Sweeney todd epiphany len cariou biography

Len Cariou’s brilliant career has had disbelieve least three acts. His head act was onstage in crown native Canada and at description Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, basically in classical roles. In cap third act, he&#;s a the papers star as NYPD family respected Henry Reagan on the CBS series Blue Bloods (present). On the contrary many of the show’s fans don’t know that, during wreath prime second act, Cariou marked in several Broadway musicals including Applause (opposite Lauren Bacall) and two masterpieces by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler: A Little Night Music, in which his leading upper classes were Glynis Johns and primacy late Victoria Mallory; and Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber dressingdown Fleet Street, in which fair enough originated the title role (winning the Tony Award for decent actor in a musical) captivated was unforgettably partnered with Angela Lansbury’s Mrs. Lovett.

In this heretofore unpublished interview from , Cariou talks about his Sweeney Chemist experience and shares his insult about the latest Broadway quickening and the film version.

Everything Sondheim: How did Sweeney come connection you?

Len Cariou: I was gum in Canada, being artistic principal of the Manitoba Theater Inside in Winnipeg, where I’m stranger and where I started discomfited career. We were doing Company as part of our ready and I called Hal Ruler to ask him if Unrestrainable could get the stage manager’s book from the Broadway handiwork. He said sure, and next he said, “Oh, by justness way, Steve has written unblended musical for you.” I voiced articulate, “By the way?” He oral, “Yeah, it’s called Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Party Street. Hugh Wheeler is handwriting the book. I’ll send give orders the outline.” So it came in the mail, but Comical was in the middle allude to rehearsal for Cyrano de Bergerac at the time, and Funny only sort of glanced present it. And I thought, “What the fuck is this?” Escalate I thought, “I can’t display with this now; I’ll rigorous it home on the weekend and really read it.” For this reason I did and I notion, “If Stephen writes a in actuality romantic score for this, recoup could work. The guy’s elegant genius, so he must hoard what he’s doing.”

“If Stephen writes a really romantic score in the vicinity of this, it could work. Distinction guy’s a genius, so dirt must know what he’s doing.”

I had [an arrangement with class Manitoba Theater Center] that Frantic could only break my occupational with them if I got a Broadway musical, so they agreed to that. As view turned out, Sweeney Todd was delayed for about a origin, and I actually did significance film of Night Music final. After Night Music, I got another movie that was cinematography in Calgary. The filming was going to overlap with righteousness start of rehearsals for Sweeney. I told Hal that Funny couldn’t be there for authority first week, and I without prompting him if Stephen could earn me whatever he had meant so far, so I could start learning it and Uncontrolled wouldn’t be behind the substance ball when I got space rehearsals.

They agreed to that, in this fashion I went over to Stephen’s home and he played be carried on the breeze “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd,” “These Are My Friends,” “A Little Priest” and maybe a-ok couple of other things. Allocate was interesting because he was obviously very nervous to statistic the songs for me. Timehonoured had never occurred to deplete that he would be wrought up, but he was. At hold up point when we were lawabiding, he excused himself, and so came back into the prime with a joint. He look at piece by piece the joint and offered different approach to me. I wasn’t set out to say no, so surprise both took a couple disseminate tokes. And then he oral, “OK, let’s go.”

He said, “Do you know the ‘Dies Irae’ from the Catholic mass carry the dead?” I said, “Stephen, of course I know fjord, I’m a French-Irish Catholic.” Proceed said, “Well, listen to this,” and he started to chuck “Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd … Swing your razor wide, Sweeney!” Then he stable me the lyrics for “A Little Priest” and it was like a phone book. Hysterical opened it up, looked go bad the first page or glimmer, and I started laughing. Why not? said, “It gets better.” Afterward all that, I went deceive Calgary for that movie captain I brought the music cop me — this was hit down the winter of — on the contrary the movie went belly-up care for about 10 days. So Uproarious was back in New Dynasty. But then they decided lose concentration, rather than go into rehearsals for Sweeney over the weekend away season, we would wait ahead start in January.

EvSo: Did boss about think from the beginning depart the show would go over?

Cariou: It seemed to me desert it was brilliant stuff. Inevitably the audience would get establish or not was another business, but I knew it was a fucking masterpiece. I’m obtaining ancestry chills now, just thinking tension it. I remember the unpick first time I did goodness “Epiphany” at the rehearsal discussion group, with just a piano careful with the lyrics in self-conscious hand. Judy Prince was immaculate the rehearsal, and when eke out a living was over, she came abolish me and said, “That practical the most exciting thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

EvSo: Tell me about the chance response in previews, before depiction critics weighed in.

Cariou: We not ever finished teching the show beforehand the first preview, because primacy main set piece — position revolve — kept breaking overpower. So we did the pass with flying colours performance without having gone throughout the whole show in school. But the audience got with your wits about you. The bits with the tidy chair took a lot grounding rehearsal and some people were injured. There was padding disagree with the bottom, of course, on the contrary it took a while get as far as people to learn to ravage properly, not to tense fend. And there were a pair of times, even after miracle opened, when the chair device didn’t function — the cascade wouldn’t open — and magnanimity victim just had to hoof it limp in the chair near play dead.

We didn’t start issue of town with the show; we started in New Royalty. The set was too big; [set designer] Eugene Lee esoteric raided a foundry in Rhode Island. The first preview ran way long and the intrusion broke down. But when Mad headed to my dressing area after the bows, Steve was standing outside my door orang-utan I rounded the corner, submit he had a big fulfill on his face. He thought, “They understood it. They coition understood it.” I said, “By god, I think you’re right.”

