George Hearn has no peer in this role. Some say Len Cariou was the best. I can't say as I never saw him perform. George lives on due to the video and because of his magnificent voice and genuine madness tinged with such depth of sorrow - his performance leaves me breathless.
I think what actually gets me about Len Cariou, is that when you listen to the recording and how incredible he sounds you realize that he was singing with full on laryngitis. And the show must go on and he did an incredible job
George Hearn is the actor every bass-baritone aspires to be. He was a powerhouse in everything he ever did. I’m too young to have seen him perform live but he will always be an inspiration.
Look up sweeney todd 1979 and watch the performance of Mr.cariou and be in awe. Hearn was just different but he was a very good sweeney, way better than the terrible 1980 london cast. RIP Sondheim
I LOVE how Angela stands up for Betsy Joslyn, who is a TREMENDOUS actress and singer. Almost 30 years later I'm going back and watching this performance now and she actually makes me cry during the end of Green Finch! Her pain and yearning torture my soul.
I agree. This gentleman seems unaware that George and Betsy were married at the time and made an awkward faux pas. It was wonderful for Angela to speak up for her friends the way she did.
I saw Betsy as Mrs. Thenardier in Les Mis on Broadway and she was an amazing talent. So funny and such an amazing voice. The best of the five Mrs. Thenardiers I have seen. This guy shouldn't be criticizing anything about her. She does an extraordinary job with a really difficult role. We are so lucky they taped it.
Actually George was never married to Betsy. They dated for quite awhile. He was also not married to Dixie Carter as stated in Wiki. I know as I’m his niece.
As a former Bostonian, I am very familiar with Elliot Norton. He was not particularly liked as a criitic. Extrremely self obsessed and picky in a put-down sort of way. Hats off to AL and GH for very tactfully and politely disputing his criticisms - points he had no understanding of about the style of the production.
I used to see him pretty often at Cape theaters when I reviewed summer theater for the New Bedford, and he was obnoxiously arrogant. At the theater bar before performances and at intermission, he always made a point of letting everyone knew that he had brought his own wine bottle. Obviously, the wine the bar served wasn't good enough for him :)
I was lucky enough to see Angela and George in this tour at the Golden Gate Theater. I would see George at the same theater for a tour of La Cage aux Folles.
@@WineWatcherUSA I was 13 at that time, and my older brother insisted on us waiting outside by the stage door. I never have been an autograph hound but in the line in front of us was a shabby man holding a mint condition Bed Knobs and Broomsticks coloring book. My brother was aghast and thought it tacky, but I remembered having the same coloring book as a boy, and realized that that was the film that introduced me to Angela Lansbury. She graciously signed the man's crayon-free coloring book.
How was the tour different from the original Broadway production? I'm just curious because I want to know what I'm missing on the DVD of the tour that was filmed in LA
This interviewer really likes to hear himself talk, doesn't he? George and Angela give some fascinating insights into their take on the characters, but it would have been nice if he'd have let them finish a sentence once in a while.
What you call an 'old dude', whose name was Elliot Norton, was in fact one of the leading and most influential theatre critics of the twentieth century, who offered very articulate and insightful comments on the show, and allowed the discussion to focus on elements that were otherwise not even mentioned by his contemporaries.
@@FolliesFan-yu8mf Elliot Norton was one of the reasons shows like Sondheim's COMPANY, FOLLIES, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and PACIFIC OVERTURES all first tried out in Boston.
@@FolliesFan-yu8mf - That's all fine and dandy...really...but the guy still interrupts too much with his own opinions - which is better set for an off camera discussion. Given a choice of hearing "the leading and most influential 20th century theatre critic" or the actual artists' analysis, the preference is for the latter - without the interviewer leading the witness into agreement. Like they say in sports, nobody pays to see or hear the referee - even he's also a HOFer.
The interviewer is so old and crusty, a bit like Mrs Lovett, but without the filling and it comes across that Angela and George are a bit bored or frustrated by him. The interviewer looks like a cross between Joe Biden and Colonel Saunders! Both tried to keep an interview upbeat and not slow and depressing as he was.
Maybe that contributed to the guy being full of himself. He talks way too much and stereotypically is overly analytical as a way of "proving" his knowledge instead of simply taking a backseat and letting the two stars do the talking and analyzing. The audience - especially esoteric theatre folk - want to hear from the H of F performers, not the comparative nobody.
@@waldolydecker8118 He's not referring to Eliot Norton. He's referring to William Pierce who made the announcements at the beginning of the program. He was for many years the host of all the Boston Symphony/Boston Pops radio and tv broadcasts as well as many other programs on WGBH radio and tv.
@@myname-ib5zi - I think you are correct. Thanks for the correction. Pierce was outstanding for many years. Its the pompous Norton guy who sours this interview.
Angela says she didnt want to play Mrs. Lovett "too dark", but added the chirpy cockney ... then years later we get Helena as just that, the darker version of Lovett ... but i love both. Both work amazingly well as the character ❤
Every actress I've seen, in about 10 productions of Sweeney Todd, plays Mrs. Lovett differently. I've seen her played as a deliberately plotting accomplice, as a bloodthirsty sociopath (both LuPone); as a gloomy, morbid muddle that barely notices her counterpart (Bonham Carter); as a fawning, lovelorn woman who will do anything for Mr. Todd as long as she can be in his orbit (Tafuri, Trinity Repertory Company), etc. Angela Lansbury's is one of my favorites. She's living by her wits and her wit. She finds something to delight in no matter the situation. Her downfall is trying to grasp at a dream (Benjamin Barker) that is finally within reach, and refusing to acknowledge that she will never be able to steal his focus away from his vendetta. She's a villain you don't want to believe is a bad person because she's so cute and chirpy. This interview gives a glimpse into how much thought Lansbury put into how to play her. She was a consummate professional, brilliant and talented.
This is one of the most educated, considered and accurate comments I have ever read on this subject. I absolutely love the depth of thought here on the symbolism and representation of the many different gestures and personalities. I have shared your comments with all of my theatre friends; I know they will all greatly appreciate your observations also.
Is the video of Norton's interview with Sandy Duncan available? She was in Boston doing PETER PAN at the time and Norton could not have been more in love with a performance.
H W true. And frankly I should just blame this white dude who thinks everyone is hear to hear his opinions-- like how is an interview the time to criticize the other actors’ performances and then ask their colleagues about it?? It’s so gross lol. ((Annnnd to be really really fair to my first criticism ... I found Joslyn pretty dreadful too.))
The interviewer was a critic who seems to have been well-liked by major players in the theater. He was Elliot Norton, who lived to be a hundred! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliot_Norton
Doesn't matter...he still gets in the way here. Major players in the theatre are always going to like anybody who champions their work and industry - they'd be foolish not to. The major players here are clearly at times annoyed by the interviewer constantly "leading the witness" forcing them to often agree with his analysis simply to avoid conflict.
