"A Little Priest," from the 1999 Reprise! L.A. 20th anniversary concert production of "Sweeney Todd." Baranski's "Worst Pies in London" can be seen at • CHRISTINE BARANSKI Swe...
Christine Baranski is MONSTROUS. Her "fop, finest in the shop" is HYSTERICAL and i've never heard that line really command a laugh in the past. Her performance makes me wonder what Jane Krakowski would look like in the role today
I think since she wasn't using much of the accent and clearly enunciated everything, people who weren't already familiar with the lyric understood & laughed.
It was only for this concert. I don't think she ever actually played to role on Broadway. I think she was in a production in DC maybe... I can't remember.
I'm like, 90% sure, that she played it again later with Brian Stokes Mitchell. I'm gonna have to go check though... EDIT: Yup, she did in 2002. I vaguely remember seeing their picture in the NYT.
Lovely performances by both! Christine's mugging and wiggling certainly makes one think of Carol Burnett - whose Mrs Lovett would certainly be an interesting take!
I didn't think that anyone could be a better Lovett than LuPone. Baranski is now my all-time favorite. There is humor in this song that I've never fully visualized until now. Masterful. Every joke clear and hilarious. Every movement appropriate. Baranski is THE standard.
Brilliant! Grammer is smart enough to know this song largely belongs to Mrs Lovett, and Baranski milks this for every laugh without slowing the action. While Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson are still my favourite Todd and Lovett, these two are terrific.
@@TheContessa52 Emma Thompson killed it - her comedic talent is unsurpassed for Mrs Lovett, though admittedly her singing is not among the best. I found myself enjoying the humour too much to mind the singing, though :) Bryn Terfel was quite a mixed bag for me. He's clearly very talented, but I don't think this role was for him.
For me, the problem with Terfel and Emma Thompson was that they seemed to be in two different shows. His Sweeney was dark and operatic, while Thompson's Lovett was practically in a musical comedy. Both valid interpretations--but maybe not in the same production!
Thompson certainly one how to milk the laughs. But I also appreciated the points where she turned serious. At several points you can see the moment she's decided Todd has crossed into madness and starts handling him very carefully. Terfel's humorous moments are more subtle, which is true to the character and plays to Terfel's strengths (he was terrific in Don Giovanni). Sometimes those styles clashed, so I do get your point. Cheers.
I know they're both legends and everything but this is so cute, it's like someone's parents at a bbq showing everyone they've still got it from their musical theatre days, except they actually do ❤
So impressive and hilarious how she really nails every joke, and even breaks down at her own puns! The self-awareness is really cool! And then in the end, she becomes really sinister and dark...
@@funkapotamus86 he entertained some gentleman who never thereafter were heard of again He trod a path that few have trod. Did sideshow Bob The demon carny of Springfield
@@adrianmedeiros8431 There's a hole in the world like a great black pit, and the vermin of the world inhabit it, and its morals aren't worth what a pig could spit, and it goes by the name of Springfield!
This is easily the best balance of a Mrs. Lovette I've ever seen... The delivery of "With or without his privates.... with is extra" is absolutely PERFECT."
They both, but especially Baranski, gave so many of these lines a reading I don't think I've heard before in this show. Whether it's too modern or not it was very refreshing. And this song never fails to make me laugh and give me chills. By the end I'm nearly shaking because of how brilliantly it comes together and how unsettling the combination of humor and darkness is.
I saw this production with Christine Baranski. She was marvelous. I have never seen anyone interprete the roll quite like her. Thank you for posting this.
I think this must be my second or third favourite rendition of this song, and I've seen dozens. Lansbury's still reigns supreme for the darkness and a bit more seriousness, but this is the most successfully I've ever seen it performed as a purely comic piece
I've been blessed to see Angela Lansbury , June Havoc and Christine Baranski in this role 💚💜💙 when I saw Ms Baranski she played opposite Brian Stokes Mitchell 🌞
Baranski's performance here is a unique one! Kind of feels like she went the opposite way of Julia McKenzie, with that huge smile and bright eyes- really leaning into the unsettling giddiness. She's also chewing the scenery a lot more than most, which is saying something with how little she has.
Wow! Both are spectacular. They are festival level performances, meaning a great star taking on a role they might not be able to sustain for a grueling run of performances. I sense Ms. Baranski might be able to more than Mr. Grammer, which takes nothing away from his performance which based on this one number is one of the finest I've ever seen. He tones down the ferociousness a bit so that you can embrace this Sweeney Todd, a valid choice.
I saw this concert live. As you can see and hear in this clip, Christine Baranski's cockney accent isn't perfect, but in every other way, she was GREAT in the role. As you can also hear, Kelsey Grammer sounded fine in the lower-lying sections of the score but, alas, he did not have the high notes.
