Reacting to Aaron Tveit's "Epiphany!" (From Sweeney Todd)
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- čas přidán 15. 02. 2024
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Aaron Tveit took over in the lead role of Sweeney Todd on Broadway last week, alongside Sutton Foster as Mrs. Lovett. They replace Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford respectively. There has been a lot of controversy around Aaron Tveit's casting because he is, famously, a tenor, and Sweeney Todd is, famously, a bass / baritone role. Some are saying Aaron Tveit might be miscast. So of course I had to react to the video of Aaron Tveit performing one of Sweeney's big songs, "Epiphany." Music & Lyrics are by Stephen Sondheim, of course.
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Note: I do not hold the rights to Sweeney Todd or to Aaron Tveit's performance, and I will happily take this video down if requested! - Hudba
You are right that Josh didn’t jump the Octave. Where you notice Tveit is not a baritone is in the reprise of Johanna-when he’s singing against another tenor role. He doesn’t hit those lower notes like Groban did…but the physicality he brings to role, his chemistry with Sutton, the grace of his movements is just incredible . He is so well conditioned for this role…it even looks like he’s bulked up his upper body a bit to handle being pulled from a supine to standing position twice per show (this move actually injured Groban’s shoulder).
George Hearn jumps the octave, I believe that is what is written. It's meant to sound anguished and pained, which by the way it does not at all in Aaron Tveit's voice
Seeing him live made me change my tune, a bit.. He really couldnt hit the low notes. But, his acting was AMAZING! And his Epiphany was perfectly unhinged! Really sold the fact that Sweeney finally snapped
I saw Aaron Tveit the day before yesterday and I went in with a lot of reservations as a bit of a Sweeney Todd purist. Having said that, Aaron realy blew me away with his performance. It is beautifully acted and he has a strong, rich lower register in the areas that have not been transposed. I actually hope to see him again to see how his performance evolves.
Someone will film it again so we will have more material to watch
I wish I lived closer to New York so I could see this😭 Aaron and Sutton in the same cast is amazing
Sutton Foster knocked it out of the park. She stole the show. Not enough superlatives exist to describe how amazing she is in this show.
❤❤❤❤ period
I honestly liked her more than Annaleigh Ashford! Wish that somehow, some way, Josh and Sutton could've performed together. I don't dislike Aaron, but Josh just blows him out of the water imo
I saw Aaron live. I was so nervous because of him being a tenor. I was completely BLOWN AWAY. He was terrifying and yet somehow he humanized Sweeney at the same time. And his voice was just incredible. The videos don’t do it justice
I saw this last week and thought Aaron was fantastic. He was scary. He really got to flex his acting chops in this show.
I know exactly what you mean about Josh not seeming like a very convincing murder. 😂 He does seem like a such a sweet person in real life, and it’s very important to remember that he’s a singer first and actor second. Unfortunately in some shows you can’t always get a perfectly well rounded singer/actor/dancer; one skillset shines a little brighter than the other two. I had some very slight notes for Josh Groban’s acting during the performance I saw him in, but I actually liked his portrayal a lot. I tend to like the portrayals of Sweeney that are very stoic, unassuming at first, but this growing unsettling presence in the corner of a room. Not so much the type that would scratch their vocal cords, hell at your doorstep, fit of rage character. By my personal preference, Josh Groban played the type of Sweeney I enjoy more and his voice VERY much matched up with that portrayal. I saw him on his second to last weekend on stage and his voice was still IMMACULATE. 😩🤌❤
On first impressions seeing and hearing Aaron Tveit as Sweeney, I’d actually really, REALLY like to see him in the roll Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from (duh) “Jekyll & Hyde”. I would love to hear him sing “This is the Moment” and “Alive.”
Saw it yesterday, absolutely incredible? I think he definitely figured out the character.
I hadn’t heard this before and I have to say I like it. I grew up listening to Len Cariou and George Hearn absolutely *murder* (pun intended) their voices, and that seems right for a song in which a man completely breaks. Aaron Tveit’s higher voice also cuts through the orchestration really well, kind of bouncing off the low musical stings like he’s on a trampoline of insanity. The lower parts sound somehow less crazed, like they’re his last fingertip-hold on sense before it’s utterly ripped away. I love his commitment and physicality (I’m also a fan, which helps 😆)
Love your analysis as always, and I hope your gig goes well 🥰
"Trampoline of insanity" 😂😂😂
neither Hearn nor Cariou murdered their voices. Good grief.
I wouldn't want to meet this Aaron in a dark alley. I read somewhere it was only half a note higher then the original. I do hope he isn't hurting his voice, i would think he normally takes good care of it. He couldn't have done all of the catch me if you can shows if he wasn't good to his voice.
