I was lucky enough to have watched this show over 50 times. My dad played Pirelli in the original cast. I was 11 and he would take me to the theatre a lot. Whenever there was an empty seat I watched. I hadn’t seen this since 1982 and I just watched this whole show. Amazing
I am 12 and just started getting into the show a year ago and I’m really sorry for your loss. Joaquin Romaguero was the only Pirelli. Sal MIstretta couldn’t touch the opera in his voice and the grandness, he was just and great character. And I praise anyone who can do an Italian and Irish accent.
Amazing! Your fathers performance can still be felt all the years later! The DEFINITIVE SWEENEY PRODUCTION. I loved the industrial factory aspect of the stage design, nobody ever really understood the factory grittiness of 1840s London after this production ended. No other production of “Sweeney Todd: The demon barber of Fleet Street” comes an inch close to this original cast. It is quite simply theatrical, lyrical and entertainment perfection.
I went to see a local production several years ago and it's still on my top list of shows. The actors were able to sing in the audience at times and it was really fun! There was a sequence where The Beadle was strolling around singing his little nonsense songs and it always sticks in my mind lol 😊
There's got to be an archive somewhere with copies of original cast Broadway productions. It's a shame they aren't available for sale to the general public. Mind you, I'd probably go broke buying the DVDs/BluRays but beyond being a captured performance, it's history.
Sean Wightman I think I saw a recording of the original Sweeney Todd there., it was really not good quality though (this on your tube is better). I saw the original Sweeney Todd as a kid and it was phenomenal. I agree the NYPL is a great resource. I just recently watched the revival of “Man of La Mancha” there and my daughter watched “Spring Awakening”.
I'm amazed that someone was able to record this despite how bulky cameras were back then. Hell I'm even amazed that the footage even looks as good as it is!
The New York Public Library has video recordings of Broadway shows, starting with the 70s. Generally, you have to be a student or researcher to view them. I got to see 1983's Cats that way, amazing experience. :)
ZidaneWarner Oh no I didn't mean that, I don't know where it's from, I was just saying it's not unheard of for these shows to be recorded. Plus the NYPL recording of Cats that I saw was way better quality than this video of Sweeney Todd (still cool to see it of course).
You can really tell Len Cariou loves his role here, he's having such a good time. Such an over-the-top, dramatic performance. Perfect for this musical.
@@sheilacicero4322 I'm so jealous. Just judging by the sound this is clearly the best edition to me. This reminds me of the threepenny opera while nowadays it's more opera. Which I will admit I love too, but it feels like Len IS Sweeney, not only playing him. It's absolutely fantastic. If only there was an HD version... but still magical that this is here.
@@SquarelyGames YES.. I totally agree with you about "Len Clariou" being the best "Sweeney Todd" EVER on Broadway ! I also love "Angela Langsbuary" as Mrs. Lovett . Fyi; There's a original Broadway cast "album" (which I own) , OR CD available in stores 👌
Though I haven't seen him live, Cariou remains my favorite Todd. While I appreciate and enjoy a number of actors in the role, Cariou is the one who most consistently brings the best balance of singing and acting for me. More than this, he both scares me AND moves me in the role.
I had the pleasure of seeing this show with it's original cast back in 79. I have seen many shows on Broadway. I have to say this still remains my number one favorite.
I'm currently in the pit for a regional production of "Sweeney." Getting lots of envious looks when I let my colleagues know that I saw the original B'way show in 1979, w. Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. Easily the best show I've ever seen live, on- or off-Broadway. (Perhaps we were at the same performance, Korova Milkbar!---and Brownie points for your "Clockwork Orange" screen name.) In my personal ranking of Greatest Musicals Ever, "Sweeney" is a bare titch behind "Cabaret" for first place.
Well I’ll be damned, a recording taken early enough to still preserve the Beggar Woman’s original lyrics. Never thought I’d get to see something like this, thank you so much.
So this video looks like it was shot by someone in the audience which raises the question; how did someone sneak a 1979 era video camera into a theatre and kept it hidden?? Those things were enormous?
you must know that in 1979 - it was impossible to share a filmed video after the show the way we can do it right now. i guess nobody were interested to stop somebody filming the show. almost nobody could afford a cam in 1979. Even VHS wasnt invented.
Cowhead Doe I'm guessing he went with a party and they somehow all brought a camera and hid it from every one else. The thing that would help with the question is if the publisher tells us how he got this video.
Cowhead Doe, another thing is that, this might have been filmed before the show was open to the public, and this might be a person recording it to review it after the show and listen to it and, I guess they allowed them to do this. The same thing happened with Waitress and one of the bootlegs.
Not likely. That's Cris Groendaal and Betsy Joslyn as Anthony & Johanna, who were replacements. So this had to have been filmed sometime later in the run.
I just want to hug all of you here and you, dear man, who put this here for us. I saw this cast (or most of it) in January, '80. I was 19 and had come to NYC to study acting with the great and infamous Mira Rostova. I lived in a disgusting 4th floor walk-up in the LOWER East Village, St. Mark's Place and 8th Ave. I had been in Nashville most of my life! I saw this, and my hair stood on end, I am sure! Stunning!!!! Nobody will believe me, but I sat in the audience with my friend and Glen Close. My friend was a close college buddy of Glen Close (who had THAT DAY auditioned for "Barnum"; we talked about her audition in the cab!). "Glenny" was living with Cariou. We had stopped by their apartment to get her for the performance. After the performance, because we had "Glenny" with us, I got to go backstage and meet Lansbury and Cariou. They actually met us later at Jo Allen's. What a night! Thanks for taking me back to a fabulous experience. I can report that to a Nashville boy all of these stars were so kind and generous to me. I also saw this show that spring with Cariou and THE COOL WHIP LADY, Marge Redmond! She was wonderful. Then I saw it with Hearn and Dorothy Louden! Such memories!
This has to be one of the most original, and most brilliant portrayals of madness ever committed to the stage. Every character in this show is mad--there are no sane people, even for contrast! What amazes me most is how Sondheim captures and externalises the distorted mirror of Sweeney's interior world. (The orchestral 'birdsong' is also crazy-accurate!) Just astonishing!... I feel so blessed to have been able to see this, finally. Thank you so much!