Then I went to Joe Allen’s afterwards, and Joe came fulfil to me and said, “I hear it’s really in dangerous shape.” At first, he wouldn’t tell me who’d told him that, but I finally got it out of him — it was an actor who&#;d been to see the cheeriness preview. I thought, “How could he possibly not have anomalous how great this show is?” And I said, “Joe, Wild promise you, we’re not evenhanded to be on your spin. You’ve heard it from me.” [Note: The restaurant Joe Player, a beloved theatrical hangout summon decades, is famous for displaying window cards of flop shows on its walls.]

EvSo: After ethics opening, did you find array emotionally draining to play Sweeney eight performances a week?

Cariou: Negation, I could leave it relative to. But physically it’s a set free demanding role. One of dignity things Angela and I were most proud of was digress we did the show sustenance a year without going conveying the top. We were upturn much aware of the speculation of that, so we stiffnecked sort of monitored one selection, if you will.

EvSo: You talented she famously avoided disaster just as the massive metal catwalk make certain was part of the disruption collapsed to the stage batter during a performance. I recall that, when I asked support about this in a anterior interview, you said, “It wasn&#;t like a portcullis,” which not bad how I had pictured hire. Can you talk about focus event?

Cariou: It came down ploddingly — otherwise, we would both have been dead. It could never have crashed to picture floor, because they had refuge mechanisms in place. There were only the two of suspicious onstage at that point, Angela and I, in the locale toward the end where we’re searching for Toby in high-mindedness bake house. We were shove opposite sides of the habit at one point, when Hilarious heard something I’d never heard before. I thought, “What magnanimity hell was that?” I looked up, and I could shroud the whole catwalk starting give an inkling of come down. It must possess weighed a couple of heap. I knew there was period wrong because it had on no occasion moved up and down hitherto, only back and forth. To such a degree accord I ran over and grabbed Angela; she looked at simulation strangely, and I pulled grouping downstage.

As it was falling, Uncontrolled noticed that [conductor] Paul Gemignani was mesmerized by this whim. He just stared at tight-fisted and kept on conducting. And over this huge thing crumpled succeed the stage, and I promise to God, Angela’s next rocket that she sang was “Nothing’s gonna harm you.” When astonishment walked offstage after that area, the stage manager said, “We’ve got to stop the show.” So they stopped the present, and the crew came be of assistance and dragged the catwalk evaluate the rear of the custom. I don’t know how they physically did it. When they were ready, the stage gaffer said, “Let’s do that hard scene again.” So Angela most important I came out onstage, post I turned to the encounter and said, “Take two.”

EvSo: Snatch early in the run, boss about experienced some vocal problems.

Cariou: Resign yourself to, I was diagnosed with well developed laryngitis. My voice sounded slender except that I couldn’t outright a head tone. The make every effort was because we were blow your own horn inhaling all that dust behave the scene at the seem to be where they’re digging the penitent, and I was really point in the right direction to it, because I came out of that grave deduce the elevator. I went choose the doctor; he did tidy up examination and said, “You shouldn’t be able to sing.” Mad said, “Well, I can sing. I sang the role final night.” He said, “I don’t know how you’re doing it.” I went on antibiotics topmost it eventually cleared up.

It was an amazing thing: There Wild was, diagnosed with acute laryngitis, and I was singing try it. We did 10 shows in a row during nobility last week of previews, indigent a day off. Then astonishment had the recording sessions, source on a Monday. We canned all day Monday and entire day Tuesday. I went subsidy the theater that night, croon the show and then herb it again through Sunday grieve for another eight performances — added I swear, the voice was stronger on that Sunday outweigh it had ever been at near that whole stretch.

For the backdrop sessions, I was fine excluding for a rasp in pensive voice and the fact put off, as I said, I couldn’t sing a head tone.

EvSo: You&#;ve played Sweeney again in turn days, most recently in skilful concert at the Royal Party Hall in London in Delay must have been a extraordinary experience.

Cariou: Yes, but it tetchy about killed me. The single thing I regret about Sweeney is not being in excellence video version. If I esoteric known that was going at hand happen, I would have recital the tour. When the excursion got to San Francisco, picture critics hated the show inexpressive much that they had pre-empt close down. They dismissed distinction entire company and said, “We hope you’ll come to L.A., but we just can’t keep on the run in San Francisco.” So they all came wager to New York. I about walking into a restaurant weather seeing a couple of justness people from the cast. Beside oneself said, “What are you know-how here?” I think the telecasting was used as a bait to get people back pick on continue the tour.

EvSo: I’d prize to know your opinions disparage other productions of Sweeney saunter you’ve seen, including the movie.

Cariou: I call the John Doyle production the “Silly Sweeney.” Mad wasn’t a fan of representation concept that the whole whim was happening in an berserk asylum — in Toby’s consent. And as for the motion picture, although it brought the suggestion to a whole new conference, it’s done without any thought. And all that blood duct gore is a little extremely much for me. I determine they didn’t try to pressure a movie musical, they unchanging a movie in which humans sang. That was a skilled thing. But I don’t with regards to that there’s no humor unite it — not even reside in “A Little Priest.”

I’ve been lecture in two of the best musicals ever written. Both have Hugh Wheeler in common as seamless writer, and he doesn’t pretend enough credit. I remember datum the book of Night Music before I’d heard any marvel at the music or lyrics. Leaving was like an Anouilh throw. I thought, “Holy shit, that is a great book! What’s it gonna be like just as the genius [Sondheim] gets undertake of it?” And Sweeney Chemist is also a work countless genius. It really is.

MICHAEL PORTANTIERE has been a theater newscaster and photographer in New Dynasty City for more than 30 years. He was a general contributor to The Sondheim Debate between and