the Circle in the Square Theatre on August 5, 1989, and the show opened September 14th and closed February 25, 1990 after 189 performances and 46 previews.
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street was presented on television by RKO/Nederlander and The Entertainment Channel on September 12, 1982, with the following cast:
ANTHONY HOPE Cris Groenendaal
SWEENEY TODD George Hearn
BEGGAR WOMAN Sara Woods
MRS. LOVETT Angela Lansbury
JUDGE TURPIN Edmund Lyndeck
THE BEADLE Calvin Remsberg
JOHANNA Betsy Joslyn
TOBIAS RAGG Ken Jennings
PIRELLI Sal Mistretta
BIRD SELLER Spain Logue
THE PASSERBY Walter Charles
JONAS FOGG Michael Kalinyen
THE COMPANY: Walter Charles, Roy Gioconda, Skip Harris, Michael Kalinyen, Spain Logue, Duane Morris, Patricia Parker, Meredith Rawlins, Stuart Redfield, Candace Rogers, Dee Etta Rowe, Carrie Solomon, Melanie Vaughan, Joseph Warner. Swings: Cheryl Mae Stewart, James Edward Justiss, William Kirk.
Executive Producers, Ellen M. Krass and Archer King
Produced by Bonnie Burns
Executive in Charge of Production, James Rich, Jr.
Directed for Television by Terry Hughes
Directed for the Stage by Harold Prince
Dance and Movement by Larry Fuller
Production Designed by Eugene Lee
Costumes Designed by Franne Lee
Lighting Designed for Television by Bill Klages
Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
Musical Conductor, Jim Coleman
The television production was taped at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, where the touring company of Sweeney Todd was then performing. This production is available on video cassette: RKO 1002/Image 16008.
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
2 Original Broadway Cast Recording (1979)
RCA Records
LP CBL2-3379 (S); 2 record set
Cassette CBK2-3379; 2 tape set
(all of the above include the Judge’s version of “Johanna,” which was cut from the original Broadway production)
A Stephen Sondheim Evening (1983)
RCA Records
LP CBL2-4745 (S); 2 record set
Cassette CBK2-4745; 2 tape set
Includes: “Johanna”—Cris Groenendaal
Evelyn Lear Sings Sondheim and Bernstein (1981)
Mercury Records Golden Imports
LP MR 75136
Cassette MRI75136
Includes: “Green Finch and Linnet Bird”
A Stephen Sondheim Collection/Jackie Cain and Roy Kral (1982)
Finesse Records
LPFW38324(S)
Cassette FWT 38324
DRG Records (1990 reissue)
Casette DSC 25102
Includes: “Johanna”—Roy Kral
A Little Sondheim Music/Los Angeles Vocal Arts Ensemble (1984)
Angel Records
LP EMI DS-37347 (S)
Cassette EMI4DS-37347
Includes: “Prologue: The Ballad of Sweeney Todd”—Ensemble; “Green Finch and Linnet Bird”—Delcina Stevenson; “Pretty Women” —Dale Morich, Michael Gallup; “By the Sea”—Janet Smith, Michael Gallup; “Not While I’m Around”—Paul Johnson, Janet Smith
The Broadway Album/Barbra Streisand (1985)
Columbia Records
LP OC 40092
Cassette OCT 40092
Includes: “Not While I’m Around,” “Pretty Women”
A Collector’s Sondheim (1985)
RCA Records
LP CRL4–5359 (S); 4 record set
Cassette CRK4-5359; 4 tape set
Includes: “Pretty Women”—Len Cariou, Edmund Lyndeck, Victor Garber; “Epiphany”—Len Cariou, Angela Lansbuy; “A Little Priest”—Angela Lansbury, Len Cariou (all three tracks from original Broadway cast recording); “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” (disco version)—Gordon Grody (an edited version of the original disco release by His Majesty’s Fish, featuring Gordon Grody, RCA Red Seals Disco—PD 11687 [33 1/3 rpm single])
Sondheim (1985)
Book-of-the-Month Records
LP 81-7515 (S); 3 record set
Cassette 91-7516; 2 tape set
Includes: “The Worst Pies in London”— Joyce Castle; “A Little Priest” —Joyce Castle, Timothy Nolen; “Johanna”—Chamber Ensemble; “Not While I’m Around”—Steven Jacob
Old Friends/Geraldine Turner Sings the Songs of Stephen Sondheim (1986)
Larrikin Records (Australia)
LP LRF-169
Cassette TC-LRF-169
(This album was reissued by Silva Screen Records [London] under the title The Stephen Sondheim Songbook: LP Song 001, Cassette Song C001
Includes: “Not While I’m Around”
Cleo Sings Sondheim/Cleo Laine (1988)
RCA Records
LP 7702-1-RC
Cassette 7702-4-RC
Includes: “Not While l’m Around”
Julie Wilson Sings the Stephen Sondheim Songbook (1988)
DRG Records
LP SL 5206
Cassette SLC 5206
Includes: “Not While I’m Around”
The Other Side of Sondheim/Jane Harvey (1988)
Atlantic Records
LP 81833-1
Cassette 81833-4
Includes: “Not While I’m Around,” “Pretty Women”
Symphonic Sondheim/Don Sebesky Conducts The London Symphony Orchestra (1990)
WEA Records (London)
LP 9031-72 119-1
Cassette 9031-72 119-4
Includes: “Sweeney Todd Suite,” (“The Ballad of Sweeney Todd,” “Johanna,” “Pretty Women,” “A Little Priest,” “My Friends”)
Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall (1992)
RCA Victor
Includes: “Johanna,” “Pretty Women”
SUNDAY in the PARK with GEORGE
Music and Lyrics by
STEPHEN SONDHEIM
Book by
JAMES LAPINE
Introduction by André Bishop
Robert Westenberg, who replaced Mandy Patinkin in the role of George
INTRODUCTION
I did a great deal of reading about Sunday in the Park with George before I sat down to write this introduction. I discovered that masses of articles, interviews, and essays had been written about this landmark musical since its opening on Broadway in April of 1984. I realized that I had nothing especially new to say about the show—Sondheim’s use of “chord clusters,” Lapine’s avoidance of Latin root words and contractions in an effort to simulate 19th Century French speech patterns, the trials and tribulations of getting the second act into shape and so on—all of these have been well documented.