Just so I could keep track when rewatching this masterpiece. 0:00:00 - Prelude: The Ballad of Sweeney Todd 0:03:11 - No Place Like London 0:07:41 - The Barber and His Wife 0:10:19 - The Worst Pies in London 0:13:45 - Poor Thing 0:18:44 - My Friends 0:21:41 - The Ballad of Sweeney Todd 0:22:26 - Green Finch and Linnet Bird 0:25:30 - Ah, Miss 0:26:46 - Alms, Alms 0:31:04 - Johanna 0:32:23 - Pirelli's Miracle Elixir 0:36:30 - The Contest 0:44:16 - The Ballad of Sweeney Todd 0:45:34 - Wait 0:54:17 - The Ballad of Sweeney Todd 0:57:01 - Kiss Me 0:58:41 - Ladies in Their Sensitivities 1:04:54 - Pretty Women 1:11:01 - Epiphany 1:14:30 - A Little Priest 1:22:44 - God, That's Good 1:28:55 - Johanna 1:36:50 - By the Sea 1:42:20 - Wigmaker Sequence 1:44:27 - The Letter 1:47:08 - Not While I'm Around 1:42:27 - Parlor Songs 1:59:49 - The Ballad of Sweeney Todd 2:01:48 - Searching for Toby & City on Fire 2:07:03 - The Judge's Return 2:10:55 - The Final Sequence 2:19:26 - Epilogue: The Ballad of Sweeney Todd This is pure gold, by the way. Thanks a lot for uploading!
Great that this exists: you get the musical's early audience reaction, before both the music and plot became so well known. The PBS broadcast with Hearn is so overwrought with onstage camerawork and editing and you only rarely get the laughter or applause.
+KenKen3593 Yeah! It's amazing to hear the audience figuring out the underlying horror of the Todd/Lovett legend in real time- especially on "A Little Priest". I love this recording because you get to share in such a huge communal experience of shock, disgust, and hilarity.
I was a teenager sitting in the 2nd row of the orchestra waaaaaay back when and saw this cast. It was my favorite show then and it still is! THANK YOU for sharing!!!
This is a treasure. I grew up on Hearn's performance and have heard everyone from Depp to Terfel - never heard or experienced a better Sweeney than George Hearn. But I always heard from people who saw Len Cariou that he was the scariest of all of them He apparently embodied the character - people said it was in his eyes. Wish this was clearer video but grateful to find it at all
Sondheim is the FINEST BY FAR....................DELIVERED TIME AND TIME AGAIN.........ALL FROM HIS SINGLE IMAGINATION AND BEAUTIFUL MIND........Think of the Generations ahead who will stumble upon his back catalogue and share the sheer joy in years to come......u have made me sooooooo happy for soooo long......I SALUTE YOU !!!!! From London
My God! How does this exist? It's wonderful. I have never felt that "a little priest" worked very well. But these two, whom it was written for, make it a piece of genius. Cariou understood that at that point of madness and excitement, even Todd could get silly.
Never in a thousand years did I imagine that I would have been able to watch a recording of Sweeney Todd from 1979!! I know it's wrong, but God bless this bootlegger.
I know this will sound unusual, but I'd like to believe that this was recorded by someone from the future who went back in time just to watch the broadway performance xD It would explain the great filming!
I'm hoping some future time-traveller will get a change to record the premieres of 'Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Magagonny' and Mahler's 2nd symphony :-) I would pay good money for those recordings!
RIP Stephen Sondheim thank you for your gifts of brilliant genius! Such an extraordinary musical, I saw it stag d three times and love the movie. You are missed!
I just came from watching the Pro shot George Hearn - Sweeney one and I have to say I actually came here at intermission to rewatch Cariou perform Pretty Woman (his entrance to the song is so much better than Hearn's imo and it actually makes you feel like he's about to kill the Judge right as the song crescendos into the main bit ("pretty as her mother?"); it's so much more haunting. And his Sweeney overall is just so much more human. I might give Hearn the edge vocally but Cariou's Sweeney is so much more and it makes it terrifying and brilliant to watch!
My husband and I got to meet the Great Man (meaning Sondheim) back over twenty years ago. I told him I'd seen this production and that as a wedding gift, my husband gave me the score. "That's a weird gift," he laughed. But he was clearly pleased!
Calvin Cosmos you can see a better recording of the Worst Pies if you search it, and Tonys. That was the entry. That was why I saw this when I went to The City that year.
@@susanpayer3472the Tonys was weird because they dubbed over the audio. The 1982 of the tour was the best, parts of that are overdubbed but it's less obvious than the Tony perf. It's really rare here to listen to Angela doing it live and also to hear Betsy doing Johanna with a less manic Green Finch
I wasn't alive when this was created, but I love it. I started going nuts when I read someone's comment that said this was in the Gershwin Theatre. I was there to see Wicked and I still can't believe I was in the same theatre as Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou!!!!!!!! :D
Have to disagree. Cariou was a perfect match for lansbury’s incomparable performance. I always am turned off by George Hearn. He was completely wrong for la cage. Watch the French movie, it’s a classic.
Thank you for posting this. It really is a piece of Broadway history. I had the fortune of seeing Angela Lansbury in the LA production, but I never thought I would see Len Cariou’s performance. Thank you!
+colakid56 Do you blame him after what happened? Still Mrs. Lovett did get deserve what by lying to him and treating his wife the way she did by kicking her or driving her away?
christin DisneyGirl That’s actually a theory I have! I think the ‘spirit of Sweeney’ is in the razor, and is activated by vengeance. At the end the ensemble is singing about Sweeney still being out there, lurking, yet we had just seen the guy die onstage. I think the moment Tobias picks up the razor and kills him to avenge Lovett, he’s becoming the next Sweeney, seeking vengeance on an unjust world.
I met Len Cariou many years ago after seeing him in another broadway show called "the dinner party " with john Ritter and Henry winkler. Everyone ran to get John and Henry's autograph. I went straight to Len. Amazing actor and singer. Loved him in murder she wrote with Angela Lansbury!!! Great chemistry. I wish he had done more of them.
These are the understudy’s for Johanna and Anthony. It is originally Sarah Rice as Johanna and Victor Garber as Anthony. In this version it’s Betsy Joslyn as Johanna and Cris Groenendaal as Anthony. Otherwise everyone else in the cast is the same.