I was skeptical, but his low notes in this clip surprised me. It's not the Sweeney I'm used to, but I can see the potential of this being great too. (Can't judge from one little clip.) It's true though, that Josh Groban and Aaron Tveit don't immediately look like they would murder like Len Cariou and George Hearn that can just do it with a stare.
Hi Mateo, I have been waiting for someone to comment on Aaron’s performance since I saw the show on his opening night on 2/9/24. I’m a huge fan and just knew he would not have taken this role if he didn’t believe he could do it well. From things he has said in various interviews, he’s been practicing his Sweeney brand of nastiness and insanity for years (to himself, not performing it!) since he has long wished for this opportunity! His acting in this show, in my opinion, is beyond expectation. He makes his own choices and is so credible. He is scary, explosive, menacing and literally looks and sounds insane! I was worried about the key and was so impressed with how well he used his voice to express his fury. When I heard the Epiphany video of 2/15/24 I could tell already how he has settled into the role and has made some subtle but important adjustments. On his opening night I think he was not adequately miked to be heard well enough over the orchestra. I suspect that was corrected and his voice sounded fuller and he was more at ease with the lower register. You have got to go to see him and then review the show‼️
Thank you for sharing all these details!! I really appreciate it!!
Would be interested to know your thoughts on Joe Locke's vocals in the role of Tobias in Sweeney Todd. It's his Broadway debut and he's been getting - rightly - 100% positive reviews. He's said to be singing in Sondheim's original key (I'm afraid I wouldn't know either way), which is getting huge praise. Just wondered what you thought - especially for a Broadway debutant - of Joe's voice on its own and next to more seasoned performers.
I agree with you about wishing the final note was a little more 'hearty', but I was expecting you to attribute that to the vocal damage he'd just been inflicting on himself with ' but the WORK WAITS!' It sounds like not even he can immediately recover a connected sound after such a throaty savaging.
If you listen to the whole review by Matteo he explains how Aaron can sing the crazy, angry parts and recover to sing on and not damage his voice. Which isn’t to say it doesn’t get exhausted by end of show!!
love this xx
Appreciate the video, but you gotta stop saying "not being careful with his voice", lol. Distortion (and it's various "types") is a technique that can absolutely be developed + refined in a healthy way; it has nothing to do with range. Most people just never learn the right ways to do it.
That aside: I like Tveit, but it *is* a bummer they couldn't find a baritone to stunt cast instead. He sounds alright, and his low notes surprisingly are there, but from the other clips I've seen his acting suffers a lot when he stays down there for a while (like in Johanna Act 2).
Josh Groban was more of a "stunt cast" over Aaron,,, he's not really known outside of Broadway. That's where he got his start. I saw him this weekend and he was great.
We saw it yesterday, and they are both excellent! I dropped a low note in one of the early songs, but overall was top notch. Lives him in Moulin Rouge as well, recognizing that it was definitely a role for a tenor.
I saw it yesterday too!
I saw the performance Aaron was awesome
watched him live in NYC on april 27th 2024 he was amazing same with sutton foster both did a perfect job sat in front row and he was just amazing
I waited specifically for this casting to see it (went on their second night). Aaron is my favorite and he was fantastic but Sutton Foster was sheer perfection. HILARIOUS. Her gift for timing and physical comedy is exactly what the role demands. The only thing I didn’t like is that they walk back into hell holding hands. Oh and that weirdly she appears to step into the oven. ???
His whole performance, he’s got a straight face.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You look at this performance and he’s got a straight face no matter what he does. And it just KILLS the whole mood.
There’s recordings of the finale ballad, and he comes out to sing the final “attend the tale” covered in blood and all. And he looks like he’s bored. I hate it. It just kills it.
Honestly? It seems like he’s working. Like it’s a job for him, a chore to get up on stage and sing this song.
Best epiphany, hands down? George Hearn. He’s got the BEST emotion. And his vocal control, from screaming one second, to literally whisper singing the next notes. “Nor a hundred, can assuage me” is the best part. He screams that and sings it. It’s the best.
Aaron is the worst sweeney. He was the absolute worst choice for sweeney. And that’s a hill I’ll die on.
George Hearn will always be. The best Sweeney. He comes out on the final “attend the tale” fists clenched, eyes locked on the audience. And he’s MAD. Storming off to the back of the stage, slamming that door and the stage goes dark.
This Sweeney revival is not what is could have been. It’s good, but not the best. Josh was not the right choice either.
I also despise how lighthearted they’ve made this show. The constant stopping to let the jokes sink in, and the flopping around on “by the sea” is so infuriating.
This show has its funny bits. Yes. But it’s by no means a fall out of your chair slapstick comedy. It’s a horror show. And it’s gotten out of hand.
The fan girls? Are another thing, that’s insane.
