Josh Rogosin | December 22, 2023
My parents brought me to see a production of Sweeney Todd when I was 10; I had nightmares for weeks. That may have been the beginning of my obsession with the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
“We’re so grateful to sing Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece every single day,” Josh Groban explains at the Tiny Desk. “He was so brilliant at juxtaposing the beautiful with the horrific.” (It turns out that both Groban and I named our dogs “Sweeney Dog,” something I learned when I introduced the cast.)
Expect a wave of emotions throughout this performance: empathy for Sweeney (Groban) and Mrs. Lovett (Annaleigh Ashford) with their songs of vengeance and longing, “My Friends,” and “By the Sea”; desire with the quartet’s vocal counterpoint performed in “Johanna (Act 2 Sequence)”; laughter with the duet’s performance of “A Little Priest.” Incredibly, this Tiny Desk version of the musical is no less impactful — the 26-piece orchestra currently playing the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre gets a nine-piece orchestration courtesy of Jonathan Tunick, Sondheim’s longtime collaborator, led by conductor Alex Lacamoire. Absolutely mesmerizing.
SET LIST
“My Friends”
“By the Sea”
“Johanna (Act 2 Sequence)”
“A Little Priest”
COMPOSER
Stephen Sondheim
ORCHESTRATIONS
Jonathan Tunick
CAST
Josh Groban (“Sweeney Todd”)
Annaleigh Ashford (“Mrs. Lovett”)
Daniel Yearwood (“Anthony Hope”)
Maria Bilbao (“Johanna”)
Joanna Carpenter (“Beggar Woman”)
MUSICIANS
Todd Palmer: clarinet
Damian Primis: bassoon
Sarah Boxmeyer: French horn
John Chudoba: trumpet
Kory Grossman: percussion
Adam Rothenberg: piano, keyboard
Anna Parks: violin
Wayne Smith: cello
Chiho Saegusa: bass
Alex Lacamoire: conductor
Randy Cohen: keyboard programmer
David Lai: music supervisor
TINY DESK TEAM
Producer/Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Keren Carrión
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Audio Assistants: Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez, Neil Tevault
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Grace Widyatmadja
Animation: Jackie Lay
Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Lars Gotrich, Hazel Cills
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann
#tinydesk #nprmusic #sweeneytodd
NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts is a popular video series featuring live, intimate music performances by diverse artists, from major stars to up-and-coming musicians, recorded in the small workspace of Bob Boilen’s NPR office in Washington, D.C.brought to you by SloppBoxx.Com.
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Wow this cast is so good. Love Ms lovit
This little chamber session on Sweeney Todd is wonderful. The voices and the players are perfect and the recording renders them as such.
i am so sorry, but 67 16:59
Bellísimo!
Annaleigh is incredibly hilarious! Her facial expressions and movement give her character so much energy. Thank you NPR.
The bassist is brilliant!
Seeing Annaleigh’s Mrs. Lovett you would never believe she’s also Elle Woods😅
WOW
The chemistry between Josh and Annaleigh is unmatched. It’s everything and more.