Thank you! I knew it wasn't Garber, and couldn't figure out who the understudy was. Groenendaal took over the role for the tour as well, I believe! I'd've loved to see Garber in the role.
all things considered this is actually really good quality, the lighting and framing is good enough that you can make out what is happening on stage and same with the sound. Perhaps it says more about the performers than the equipment used for the recording but it's pretty amazing how clearly you can hear everything
RIP Angela Lansbury. Glad to see this performance in the original run was captured and uploaded for the appreciation of posterity. Memories indelible from a seat on the center aisle, 8-12 rows from that immensity of a stage, abt a month after the show opened, high school (senior year) trip (back in those days, we did theatre trips a few times a year in jr and sr high school). On the bus home after the show, a busload of geek-nerd 12 grade Humanities students crowd-sourced our memories of the lyrics of A Little Priest to recreate it afresh. The cast was brilliant, the music and book sublimely twisted, and the magnificent Greek chorus had an effect in that setting that is difficult to capture. It was beyond opera, in the best possible way.
Thanks so much, after 40-odd years of having to imagine how the original looked ! The murkiness and spotlights far seedier than the PBS version, this video is a revelation: I had no idea (until now) how much of 1979's Sweeney Todd's look and feel came from German expressionist and Brechtian theatre. Sweeney's greasy parted hair like a carny doll, a deliberately Brechtian set design , including Mother Courage's trailer for Pirelli, the visible scaffolding, Harold Wheeler's sound similar in parts to Alban Berg's Wozzeck. There is so much Caligari here I didn't expect ! So good ! Growing up with just the soundtrack, I also thought many of the accents and flourishes in the orchestration were mickey-mousing the actors from a workshop phase in the production, but clearly it's completely the other way around. All the stings and hits on stage, in many places improv'd, such as Angela's in The Worst Pies in London, try to give reason to already existing hits and slaps in the music. What a cool opportunity for detective work! Thanks again. Priceless document.
Hugh (not Harold) Wheeler wrote the "book" of this show (generally, the non-musical scenes and dialogue), but Stephen Sondheim wrote both the music and lyrics.
i love how you can see the stagehands moving the set. nowadays most shows are done with computers and turntables. really shows the character of live theatre in 1979
Amazing to hear these performances again! I saw the original cast with my cousin when we were teenagers. I have never forgotten the intensity Cariou brought to the part -- he broke my heart and scared the living daylights out of me at the same time.
@@Hellothere_453 How did they do that? I mean, the cameras at the time were enormous, not thinking about the microphones etc. How did they smuggle that into the theatre?
This was an incredible experience, I've only imagined this cast based on the album but seeing them here makes me realize their real genius, and the pit and crew. Amazing. What a production, what a piece of history.
Watching for the first time, just a couple months after Angela Lansbury has died. I wish she was still alive, it's good that pieces of her live on through her movies and plays.
and sympathy. George Hearn played Sweeney as too much of a hard-edged ghoul. Cariou made you feel sorry for Sweeney. Depp tried to make Sweeney sympathetic but the movie cut out too much of the score to emphasize the horror aspect, so he just came off as moody and strange.
I was there on a Sunday in previews when the bridge started coming down. They had to stop the show and bring up the lights. As I remember, they just pushed it to the back of the stage and went right back into the play. I think it was also the day Angela Lansbury did her photo Shoot for her “what becomes a legend most” ad for blackgama furs. Her performance in Sweeney Todd is one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Ebersole as Edie is up there. Ellen Greene in little shop. And of course, Jennifer holiday’s song in Dreamgirls.
mzmiller52 that’s awesome!!! I saw an interview with Len, where he talked about the bridge coming free and crashing down! I always wondered how they managed to keep the show going. Thanks for sharing that!
Matthew Mattocks I agree that her voice is wrong for Lovett. However I also believe it’s wrong for pretty much every piece of music. It’s horribly thin, with no power. It’s honestly grating on my ears, and I think she was also unable to express any kind of character or personality when she was singing in the movie, likely because she was struggling with the music
I couldn't hear it very well, but did Sweeny yell, "Nellie!" when Mrs. Lovett started screaming in the basement at 2:10:55? I looked up the script and there's nothing there written for him to say, so whatever he said was Len's own creation. If so, I love it. I love the idea that he came to care for Mrs. Lovett that much just before finding out that she had lied to him the whole time. It's too perfectly shattering.
Asia Swartzentruber FUCK DID U HAVE TO BREAK MY HEART EVEN MORE... I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE THAT. that means that he thinks of her as basically the last person he has in his life that he cares about.. right before she shatters that image of herself
I can't believe you got this video on one of the greatest musicals,Thank you for posting this.Sweeney Todd is one of my top three favorites,even though the cameras bulky it's rare to see the original performance.
I had only experienced the movie with Johnny Depp before this and while I loved that movie, and love Johnny Depp WOW I was blown away and teared up at a couple of beautiful singing moments in this.
I saw this during previews, before a lot of music was cut. The organ played the entire time the audience was being seated That whistle at the beginning was so loud it scared the crap out of me. Now I'm prepared.
thank you so much for uploading! i went to this show at the uris theater... a totally unforgettable experience with len cariou and angela lansbury as leads... one of sondheim's true masterpieces! :)
This is THE very first Broadway production I ever saw. Yes, with Angela Lansbury in 1979. It was the very first time I didn't "check around" to see if other people were standing to join in a standing ovation at curtain. I was just automatically up -- only to find everyone else was standing as well!!!
Thank you Damien for posting this,it's rare to see the original performances.This was before my time,I'm glad I got to see it even if the cameras are bulky. :D
so glad to see this on broadway, my most favorite play ever. I have seen every broadway & met opera version, I was searching for tickets to the current broadway revival & came across your post! Thank you so much!!
This is Betsy Joslyn (replacement Johanna and same as on the taped version from the 1982) and she sounds GORGEOUS here and way more in tune and less manic, but the characterization is still as Wonderful and cooky. Her Green finch here hasnt been bested except in the more toned down version by Lisa Vroman. I hope someone sees this comment and agrees. Betsy is a beautiful singer..
saw the first preview, last preview and 1 week after opening!!! Incredible!!! First time I saw a show stopped in the middle of a number (A Little Priest)....thank you Mr. Sondheim....
My parents have the vinyl of the original 1979 recording, so that was the first official "musical" that I had experienced when I heard it at the age of nine lol. Fell in love immediately. Thank you for the video! Now considering playing the vinyl in the background to make up for the sound quality.