This entire discourse is so fascinating to me as an opera singer where it is verboten to even THINK of singing outside of your fach in a majority of houses-as a lyric soprano, I could never sing Dalilah despite actually being able to sing her role very easily because I’m not a mezzo. I have very strong opinions on the fach system and I like that Broadway isn’t so strict. HOWEVER, Sweeney is not a role that should go to a tenor. I can hardly hear Tveit over the orchestration even with a mic. Sweeney is written very much like an opera and the tessitura is so important to the characters; the vocal quality of Sweeney is a character in itself, as is the vocal quality of other characters like Johanna (which I’ve played and was told I’m not the typical casting choice because the color of my voice is too dark for a character that is supposed to sound like a bird.)
I think that for a show like Sweeney, vocal fach is essential to casting these roles. Yes, a tenor can sing it but it will not cut through the orchestra the way a baritone would.
Definitely not a casting choice I like.
I agree his voice is drowned out at times especially the lower notes. However, not sure which videos you’ve listened to but I think the sound was adjusted (listen to videos a few days into the run) and Aaron’s mic was likely turned up to balance things. His lower notes when you can hear them are used to further his transition to a maniacal, out of control man.
As a dark baritone myself, yours is an observation I completely agree with.
also... now Anthony, Tobias, Beadle, Adolfo, AND Sweeney are tenors... every character is exibiting a bright sound... no contrast. It all becomes the the same sound all across the board. And they cut the Judge's song so we don't even have that bass moment. Ugh!
So true!!! Thanks for watching Marcus ❤️
Though I was skeptical about the decision of Aaron as Sweeney, specially for what you mentioned of Him being a really high Tenor, I've Listened some of His renditions in the show and it's a different Sweeney from the Groban's, Lewis' or Cariu's versions, but still sounds pretty nice.
I see it more like the Johnny Depp versión in the film, more light on the voice, but still pretty scary.
I still think the Broadway producers should Cast baritones or basses for roles written for them, but this is quite an interesting decition
I really Loved you insight on this - thanks so much - subscriging to you
This is the first video of yours I've seen, and I'm impressed with the analysis here. Spot on. And Tveit's version of "Epiphany" is much better than I expected, though that last note is a little disappointing -- doesn't resonate as powerfully as it could/should. I'm interested in hearing more, as, like many, I'm not at all sure that either Tveit or Foster are perfectly cast. Both are talented and can be great in the right vehicle, but I don't think either are great in everything I've seen.
Try to listen to some of the audio from 2/15/24. I heard a big improvement in the richness of his voice.
I saw their second performance (first matinee). I loved everything about Aaron except epiphany. His lyrical singing was beautiful in things like Johanna and pretty women. But when he tried to be angry he attacked the words in a way I wasn’t a fan of and it made it sound like he was blowing raspberries. I think part of that problem might be the sound system in Sweeney is using? I saw it twice (once in orchestra and once mezz) and both times Daniel Yearwood sounded ridiculously tinny.
I felt some of that on 2/9. I think the sound was off. The orchestra was too loud and/or Aaron and Sutton too, were under miked. Seems by a few days later it was corrected.
I enjoyed your comments very much! 😊
Never would have taken Sweeney as anything but a baritone, but after I saw Tveit live, I'd be hard pressed to ever look back at a better Todd.
Edit: Let me reiterate...seeing this show live was transformative.
I was doubtful, even as a Tveit fan, but good dang; is there anything he can't do?
I'm curious to hear aaron's entrance as that's my favorite part. I would like to go but ticket prices are crazy due to the limited run. I enjoyed josh's voice but the acting wasn't believable as a bitter, broken killer. I always say sweeney is a pitbull and josh is a Labrador retriever. I suspect josh is too laid back to tap into the crazy. However regardless of doubts I had about his range, I thought aaron could bring the crazy. I was just in NYC in January so trying to resist FOMO.
You can never hear the first lines anyway because when he appears everyone starts screaming. They did it to Josh Groban too lol
There have been sales for tickets. Especially if you don’t mind sitting further away.
Don't forget the amazing performance of Brian Stokes Mitchell as Sweeney in the Kennedy Center Sondheim fest. You can find it on youtube.
When my kid's high school changed staff for their theater department, they started the new regime with Sweeney Todd. Down with those old tropes! However, the usual high school casting was still in play, so they ended up with the senior tenor who was expecting the lead. The show was okay for what it was, but for Tenor Sweeney it was good that it was a short run. His voice recoved in time.
“The work waits” almost sounds like harsh vocals like in metal music.
