And then he wrote...

How do you start to talk about Sweeney?

Based on a Christoper Bond play, which was based on a 

Victorian penny dreadful,

Sondheim and director Hal Prince transformed it with music and staging;

"It was essentially charming over there [in the UK], 

because they don't take Sweeney Todd seriously. 

Our production was larger in scope. 

Hal Prince gave it an epic sense, 

a sense that this was a man of some size instead of just a nut case. The music helps to give it that dimension."

Over 80% of the show is music,

pie-baking songs juxtaposed with "Epiphany"-raised razors. 

Angela Lansbury was picked as Mrs. Lovett,

hoping that she would lend some comic relief to the tragic tale,

but she needed convincing.

"Your show isn't called Nellie Lovett,

it's called Sweeney Todd.

And I'm the second banana."

But when Sondheim described her character as 

"music hall", which she'd grown up in,

Lansbury agreed to play the part.

Above, Angela with Ken Jennings as Toby

("Not While I'm Around")

and below with Stephen and Len Cariou on opening night.

In the recording studio with Len and Victor Garber

(who we'll hear sing "Johanna").

The original production won 8 of the 9 Tonys it was nominated for,

including awards for Angela, Len, Hal for direction,

Stephen for his score,

and Best Musical (1979).

And so many reincarnations...

above Michael Cerveris and Patti Lupone

in the 2005 revival (with tubas, et. al.),

and Emma Thompson (below) flailing her rolling pin

in a concert production done in 2014.

The movie version makes me cringe,

tho it DOES feature the wonderful Alan Rickman (above)

as Judge Turpin.

Below, more Alan with Johnny (really?) Depp

and his hair.

In 1984, it was time for 

Sunday In The Park With George.

This was the show that brought Sondheim "back to life" in a way;

he'd flopped mightily with 

Merrily We Roll Along in 1981,

and almost left musical theatre altogether.

James Lapine (and Art) to the rescue!

Above, Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette in the starring roles.

Sondheim and Lapine were visiting the Art Institute of Chicago, 

and there was that Georges Seurat painting. 

Lapine said that one figure was left out of the work...the artist himself. Supposedly that was enough to spark Sondheim's show synapses, 

and the idea for the musical was born.

 While it wouldn't have the success of a Sweeney or a Company,

Sunday would go on to win a 

Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Above, Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2017 Broadway revival,

which received excellent reviews. 

This is ALSO the show that 

lost the 1984 Best Musical Award to

La Cage Aux Folles,

when Jerry Herman (in his acceptance speech for Cage)

said, "the simple, hummable tune" is still alive on Broadway.

Ouch!

Although Herman has since denied that he meant it as a 

Sondheim slur,

the whole debacle emphasized the 2 schools of musical theatre thought:

Feel Good or Feel.