This was quite a find! Never seen Len Cariou play Todd before, but I think I like him better. George Hearn is of course superb and very technically proficient vocally, but watching him you never forget that he is an ACTOR ACTING. While Cariou might not have Hearn's vocal talent....he loses himself and just becomes Sweeney, in every way. Bone chilling and wonderful.
playing a character like sweeney has got to be so much fun. an excuse to just go completely off the rails crazy. almost makes me want to go join a theater group.
I adore how the quality of this 40-year-old show looks exactly like a bootleg from last year. It feels like you could still go out and get tickets. It feels like someone's gonna make an edgy AMV with their OCs for their favorite song.
Cariou is such an incredible physical actor as well. Watching him dive at Johanna in the last bit seems so real and intense. He commits to every action giving his movements a very authentic feeling that all actors strive for.
I just saw the preview of the 2023 Sweeney with Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford. But grateful to be able to see this 1979 productions. Thank you whoever recorded this!
I saw this performance in the same year as this. Video recording equipment back then was huge and expensive, so I have no idea how someone made this recording, but I'm so glad they did!
Thankyou so so so much for this I have preformed in SWEENEY TODD 3 time's (3 different seasons) I have just stumbled upon this I'm SO EXCITED I also played Joanne in COMPANY baci x
The idea of some random person in 1979 bringing their giant ass camera in and no one batting an eye is really funny to me
Trenchcoat for sure lol
Right? And the fact that the sound quality is honestly really good
@@AGothNamedWednessday the picture and audio quality are better than a 2001 avenue q bootleg I saw 😭
@@AGothNamedWednessdayI now have the image of them also brining in a giant microphone like the ones used for movies
Thank goodness they did! Delicious, this is!
I was lucky enough to have watched this show over 50 times. My dad played Pirelli in the original cast. I was 11 and he would take me to the theatre a lot. Whenever there was an empty seat I watched. I hadn’t seen this since 1982 and I just watched this whole show. Amazing
Thanks for sharing and sorry for your loss.
Lucky. Also, Pirelli is my favorite character.
I am 12 and just started getting into the show a year ago and I’m really sorry for your loss. Joaquin Romaguero was the only Pirelli. Sal MIstretta couldn’t touch the opera in his voice and the grandness, he was just and great character. And I praise anyone who can do an Italian and Irish accent.
That’s a nice story, I hope your dad had fun playing Perelli. And I bet he was really happy to have his son watch his performances.
Amazing! Your fathers performance can still be felt all the years later! The DEFINITIVE SWEENEY PRODUCTION. I loved the industrial factory aspect of the stage design, nobody ever really understood the factory grittiness of 1840s London after this production ended. No other production of “Sweeney Todd: The demon barber of Fleet Street” comes an inch close to this original cast. It is quite simply theatrical, lyrical and entertainment perfection.
I went to see a local production several years ago and it's still on my top list of shows. The actors were able to sing in the audience at times and it was really fun! There was a sequence where The Beadle was strolling around singing his little nonsense songs and it always sticks in my mind lol 😊
It's rare that you get to see one of the original performances of the show. Interesting indeed.
There's got to be an archive somewhere with copies of original cast Broadway productions. It's a shame they aren't available for sale to the general public. Mind you, I'd probably go broke buying the DVDs/BluRays but beyond being a captured performance, it's history.
There's an official recording of a reunion production in 1982... TCM broadcast it a few weeks ago.
@@bighuge1060 There is - www.nypl.org/about/divisions/theatre-film-and-tape-archive
Sean Wightman I think I saw a recording of the original Sweeney Todd there., it was really not good quality though (this on your tube is better). I saw the original Sweeney Todd as a kid and it was phenomenal. I agree the NYPL is a great resource. I just recently watched the revival of “Man of La Mancha” there and my daughter watched “Spring Awakening”.
Rent’s opening night is available on TH-cam. Though of course that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
I'm amazed that someone was able to record this despite how bulky cameras were back then. Hell I'm even amazed that the footage even looks as good as it is!
I agree, it is extraordinary that this was recorded in 1979!
The New York Public Library has video recordings of Broadway shows, starting with the 70s. Generally, you have to be a student or researcher to view them. I got to see 1983's Cats that way, amazing experience. :)
+TheaterPup wait so this was from the NYC public library?
No, this was not from public library, as it is not an in-house professional recording. :)
ZidaneWarner Oh no I didn't mean that, I don't know where it's from, I was just saying it's not unheard of for these shows to be recorded. Plus the NYPL recording of Cats that I saw was way better quality than this video of Sweeney Todd (still cool to see it of course).
You can really tell Len Cariou loves his role here, he's having such a good time. Such an over-the-top, dramatic performance. Perfect for this musical.
I meet Sweeney
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU. I was there , watching THIS cast performance ... 8 TIMES ! ♥️
@@sheilacicero4322 I'm so jealous. Just judging by the sound this is clearly the best edition to me. This reminds me of the threepenny opera while nowadays it's more opera. Which I will admit I love too, but it feels like Len IS Sweeney, not only playing him. It's absolutely fantastic. If only there was an HD version... but still magical that this is here.
@@SquarelyGames YES.. I totally agree with you about "Len Clariou" being the best "Sweeney Todd" EVER on Broadway ! I also love "Angela Langsbuary" as Mrs. Lovett . Fyi; There's a original Broadway cast "album" (which I own) , OR CD available in stores 👌
Though I haven't seen him live, Cariou remains my favorite Todd. While I appreciate and enjoy a number of actors in the role, Cariou is the one who most consistently brings the best balance of singing and acting for me. More than this, he both scares me AND moves me in the role.
I had the pleasure of seeing this show with it's original cast back in 79. I have seen many shows on Broadway. I have to say this still remains my number one favorite.
It is a winner!
Korova Milkbar how old are you sir.
I'm currently in the pit for a regional production of "Sweeney." Getting lots of envious looks when I let my colleagues know that I saw the original B'way show in 1979, w. Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. Easily the best show I've ever seen live, on- or off-Broadway. (Perhaps we were at the same performance, Korova Milkbar!---and Brownie points for your "Clockwork Orange" screen name.)
In my personal ranking of Greatest Musicals Ever, "Sweeney" is a bare titch behind "Cabaret" for first place.
Same here.
I saw this 3 times too! Original cast when I was a kid. It was unforgettable. It’s my favorite musical ever.
Well I’ll be damned, a recording taken early enough to still preserve the Beggar Woman’s original lyrics. Never thought I’d get to see something like this, thank you so much.
