The prog-metal Sweeney Todd - to appear in DC

**Baribrotzer** · 02-14-2014

Yes, you read that right. A theater company in the Washington, DC area is in the process of developing a prog-metal version of Sweeney Todd. You know, the Broadway musical.....

As unlikely as this sounds, it might work better than you'd think:

In fact the only real problem I hear with Dee's version is that the original was written for a whole stage full of singers, but he's just one guy, and so some of the changes don't come off quite the way the music wants them to.

Here's a few links:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...b84_story.html

http://www.playbill.com/news/article...f-Sweeney-Todd

http://www.dcmetrotheaterarts.com/20...ew-l-baughman/

**Steve F.** · 02-14-2014

Sweeney Todd is a pretty good show; the music is one of the best I can think of for a musical of the last 40 years.

Having said that, I probably won't go see this, as I am just not a prog metal fan.

**JKL2000** · 02-14-2014

Thanks for posting that - I'm a huge Sweeney Todd fan, having seen the original Broadway production, as well as a couple of other NYC productions since then. We're going to see a NY Philharmonic production in March with Emma Thompson. Also, my father was a friend of Sondheim's and we've been fortunate enough to meet him a couple of times, and he's also been helpful in getting us tickets to shows in the past.

I was never a Twisted Sister fan, but I felt a bit bad for Dee Snider's stalled career, so I'm happy to say that this looks pretty cool, and he actually seems to be a good person to do it. I may actually look into the possibility of seeing this production.

To anyone who's never seen it (if there is anyone), the Tim Burton movie is a damn good version of it - they sacrifice a few songs, but it's all thoughtfully done and well performed. I was so glad Burton was as faithful as could be expected for a screen version.

Sondheim is smart in allowing younger people to adapt this work in interesting ways that will appeal to differing audiences.

**Baribrotzer** · 02-14-2014

Originally Posted by Steve F.

Sweeney Todd is a pretty good show; the music is one of the best I can think of for a musical of the last 40 years. Having said that, I probably won't go see this, as I am just not a prog metal fan.

I'm not too big a fan of it myself. At least not the Dream Theater version, which smells rather strongly of their singer's last name. However, I do enjoy the Mr. Bungle + Sleepytime + Behold the Arctopus varieties, which I also consider prog-metal.

And as for Sweeney Todd, I agree with you. Some of Sondheim's other scores are pretty good as well: Company, which channels the late-Sixties pop of its sophisticated Manhattan milieu, particularly Burt Bacharach. And Assassins - his take on musical Americana, sounding a bit like evil Aaron Copland, if you can imagine such a thing.

Originally Posted by JKL2000

I was never a Twisted Sister fan, but I felt a bit bad for Dee Snider's stalled career, so I'm happy to say that this looks pretty cool, and he actually seems to be a good person to do it. I may actually look into the possibility of seeing this production.

I don't think Snider is actually in it. The video was from a gig supporting a solo album of his, in which he apparently sang metal versions of Broadway material. Maybe he's trying to reinvent himself as a singing actor.

With that said, I think Nils Frykdahl would be a fantastic Sweeney. Too bad he lives on the wrong coast to be easily cast. Maybe someone'll mount a production of that version in SF one day....