I saw her in the DC version with Stokes. Her performance here is fabulous as it's a concert. In the full show, it just came off hammy. Still funny as hell, though.
This is so awesome. I didn't even realize they made this concert. I was just watching the Sondheim Hollywood Bowl concert you uploaded a couple days ago and loved seeing Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury together again performing this number and now this! I love your channel so much. Thank you so much for your uploads! If you have more from this concert I'd love to see it!
What an interesting interpretation of Mrs Lovett... Most Actresses seem to play Mrs Lovett as rather dark and more on the insane side, whereas Christine seems to play her as rather upbeat and kooky as apposed to actually insane. I do prefer darker interpretations of the character such as Helena Bonham Carter’s version but I do enjoy Christine’s one too
Yes, comedy is difficult, being dark is easy. The role was written as the comic relief in this serious opera as evidenced by Lansbury who created it with Sondheim. Few are able to pull off the broad comedy in the grand guingold style the piece was was written in.
Next to Lansbury, CB is the best Ive seen. She really brought out the humor of this song, not throwing away one word. Poor KG tho. He didnt have the hight notes so needed.
It's so interesting to see the different ways they approach the material. Baranski is truly a performer and Grammer is an actor...not performing to the audience at all.
That's in the writing, I think. Mrs. Lovett is a real music-hall turn, and Todd is the emotional driveline of the piece. And since this moment is black comedy after the darkest emotional moment, it's performed as both, with her leading him into the waltz.
@@tomshea8382 That is also a good point. However, I always think of musical performers "cheating." Cariou & even Hearn, whose version seemed somehow darker and more reserved, directed themselves partially to the audience.
@@TheKelJacob In this case, we were performing the show at standing microphones, which you can see in the video. The performers HAD to play mostly front to sing into the microphones. But comedy is best played mostly front in the first place.
Baranski absolutely killed it, but I have to admit I was more curious about Grammer's take. Ever since I saw the taped version with George Hearn, I've been convinced he and Grammer were twins separated at birth.
I think next to Emma Thompson this is the best performance I've seen. Emma's is a little more insane, but Christine just knows how to bring every line. Shame that she seems to forget her accent every 4 lines haha. But we forgive her for she is amazing.
I am thrilled to see this again....and on RU-vid! Thank you Ms. Spiderwoman! You made my night!!! (I was associated with this production.....years ago!)
Hello Calvin---So nice to hear from the director of this production, Calvin Remsberg, who can be seen as the Beadle in the Lansbury-Hearn video of "Sweeney." This must have been exciting to put on, and of course it kicked off a series of major "Sweeney" concert productions.
I saw this production (Sunday evening performance). I remember thinking that Kelsey Grammer’s acting was spot-on, but his voice wasn’t up to it. (Although it was the fifth show in 48 hours!) NPH’s performance was perfect. Baranski was fantastic. And I think Davis Gaines played the judge.
@@jimpigato2149 Davis Gaines was Anthony. He and NPH were carried over to the next two "Sweeney" concerts, first with the NY Philharmonic (2000) and then in San Francisco (2001, the one commercially released on DVD and Blu-ray).
@@jimpigato2149 Davis Gaines was Anthony. He and NPH were carried over to the next two "Sweeney" concerts: NY Philharmonic (2000, available on CD) and San Francisco (2001, available on DVD and Blu-ray).
This is unhinged in the best way when it comes to Sondheim... Like the ending of "Now You Know" in the original Merrily We Roll Along cast album, where the orchestra is barely keeping it together until Ann Morrison forcibly drags everyone onto the same page.
They should have made a movie with Kelsey and Christine, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, co staring Anthony Hopkins as Judge Turpin, Dom DeLuise as the Beadle, Robin Williams as Pirelli, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Joanna, Mathew Laurence as Anthony Hope, Glenn Close as the Beggar Woman, and Edward Furlong as Tobias Ragg. Universal could have released in time for Halloween of 2000.
Well I had zero idea these two had played these roles. And the further down this rabbit hole I go, the more couples I find. I wonder just how many there are!
Here'e my take. Baranski is phenomenal. Grammer is wrong for the part. The problem is this: They're braking the fourth wall with every line they sing. It's like they're trying to convince the audience. That makes this song just too slapstick for such a dark show.
I didn't love that either, though I have to wonder if the director asked them to do that because of the way the microphones are. It wouldn't be that hard to put lapel or headset mics on, there has to be a reason the director wanted those standing mics.
I enjoyed the video. However, it would be interesting to find out if Mrs. Lovett is the sort of person who "knows" she's funny (as Ms. Baranski portrays her) or if she is someone who simply says random things that are funny and she doesn't "know" that she's funny.