SO TRUE.. "It looks to ME dear , like YOU'VE got PLENTY THERE to PUSH" ! LOL 😉
the 1982 version still has those lyrics and is in much better quality lol
Yeah I thought the same thing... is there something I'm missing? That part is the same?!
Squiff instead of muff, crumpet instead of parsley. Those are the only differences I notice in lyrics
@@cheetoschrist5685 But Merle Louise wasn't playing the role in the 1982 version - this preserves her brilliant performance!
So this video looks like it was shot by someone in the audience which raises the question; how did someone sneak a 1979 era video camera into a theatre and kept it hidden?? Those things were enormous?
you must know that in 1979 - it was impossible to share a filmed video after the show the way we can do it right now. i guess nobody were interested to stop somebody filming the show. almost nobody could afford a cam in 1979. Even VHS wasnt invented.
And also very noisy
Cowhead Doe I'm guessing he went with a party and they somehow all brought a camera and hid it from every one else. The thing that would help with the question is if the publisher tells us how he got this video.
Cowhead Doe, another thing is that, this might have been filmed before the show was open to the public, and this might be a person recording it to review it after the show and listen to it and, I guess they allowed them to do this. The same thing happened with Waitress and one of the bootlegs.
Not likely. That's Cris Groendaal and Betsy Joslyn as Anthony & Johanna, who were replacements. So this had to have been filmed sometime later in the run.
I just want to hug all of you here and you, dear man, who put this here for us. I saw this cast (or most of it) in January, '80. I was 19 and had come to NYC to study acting with the great and infamous Mira Rostova. I lived in a disgusting 4th floor walk-up in the LOWER East Village, St. Mark's Place and 8th Ave. I had been in Nashville most of my life! I saw this, and my hair stood on end, I am sure! Stunning!!!! Nobody will believe me, but I sat in the audience with my friend and Glen Close. My friend was a close college buddy of Glen Close (who had THAT DAY auditioned for "Barnum"; we talked about her audition in the cab!). "Glenny" was living with Cariou. We had stopped by their apartment to get her for the performance. After the performance, because we had "Glenny" with us, I got to go backstage and meet Lansbury and Cariou. They actually met us later at Jo Allen's. What a night! Thanks for taking me back to a fabulous experience. I can report that to a Nashville boy all of these stars were so kind and generous to me. I also saw this show that spring with Cariou and THE COOL WHIP LADY, Marge Redmond! She was wonderful. Then I saw it with Hearn and Dorothy Louden! Such memories!
:)
Wow! I am 17 again, watching this, the first Broadway show that I picked myself, at the Uris Theater. I was and am in awe.
+Nicole Verity You were a lucky lady! :)
This has to be one of the most original, and most brilliant portrayals of madness ever committed to the stage. Every character in this show is mad--there are no sane people, even for contrast! What amazes me most is how Sondheim captures and externalises the distorted mirror of Sweeney's interior world. (The orchestral 'birdsong' is also crazy-accurate!) Just astonishing!... I feel so blessed to have been able to see this, finally. Thank you so much!
I mean, Macbeth and Oedipus were pretty insanity driven... And they came millennia before this
Well there's Antony, he's the only one.
MrsRosencranz1 even then he wanted to steal Joanna from the judge
Pirelli is the best
Antony and Joanna are fairy sane, which is represented in their themes. Even if Joanna shot someone, it was arguably in self defense.
Just so I could keep track when rewatching this masterpiece.
0:00:00 - Prelude: The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
0:03:11 - No Place Like London
0:07:41 - The Barber and His Wife
0:10:19 - The Worst Pies in London
0:13:45 - Poor Thing
0:18:44 - My Friends
0:21:41 - The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
0:22:26 - Green Finch and Linnet Bird
0:25:30 - Ah, Miss
0:26:46 - Alms, Alms
0:31:04 - Johanna
0:32:23 - Pirelli's Miracle Elixir
0:36:30 - The Contest
0:44:16 - The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
0:45:34 - Wait
0:54:17 - The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
0:57:01 - Kiss Me
0:58:41 - Ladies in Their Sensitivities
1:04:54 - Pretty Women
1:11:01 - Epiphany
1:14:30 - A Little Priest
1:22:44 - God, That's Good
1:28:55 - Johanna
1:36:50 - By the Sea
1:42:20 - Wigmaker Sequence
1:44:27 - The Letter
1:47:08 - Not While I'm Around
1:42:27 - Parlor Songs
1:59:49 - The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
2:01:48 - Searching for Toby & City on Fire
2:07:03 - The Judge's Return
2:10:55 - The Final Sequence
2:19:26 - Epilogue: The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
This is pure gold, by the way. Thanks a lot for uploading!
+SerpentinePirate
Excellent !!
+SerpentinePirate Thank you for doing this!
Yes, if I could pin this helpful posting to the top of comments then I would.
The times are a bit off but I love this show
SerpentinePirate
Great that this exists: you get the musical's early audience reaction, before both the music and plot became so well known. The PBS broadcast with Hearn is so overwrought with onstage camerawork and editing and you only rarely get the laughter or applause.
+KenKen3593 Yeah! It's amazing to hear the audience figuring out the underlying horror of the Todd/Lovett legend in real time- especially on "A Little Priest". I love this recording because you get to share in such a huge communal experience of shock, disgust, and hilarity.
I was a teenager sitting in the 2nd row of the orchestra waaaaaay back when and saw this cast. It was my favorite show then and it still is! THANK YOU for sharing!!!
What a lovely comment. :)
This is a treasure. I grew up on Hearn's performance and have heard everyone from Depp to Terfel - never heard or experienced a better Sweeney than George Hearn. But I always heard from people who saw Len Cariou that he was the scariest of all of them He apparently embodied the character - people said it was in his eyes. Wish this was clearer video but grateful to find it at all
Doesn't have the vocal chops - good acting - but vocally George Hearn is still tops
How can you even mentioned Depp with those other names?
Mesmorizing One I think Hearn’s a fantastic Sweeney, but Cariou is still my favorite
Energy Scale in my opinion, Timothy Nolen is the greatest Sweeney
Watch his solo performance of “Pretty Women”, it’s completely taken out of context and sung softer, but something is still super unsettling about it.
