It can be said Stephen Sondheim was a man who rarely kept his opinions to himself.
Nor should he have.
Which is why Sondheims musings aboutSweeney Todd, and musical cinema in general, are still so fascinating.
This is not simply, as all the others are, a film of the stage musical.
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The distinction Sondheim was alluding to is subtle, but it is striking.
(2001) andChicago(2002).
Indeed, the latter was a massive hit that won six Oscars, including Best Picture.
For Sondheim, this was the appeal.
Very seldom are numbers cut down or reshaped to fit the film.
The film films the number as written on the stage.
Sondheim continued, Thats not the case [withSweeney Todd].
Thats the essential difference, I think, between this movie musical and others based on stage musicals.
Burton was of course an unabashed fan of the original production ofSweeney Toddwell before he was a film director.
However, Burton was never a great lover of musical theater itself.
This re-centers Sweeneys melancholy as the storys beating, bleeding heart.
How gratifying for once to know that those above will serve those down below!
But the historical context was never Sondheims favorite element.
[It was] a working mans theater, Sondheim recalled.
But the play was kind of creepy and charming.
It wasSweeney Todd, and that evening I thought, Gee that would make a good musical.
Sondheim smiled at such drastic changes though.
