Having seen Patti Lupone's Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD on the West End, I couldn't help wondering what the heck Norma Desmond was doing in the middle of SWEENEY TODD. I thought she was absolutely WRONG as Mrs Lovett. It was as if Nancy from OLIVER! had cross-bred with Gloria Swanson to create this bizarre creature who had nothing to do with Sondheim or Sweeney.
George Hearn, on the other hand, I thought was wonderful. Indeed, having seen Terfel's attempts at being menacing as the villains in HOFFMANN, I was rather glad he *didn't* do this production. Hearn struck just the right balance between menace, spite, and pathos. And sang the role well to boot.
Karen Mercedes http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
--- Hillaire Belloc's flawed but insightful essay on Islam: http://www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/HERESY4.TXT
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsyl., 1759
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