Sondheim is the FINEST BY FAR....................DELIVERED TIME AND TIME AGAIN.........ALL FROM HIS SINGLE IMAGINATION AND BEAUTIFUL MIND........Think of the Generations ahead who will stumble upon his back catalogue and share the sheer joy in years to come......u have made me sooooooo happy for soooo long......I SALUTE YOU !!!!! From London
Is there really No Place Like London?
@@spookylad1367 I love ur name
My God! How does this exist? It's wonderful. I have never felt that "a little priest" worked very well. But these two, whom it was written for, make it a piece of genius. Cariou understood that at that point of madness and excitement, even Todd could get silly.
YES. YES, AND YES to this comment. Cariou captured his full range of emotions so well!
Todd being silly is actually scary in this version
Others are reluctant to repeat the same silly comedic style, but it was written that way
Never in a thousand years did I imagine that I would have been able to watch a recording of Sweeney Todd from 1979!! I know it's wrong, but God bless this bootlegger.
RIP Ms. Lansbury, you Broadway LEGEND!!!
I know this will sound unusual, but I'd like to believe that this was recorded by someone from the future who went back in time just to watch the broadway performance xD It would explain the great filming!
Holy shit. This is what i was thinking all throughout the play.
I'm hoping some future time-traveller will get a change to record the premieres of 'Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Magagonny' and Mahler's 2nd symphony :-)
I would pay good money for those recordings!
I mean, that’s what I would do if I had a time machine.
@@tearoses9940 Lots of money to be made recording pre-camera history. I mean recording literally, with a camera.
I am so lucky! I saw this 3 times as a kid. Unforgettable and my favorite show ever.
A little priest is bloody hilarious here, god bless Angela Lansbury
Man... to be someone in this audience, seeing this knowing nothing more about it than the title...
i come back to this video every once in a while. it’s so incredible that this production from 20 years before i was born is documented and saved!
RIP Stephen Sondheim thank you for your gifts of brilliant genius! Such an extraordinary musical, I saw it stag d three times and love the movie. You are missed!
This video is the definition of a GUILTY pleasure.
Thank you for filming this/hunting it down.
Len Cariou will always be the best Sweeny. Nobody has performed Epiphany with the same delightful viciousness that he did.
What did you think of George Hearn as Sweeney ?
Big Kuya C I Think George Hearn Did A Respectable Job.
I've seen a great many Sweeneys. For my money, not only was Cariou the best I've seen, no one else has even come close.
@@lilyhogwart Agreed. He had to originate the role. He is described within the play, and he is all those things.
I just came from watching the Pro shot George Hearn - Sweeney one and I have to say I actually came here at intermission to rewatch Cariou perform Pretty Woman (his entrance to the song is so much better than Hearn's imo and it actually makes you feel like he's about to kill the Judge right as the song crescendos into the main bit ("pretty as her mother?"); it's so much more haunting. And his Sweeney overall is just so much more human. I might give Hearn the edge vocally but Cariou's Sweeney is so much more and it makes it terrifying and brilliant to watch!
i cannot believe theres a bootleg of this show...these songs are amazing. Landsbury is a phenom. thx for the upload.
My husband and I got to meet the Great Man (meaning Sondheim) back over twenty years ago. I told him I'd seen this production and that as a wedding gift, my husband gave me the score. "That's a weird gift," he laughed. But he was clearly pleased!
Wow, Angela Lansbury is absolutely fantastic, The Worst Pies In London is perfect!
Calvin Cosmos you can see a better recording of the Worst Pies if you search it, and Tonys. That was the entry. That was why I saw this when I went to The City that year.
@@susanpayer3472the Tonys was weird because they dubbed over the audio. The 1982 of the tour was the best, parts of that are overdubbed but it's less obvious than the Tony perf. It's really rare here to listen to Angela doing it live and also to hear Betsy doing Johanna with a less manic Green Finch
I wasn't alive when this was created, but I love it. I started going nuts when I read someone's comment that said this was in the Gershwin Theatre. I was there to see Wicked and I still can't believe I was in the same theatre as Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou!!!!!!!! :D
What a lovely comment. :)
Sorry to burst your bubble, Joe P, but it was actually at a theatre called the Uris.
@@wylier same theatre
@@wylier the theater was originally called the Uris Theatre when it opened in 1972, but the name changed to the Gershwin later
No one has even come close to the pairing of Len & Angela in this incredible production, and never will....
What about George ? I thought he was really great.
@@sarahweber3823 I prefer Len's smoothness, for lack of a better description.
Have to disagree. Cariou was a perfect match for lansbury’s incomparable performance. I always am turned off by George Hearn. He was completely wrong for la cage. Watch the French movie, it’s a classic.
The fact that the entire show is done in spots.... absolutely completes the perfection of this masterpiece.
Thank you! I've always wanted to see Len Cariou's Sweeney Todd!
God bless the man who allowed me to see Len Cariou’s unbelievably fantastic work in this show
Thank you to whomever videotaped this and whoever put this on the internet for all to see. My dad was a great Pirelli
He was the definitive Pirelli! Lovely to hear from you.
@@DamienSlattery68 I have his shoes from the show. And a big poster which the cast all signed. I still listen to “The Contest” on Spotify.
@@Krniner So excellent! I am most impressed. 🎈
This is so damn good! I love the audience responses to "A Little Priest"
Thank you for posting this. It really is a piece of Broadway history. I had the fortune of seeing Angela Lansbury in the LA production, but I never thought I would see Len Cariou’s performance. Thank you!
Also I really love how crazy Toby gets at in the end compared to other performances I've seen "smoothly SMOOTHLY!'
+colakid56 Do you blame him after what happened? Still Mrs. Lovett did get deserve what by lying to him and treating his wife the way she did by kicking her or driving her away?
it seems Sweeny's demon entered him at the end!
christin DisneyGirl That’s actually a theory I have! I think the ‘spirit of Sweeney’ is in the razor, and is activated by vengeance. At the end the ensemble is singing about Sweeney still being out there, lurking, yet we had just seen the guy die onstage. I think the moment Tobias picks up the razor and kills him to avenge Lovett, he’s becoming the next Sweeney, seeking vengeance on an unjust world.
I met Len Cariou many years ago after seeing him in another broadway show called "the dinner party " with john Ritter and Henry winkler. Everyone ran to get John and Henry's autograph. I went straight to Len. Amazing actor and singer. Loved him in murder she wrote with Angela Lansbury!!! Great chemistry. I wish he had done more of them.