I then did something you are about to do: I read the text. I was deeply moved. I found the sheer audacity of the idea of the show amazing. Imagine a musical in which the first act breathes dramatic life into one of the great works of late 19th Century painting. Then try to top Act One with a second act that takes place a hundred years later and deals satirically with the contemporary art world and then goes on to chronicle the sadness of a young artist who has lost his way in it.
Sunday in the Park with George is a very personal show and so it seems appropriate that this introduction be personal too. The show meant a great deal to its creators, indeed to all who worked on it. My presence in these pages can be explained because it was my theater, Playwrights Horizons, that commissioned the piece initially from James Lapine and then gave it its first home and its first production prior to the run on Broadway. My recollections of a hectic, exhilarating time are happy ones, although Playwrights Horizons had never produced a musical on such a large scale before. Enormous amounts of time and energy went into organizing ourselves to go into rehearsal for a piece that we knew very little about—there was a first act with a number of songs and a sketch of a second act. That was it.
People would say to me, “Why are you putting on such an elaborate production of something that is only half-written?” Indeed, though we called the event a “workshop” and believe me it was a workshop, we had to raise a great deal of money to do it and a lot of that money went into costumes and sets. It seems to me, as I look back, that we were always having benefits and that I was always lugging around color reproductions of La Grande Jatte to show to prospective donors! In any event, I believed that if you were doing a show about vision and creation and if the event was the recreation of a painting of people in a French park in 1884, you couldn’t effectively “workshop” the visuals with women in rehearsal skirts, men in leotards, and a black velour surround. You had to do it full out or not at all.
One of the highlights of our production and of the show turned out to be the end of Act One when Seurat artfully arranges the various groups of squabbling Parisians into a perfect and harmonious picture. There was something about the scale of the final image that related beautifully to the dimensions of our small theater space. When everyone on stage sang the final three “Sundays,” and the horn played, and the picture was complete and frozen, and the blank canvas that we used as a show curtain came in—well, it was a perfect blend for the ear and the eye. And most nights the audience (even some of the ancient ones who occasionally nodded off) would cheer and stomp and scream their approval. Though the show was infinitely better and more complete on Broadway, I always felt that the Act One finale worked best at Playwrights Horizons. It was literally and beautifully overpowering.
When we began performances in July of 1983, we had most of a first act (“Everybody Loves Louis,” “Beautiful,” and “Finishing the Hat” were added during our run) and hardly any Act Two. So we decided to only perform the first act—it was, after all, a fairly complete unit—and to add Act Two when the authors were ready. We hoped our loyal subscription audience would accept this in the spirit of a “work-in-progress,” and they did. Part of the reason they did had to do with the speeches I felt I should give before each performance, explaining what we were up to in as inspiring a fashion as possible and then casually mentioning that Act Two wasn’t quite ready and that we were sparing them great torment by not performing it that night. Actually, we only performed it three times!
People who know me know that I’ll do anything to avoid having to speak in public, but such was my fate tho
se muggy summer nights in 1983. When I look back on it, though, I wonder if I was able to get the audience on our side for no other reason than they felt sorry for me because I appeared to be so nervous. Ira Weitzman, our Musical Theater Program Director, was much more at ease when he had to “make the speech,” and by the end of the run would stroll up to the apron of the stage, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and sort of say, “Hi, folks, guess what? No Act Two tonight, but you’re gonna love Act One!”
The best speech night and one of the great nights of my theater life was the night “Finishing the Hat” went into the show. Mandy Patinkin had learned the music but wanted to hold onto the printed lyrics. I explained in the speech that this night was something special because a new song was being added and that Seurat would, at one point, be holding some sheets of music. An audience loves being in on something for the first time. When Mandy picked up the music and sang the song—so carefully and lovingly—and the song turned out to be deeply personal, layered with meaning and metaphor, and beautifully spun out, we all felt that we had entered musical theater heaven. And we had. Even today I run into people who claim they saw the show the night “Finishing the Hat” went in and that it was a rare and special occasion.
Playwrights Horizons believes that opportunities create and sustain artists, and we felt that the best thing we could do for Sondheim and Lapine was to step back and give them a chance to discover their show. I wanted them to be free to do what they wanted without any kind of management pressure, without any kind of publicity or review, and most of all, without any kind of fear. I felt that they were onto something important, and I knew that the collaboration between the two men was new and at an early and delicate stage. Stephen Sondheim was working with a different partner for the first time in years, and he had never really worked in a non-profit situation in New York. Everyone at Playwrights Horizons wanted him to find us at our best and to work happily under a different system of creating shows than the traditional Broadway one.