Two incredible Broadway talents both in this lead. Aaron Tveit played the roll more broadly; Josh Groban was nevertheless menacing in the extreme. Josh Groban's voice is as incredible an instrument as I have ever heard, and he uses it to bring true menace to the role. It was somehow more terrifying to me to see someone so outwardly restrained but evoking such hatred and menace in his voice. I questioned whether Groban could play evil, but at one point with Groban I actually had goosebumps and physically recoiled as he moved towards the edge of the stage. I have never heard any performer so perfectly evoke emotion as Josh Groban. As sweet as he is, if I had heard the timbre of that voice in a dark street I would have run. He said he wanted to play the role as a normal man driven insane by grief and hatred--it worked! Likewise the anger and frustration he displayed in Great Comet singing "Anatole". Both of these stars are incredible, but that beautiful, powerful and perfectly used baritone voice of Josh Groban is transcendent.
“We’ve heard him sing Cs, we’ve heard him sing B#s”
Ben Platt is a baritone
I think he should have played Anthony instead of Sweeney
The fashion lately to have only light voices and/or absolute belts is wearying. The most pleasant or fascinating part of the human vocal ability is not often in extreme sounds, and while an intensely difficult vocal feat can be used to great effect, I find that the most intimate, moving, and/or visceral portrayals of most characters occurs during what is fairly comfortable and easy for developed singers-which is still a pretty wide range of notes and volumes. Especially when they are cast in roles that suit them! But to hear a singer struggle does not serve the story or the music well, in my opinion, and it is strange to write or cast in such a way that heavily risks it.
7 shows a week was Josh’s contract, so I’ve heard.
That makes perfect sense. Strange they wouldn't still play eight shows and have the alternate go on for one of the shows (á la Julie Benko in Funny Girl)
He could have gotten some heavy metal style vocal work done. I know that you can flex your voice with different techniques 🤷
Bitter aging alto here, this drives me crazy. I'm so tired of everything being pitched so damn high. I've lost my upper range, so I've had to learn to live with singing everything written for women an octave down.
My very first Broadway show was the original cast, Len Cariou and Dame Angela Lansbury, and frankly, I've been chasing that high ever since. That said, both current leads, while so excellent in their appropriate elements, are, I think, miscast here. Even in this clip, Mr. Tveit doesn't seem as much the vengeant murderer than he does an irritable junior stockbroker. And sadly, I buy Ms. Foster even less in the Lovett role than I did as chipper hooker Sweet Charity. Again, love them both in the right vehicles.
You have got to see the whole show! Aaron’s portrayal creeped me out. If I didn’t see him or didn’t know it was him, I would’ve had some difficulty recognizing it was him. Didn’t sound or look anything like his usual persona.
he may be amazing but this choice pissed me off as a baritone
Okay, I am a fan but let a Baritone have a bloody role for goodnes sakes.
I don’t hate it, but I definitely prefer Sweeney as a baritone.
How about next video you WATCH THE WHOLE GODDAMN THING FIRST THEN OFFER OBSERVATIONS. Epiphany is not meant to be heard in chunks.
And a Broadway pro can "rasp" (which is not what this is) and scream all the time if they need to, just as a high jumper can leap over and over, or a sprinter can run over and over. That's training. And this is the original key.
Whoa just take it easy man
it is in fact a half step higher than the original key…
I think Tveit is a fine performer with a beautiful voice….here he is vocally challenged and seems to be rage from the beginning of the show. I think that Sweeney’s anger is deep…and she slowly releases it as the ahow goes on. The anger is this clip is almost scene chewing…the flailing arms and body jerkiness is not the body movements of a man who has perfectly calculated his return to London for revenge. Ill wait for a baritone to return to the role. Great analysis!
Epiphany is actually like the one song where Sweeney’s unbridled madness is supposed to be on display.
His anger/madness does evolve. When the show opens, he is low key, very dark, but not as emotive. That's the purpose of this song--he lets the anger out.
I just want to say that I turned this video off at 4:35, after saying "Shut up and let us hear the performers" about 20 times.
why did you click on a reaction video then?
Hard disagree. "Not a hundred" sounded good "can assuage me" was off. Also, you got excited about his acting at the end but it was really just empty yelling and a TERRIBLE maniacal laugh. That attempt at crazy laugh was really very amateur.
I agree with you that the higher voice gets a pass if everything else is an A+ but everything else was like a C based on this video
Great analysis but not sure why you’re supporting illegal bootleging. Normalizing this trash behavior in the theater is concerning.
This illegal bootlegging helps a lot of people like me become interested in shows enough to fork over tons of cash to Broadway to go down and see the real thing.
In a perfect world, there would be a promo video like Waitress did for most jennas. Realistically the ticket prices are higher than what I paid to see josh/Anna. And I only went to see ST because of ham4ham.
Imagine being mad that Broadway history is being recorded.
Also…tons of performers themselves. official social media accounts of Broadway shows, and even TV talk shows use bootlegged footage.
I think he sounds great. He is going for if. I love Aaron Tveit. I also was suprised to see him cast in this. I love the raspy voice for the character. I love an angry scary Sweeney. (Rather the sweet like you said of Groban) but I totally agree Groban has an incredible voice.