These are the understudy’s for Johanna and Anthony. It is originally Sarah Rice as Johanna and Victor Garber as Anthony. In this version it’s Betsy Joslyn as Johanna and Cris Groenendaal as Anthony. Otherwise everyone else in the cast is the same.
I was wondering why they sounded different
Thank you! I knew it wasn't Garber, and couldn't figure out who the understudy was. Groenendaal took over the role for the tour as well, I believe! I'd've loved to see Garber in the role.
Is the beggar woman different? She sounds different than in the opening night recording
@@LittleLotte616 No, I'm pretty sure that's Merle Louise - she did the whole run, but it might be her understudy.
@@phoenixnyc Thanks! I'll have to compare again.
Oh Angela....you were and always will be a true lady of Broadway. Well done!
she's.... still alive.
@@thesirms no she's not. Sweeney pushed er in the oven.
tenebria's knight Ha
GenesisKnight No, she’s simply brash.
Despite the low quality, I feel that this is one of the most valuable videos on all of TH-cam.
all things considered this is actually really good quality, the lighting and framing is good enough that you can make out what is happening on stage and same with the sound. Perhaps it says more about the performers than the equipment used for the recording but it's pretty amazing how clearly you can hear everything
RIP Angela Lansbury. Glad to see this performance in the original run was captured and uploaded for the appreciation of posterity. Memories indelible from a seat on the center aisle, 8-12 rows from that immensity of a stage, abt a month after the show opened, high school (senior year) trip (back in those days, we did theatre trips a few times a year in jr and sr high school). On the bus home after the show, a busload of geek-nerd 12 grade Humanities students crowd-sourced our memories of the lyrics of A Little Priest to recreate it afresh. The cast was brilliant, the music and book sublimely twisted, and the magnificent Greek chorus had an effect in that setting that is difficult to capture. It was beyond opera, in the best possible way.
Fun fact: Wicked currently plays at this same theatre. I'll never think of my trips to see wicked as the same.
And now its called the Gershwin instead of the uris
Did you see George Hearn as the Wizard? Wish I had.
It was also designed by Eugene Lee.
@@NairAthul Full circle
Thanks so much, after 40-odd years of having to imagine how the original looked ! The murkiness and spotlights far seedier than the PBS version, this video is a revelation: I had no idea (until now) how much of 1979's Sweeney Todd's look and feel came from German expressionist and Brechtian theatre. Sweeney's greasy parted hair like a carny doll, a deliberately Brechtian set design , including Mother Courage's trailer for Pirelli, the visible scaffolding, Harold Wheeler's sound similar in parts to Alban Berg's Wozzeck. There is so much Caligari here I didn't expect ! So good !
Growing up with just the soundtrack, I also thought many of the accents and flourishes in the orchestration were mickey-mousing the actors from a workshop phase in the production, but clearly it's completely the other way around. All the stings and hits on stage, in many places improv'd, such as Angela's in The Worst Pies in London, try to give reason to already existing hits and slaps in the music. What a cool opportunity for detective work! Thanks again. Priceless document.
Lovely remarks. 😉
Hugh (not Harold) Wheeler wrote the "book" of this show (generally, the non-musical scenes and dialogue), but Stephen Sondheim wrote both the music and lyrics.
i love how you can see the stagehands moving the set. nowadays most shows are done with computers and turntables. really shows the character of live theatre in 1979
Amazing to hear these performances again! I saw the original cast with my cousin when we were teenagers. I have never forgotten the intensity Cariou brought to the part -- he broke my heart and scared the living daylights out of me at the same time.
This has to be one of the first ever bootlegs to be recorded
Nah I’ve got a west side story one from
the 60s
@@Hellothere_453 How did they do that? I mean, the cameras at the time were enormous, not thinking about the microphones etc. How did they smuggle that into the theatre?
@@literaturmurks it’s likely not a bootleg, but a recording made for archival purposes.
@@literaturmurks Tapes were not as easily shared as videos are now so producers weren't nearly as worried about them, I think
I must have watched several times. Len Cariou really is Sweeney Todd. You can feel the sadness he puts into the character.
I first heard this version on public radio. I was caught immediately. Love both Hearns and Cariou.
Ditto re Cariou and Hearn.
This was an incredible experience, I've only imagined this cast based on the album but seeing them here makes me realize their real genius, and the pit and crew. Amazing. What a production, what a piece of history.
Watching for the first time, just a couple months after Angela Lansbury has died. I wish she was still alive, it's good that pieces of her live on through her movies and plays.
THANK YOU. I've enjoyed George Hearn, but now I finally get to see what Len Cariou was like as Sweeney.
Thank you for commenting so nicely.
no one compares to len cariou, pathos & horror all at once, the most indelible interpretation ever
and sympathy. George Hearn played Sweeney as too much of a hard-edged ghoul. Cariou made you feel sorry for Sweeney. Depp tried to make Sweeney sympathetic but the movie cut out too much of the score to emphasize the horror aspect, so he just came off as moody and strange.
jjaniero I think Depp was one of the best Sweeneys of all time, but I agree: the movie did not serve him or the story well.
I love how Len almost falls over backwards off the cube when he chases Johanna out
That scared me so much lol imagine if he’d fallen 😬
@@zoinksman8565 It's at 2:10:52 for those curious.
I was there on a Sunday in previews when the bridge started coming down. They had to stop the show and bring up the lights. As I remember, they just pushed it to the back of the stage and went right back into the play.
I think it was also the day Angela Lansbury did her photo
Shoot for her “what becomes a legend most” ad for blackgama furs.
Her performance in Sweeney Todd is one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Ebersole as Edie is up there. Ellen Greene in little shop.
And of course, Jennifer holiday’s song in Dreamgirls.
mzmiller52 that’s awesome!!! I saw an interview with Len, where he talked about the bridge coming free and crashing down! I always wondered how they managed to keep the show going. Thanks for sharing that!
I always thought it added to the scene. Even if it wasn't intentional it still looks as if Len intended to do it.
I love a brash Mrs.Lovette. when i hear versions with a light, princessy voice it just doesn't do it for me
Onyx Helena Ember-Graves so are you saying this is good are bad
Sameeee
True. Helena Bonham Carter May be a great actress, but she’s not a singer at all.
Matthew Mattocks I agree that her voice is wrong for Lovett. However I also believe it’s wrong for pretty much every piece of music. It’s horribly thin, with no power. It’s honestly grating on my ears, and I think she was also unable to express any kind of character or personality when she was singing in the movie, likely because she was struggling with the music
@@breezingby2611 I don't think Depp did any better, but there are not many good things in the movie version, tbh.
