As you may have heard, there's a movie coming out this Christmas based on the musical play by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. That's great timing because when I think of Christmas, I immediately think of a serial killer slashing throats. Johnny Depp has the title role and Tim Burton directed and though I like (not love) the stage version, I find myself curiously unexcited about the film.
That may change but it isn't changed by a two and a half minute trailer which can be viewed here. You can also view it via the film's website where you can also download Sweeney Todd wallpaper and Sweeney Todd buddy icons. And aren't there enough sickos prowling our chat rooms without people identifying themselves via Sweeney Todd buddy icons?
The trailer, as you'll see, does its best to hide the fact that this is a musical. There's very little singing, no mention of Broadway and even Evelyn Wood couldn't read fast enough to see Mr. Sondheim's name. It will be interesting to see if the marketing folks maintain this approach as they get closer to the release date.
I'm also curious if Sondheim has written any new tunes for the film, particularly with an eye on the Academy Awards. As you may know, it is not uncommon when a musical is adapted to the screen for new songs to be added. The old songs are not eligible for the Best Song Oscar but a new one is. Sometimes, a composer who'd like to win one will make that a condition of the sale; that he must be engaged to write a couple of new ones so he can maybe score a statuette. Sometimes, the producers want it because they think it a new song or two will enhance their soundtrack sales and also, of course, a Best Song Oscar wouldn't hurt the film's box office. And sometimes, of course, new tunes are introduced for creative reasons.
This is why you got "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" in the film version of Little Shop of Horrors. It's why Marion the Librarian sings "Being in Love" instead of "My White Knight" in the movie of The Music Man and why Adelaide sings "Pet Me, Poppa" instead of "A Bushel and a Peck" in the film version of Guys and Dolls. It's why the film version of A Chorus Line, along with doing almost everything else wrong, replaced "The Music and the Mirror" with "Let Me Dance For You" and it's why Dolly Parton wrote new songs for Best Little Whorehouse in Texas even though she didn't write the show when it was a stage musical.
One might note that when a stage song is replaced by a new song, the new song is inevitably inferior and it usually doesn't win an Oscar. ("Mean Green Mother" is probably the best of the ones mentioned in the above paragraph…and I don't think it's insignificant that it didn't replace a song in the original show. It was just an add-in.) If anyone can improve on a Sondheim score though, it's Sondheim. It'll be interesting to see if he tried.