Sweeney Todd [Original Cast Recording]

by Sweeney Todd Highlights / O.C.R.

Overview

Sweeney Todd is of course the tale of a 19th-century London barber who, wrongly imprisoned by a judge lusting after his wife, returns to take revenge with his razor. What keeps the story from being a re-treading of The Count of Monte Cristo is the element of class conflict -- that and the grotesque device of having the barber get rid of the bodies by giving them to his pie-maker girlfriend to bake into her wares. We are thus treated to a very dark tale, indeed, with repeated mentions of the "Dies Irae" theme (the Day of Judgment theme from Catholic liturgical music which has been used by many classical composers). The darkness of Sweeney Todd, ironically, prompts Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler (book) to write a richer, more coherent piece than the usual Broadway fluff. With his somber baritone, Len Cariou is chilling as the murderous, grief-stricken barber; Angela Lansbury, the cannibal-pie-maker, sounds like an insane Cockney Edith Bunker. The tormented young lovers Victor Garber and Sarah Rice are a bit bland, as second-string lovers in Broadway shows often are, but Merle Louise as the Beggar Woman provides some necessary spice. The orchestra is more than up to the demands of Sondheim's score, and the whole affair is well-recorded. This version of Sweeney Todd is a lot of fun as long as you don't listen to it too soon after a meal. ~ Kurt Keefner

Product Details

Release Date:	07/30/1984
Label:	SONY MASTERWORKS
UPC:	0078635503326

Tracks

1. Prelude: the Ballad of Sweeney Todd: Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd
2. No Place Like London/The Barber and His Wife
3. The Worst Pies in London
4. My Friends/The Ballad of Sweeney Todd: Lift Your Razor High, Sweeney!
5. Johanna
6. The Ballad of Sweeney Todd: Sweeney Pondered and Sweeney Planned
7. Kiss Me/Ladies in Their Sensitivities
8. Pretty Women/Epiphany
9. A Little Priest
10. God, That's Good!
11. Johanna
12. By the Sea
13. Not While I'm Around
14. Final Sequence/Epilogue/The Ballad of Sweeney Todd: Attend the Tale of

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Original Broadway Cast   Primary Artist
Edmund Lyndeck   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Len Cariou and the Quintet   Primary Artist
Richard Warren Pugh   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Jack Eric Williams   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals
Angela Lansbury   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Jack Williams   Primary Artist
Victor Garber   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Ken Jennings   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Merle Louise   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Robert Ousley   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Len Cariou   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Harolyn Blackwell   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Frank Kopyc   Primary Artist,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background),Vocals
Carole Doscher   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Sarah Rice   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Craig Lucas   Primary Artist,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Eric Jennings   Primary Artist
Jerry Hadley   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Eugene Perry   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Cris Groenendaal   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Joaquin Romaguera   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Betsy Joslyn   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Skip Harris   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Paul Gemignani   Conductor,Music Direction,Musical Director,Musical Direction
Nancy Killmer   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Heather B. Withers   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Duane Bodin   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Walter Charles   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Sweeney Todd Cast Ensemble   Choir/Chorus
Mary-Pat Green   Vocals (Background),Vocals
Robert Henderson   Vocals (Background),Vocals
Duane Morris   Vocals (Background)
Spain Logue   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Nancy Eaton   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Martha Ihde   Vocals
Sweeney Todd Pit Orchestra   Orchestra
Herbert Perry   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Pamela McLernon   Vocals (Background)
Kenneth Jennings   Vocals
The American Theatre Orchestra   Orchestra
Harold Prince   Director
Maggie Task   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Marthe Ihde   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Darren Salmieri   A&R
Don Sebesky   Orchestration
David Hewitt   Engineer
Richard Warren Pugh   Performer
Louann Montesi   Performer
Joyce Flissler   Performer
Paul Cohen   Assistant Engineer
Judy Geist   Performer
Robert Ayers   Performer
Raymond Kunicki   Performer
Elizabeth A. Wright   Editorial Director
Charles McCracken   Performer
John Moses   Performer
Angela Lansbury   Performer
Wilmer Wise   Performer
Marin Alsop   Performer
Earl Chapin   Performer
John Gale   Performer
John Bowen   Post Production Assistant
Darcy Proper   Reissue Producer,Mastering Engineer
Victor Garber   Performer
Jay David Saks   Producer,Associate Producer
John Beal   Performer
Didier C. Deutsch   Reissue Producer
Len Cariou   Performer
Jonathan Tunick   Orchestration
Phil Gitomer   Assistant Engineer
Matthew Kelly   Tape Research
Thomas Z. Shepard   Producer
Anthony Salvatore   Engineer
Stephen Sondheim   Composer,Lyricist
Frank Kopyc   Performer
Jennie Hansen Koch   Performer
Andy Strauber   Assistant Engineer
Steve Berkowitz   A&R
Lester Cantor   Performer
Seymour Benstock   Performer
Jim Pugh   Performer
Harry Glickman   Performer
Julien Barber   Performer
Patti Matheny   A&R
Batia Lieberman   Performer
Les Scott   Performer
Ken Hahn   Editing,Mixing Engineer
Harriet Orenstein   Performer
Bill King   Engineer,Sound Design
Jane T. Brier   Literary Supervision,Editorial Supervision
Nick Cerrato   Performer
Cris Groenendaal   Performer
Robert Kimball   Liner Notes
Roxanne Slimak   Art Direction
Joaquin Romaguera   Performer
Richard Jay-Alexander   Liner Notes
Pam Bartella   Post Production Assistant
Betsy Joslyn   Performer
Clay Fullum   Performer
Merle Louise   Performer
Ken Billington   Lighting Design
David Jaunai   Post Production Assistant
Marilyn Wright   Performer
Glenn Kormann   Tape Research
Marc Howard   Associate Producer
Sidney Kaufmann   Performer
George Brown   Performer
Daryl Goldberg   Performer
Joy Gilbert Manfried   Project Director
Daniel Reed   Performer
Giulio Ruggiero   Performer
Joe Bongiorno   Performer
Nancy Lee Swift   Literary Supervision,Editorial Supervision
Louise de la Fuente   Assistant Engineer
Van Williams   Photography
Melvin Becker   Assistant Engineer
Al Miller   Music Preparation
Evalyn Steinbock   Performer
Myra Segal   Performer
Frederick King   Performer
Julius Brand   Performer
The American Theatre Orchestra   Performer
Dean Plank   Performer
Morris Lefkowitz   Performer
Skip Harris   Performer
Robert Ousley   Performer
Joseph J. Stelmach   Art Direction
Charles Millard   Performer
Edmund Lyndeck   Performer
Beth Schwartz   Performer
Martha Swope   Photography
Richard San Filippo   Performer