Thanks for posting this. Sweeney Todd is one of my favorite musicals. I wish I was alive back then so I could see this in person.
I couldn't hear it very well, but did Sweeny yell, "Nellie!" when Mrs. Lovett started screaming in the basement at 2:10:55? I looked up the script and there's nothing there written for him to say, so whatever he said was Len's own creation. If so, I love it. I love the idea that he came to care for Mrs. Lovett that much just before finding out that she had lied to him the whole time. It's too perfectly shattering.
Asia Swartzentruber FUCK DID U HAVE TO BREAK MY HEART EVEN MORE... I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE THAT.
that means that he thinks of her as basically the last person he has in his life that he cares about.. right before she shatters that image of herself
WOW THANKS FOR POINTING THAT OUT NOW I'M CRYING BYE
BRUVVVVVV STOP
*OH N O*
@@sophiee4558 AAAAAAAAAAAHHH SO SWEEET NOW IM SAAAAAADDD
I really wish I was alive to see this performance
They need to bring this production of the show back to newyork. This is how you do a production of Sweeney Todd.
Agreed!
There is an excellent one currently playing at the Barrow Street theatre in the West Village!!
I can't believe you got this video on one of the greatest musicals,Thank you for posting this.Sweeney Todd is one of my top three favorites,even though the cameras bulky it's rare to see the original performance.
I had only experienced the movie with Johnny Depp before this and while I loved that movie, and love Johnny Depp WOW I was blown away and teared up at a couple of beautiful singing moments in this.
I saw this during previews, before a lot of music was cut. The organ played the entire time the audience was being seated That whistle at the beginning was so loud it scared the crap out of me. Now I'm prepared.
thank you so much for uploading! i went to this show at the uris theater... a totally unforgettable experience with len cariou and angela lansbury as leads... one of sondheim's true masterpieces! :)
Lovely comment.
I saw this production right there as a little kid. Changed my life. I'm an artist today largely because of seeing this at 10 years old.
Holy shit Broadway History just on TH-cam this is great
This is THE very first Broadway production I ever saw. Yes, with Angela Lansbury in 1979. It was the very first time I didn't "check around" to see if other people were standing to join in a standing ovation at curtain. I was just automatically up -- only to find everyone else was standing as well!!!
Thank you Damien for posting this,it's rare to see the original performances.This was before my time,I'm glad I got to see it even if the cameras are bulky. :D
Trouble is we only get it in on Sunday. With or without its privates. This show has so many clever gags.
I wonder if the people watching this realized how lucky they were. This show, these actors and this production are so iconic.
When he hits that "Oh that was many years ago" in Len's crooniest voice.......so beautiful.
watching this version for the first time literally brought tears to my eyes and chills down my spine . No words for how brilliant this all is
1:11:06 I've heard and seen dozens of Epiphany's and this performance tops them all, stunning. An absolute gem of a recording.
How could 15 people possibly dislike this brodway gem?
They are the Depp fangirls and fanboys.
@@djmotise I mean he wasn't bad if that's what you're saying
Those ungrateful bastards that didn't like the quality of the video.
They're probably Karen's annoyed that people filmed this show in the theatre
They don’t like the quality of the video.
so glad to see this on broadway, my most favorite play ever. I have seen every broadway & met opera version, I was searching for tickets to the current broadway revival & came across your post! Thank you so much!!
This is Betsy Joslyn (replacement Johanna and same as on the taped version from the 1982) and she sounds GORGEOUS here and way more in tune and less manic, but the characterization is still as Wonderful and cooky. Her Green finch here hasnt been bested except in the more toned down version by Lisa Vroman. I hope someone sees this comment and agrees. Betsy is a beautiful singer..
saw the first preview, last preview and 1 week after opening!!! Incredible!!! First time I saw a show stopped in the middle of a number (A Little Priest)....thank you Mr. Sondheim....
My parents have the vinyl of the original 1979 recording, so that was the first official "musical" that I had experienced when I heard it at the age of nine lol. Fell in love immediately.
Thank you for the video! Now considering playing the vinyl in the background to make up for the sound quality.
This was quite a find! Never seen Len Cariou play Todd before, but I think I like him better. George Hearn is of course superb and very technically proficient vocally, but watching him you never forget that he is an ACTOR ACTING. While Cariou might not have Hearn's vocal talent....he loses himself and just becomes Sweeney, in every way. Bone chilling and wonderful.
playing a character like sweeney has got to be so much fun. an excuse to just go completely off the rails crazy. almost makes me want to go join a theater group.
That's one of the reasons why I'd love to play him!
I adore how the quality of this 40-year-old show looks exactly like a bootleg from last year. It feels like you could still go out and get tickets. It feels like someone's gonna make an edgy AMV with their OCs for their favorite song.
One word: BREATHTAKING.
There is a reason mr. Cariou was cast in this role first. He's the best
Angela Lansbury is frickin’ insane in this! No wonder she won the Tony.
Wow, I found a treasure in TH-cam world. Thank you very much for uploading, this is such a precious gem.
Sweeney Todd is just one of the greatest musicals of all time, the actors were extraordinary
Magnificent! And that final door slam on the last note just gives me chills every time!
I wish they had snuck into more productions that we lost. The first Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Dreamgirls, The Rink too many
Just beautiful
Cariou is such an incredible physical actor as well. Watching him dive at Johanna in the last bit seems so real and intense. He commits to every action giving his movements a very authentic feeling that all actors strive for.
I just saw the preview of the 2023 Sweeney with Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford. But grateful to be able to see this 1979 productions. Thank you whoever recorded this!
Rest In Peace Sondheim 🙏🏻♾
Kudos to whomever in 1979 accomplished protean task, & sat there with a steady hand held videoaudio rig (sub rosa at that). Thank you! frm 2022 🎄
I saw this performance in the same year as this. Video recording equipment back then was huge and expensive, so I have no idea how someone made this recording, but I'm so glad they did!
I cant believe somebody actually captured this absolute gold
Thankyou so so so much for this I have preformed in SWEENEY TODD 3 time's (3 different seasons) I have just stumbled upon this I'm SO EXCITED I also played Joanne in COMPANY baci x
I cannot overstate what a blessing this recording is.
What an awesome video, classic.