Music & Lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim
Directed by: Calvin Remsberg

Cast:
Kelsey Grammer – Sweeney Todd
Christine Baranski – Mrs Lovett
Neil Patrick Harris – Tobias Ragg
Dale Kristien – Johanna
Ken Howard – Judge Turpin
Scott Waara – Pirelli

Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles
March 1999

“Another highlight was the Tobias of Neil Patrick Harris (“Doogie Howser”), who delivered a touching, plaintive “Not While I’m Around.” A nifty piece of casting made for the reunion of Davis Gaines and Dale Kristien, who’ve clocked a few hundred performances together in “The Phantom of the Opera.” The harsh amplification took its toll on Kristien’s high-flying coloratura, but as the young lovers Anthony and Joanna, the duo never lost sight of the roles’ comic underpinnings. Melissa Manchester completed the starry casting, as the Beggar Woman with a secret. At the risk of sounding churlish, beggar women aren’t supposed to sound this ravishing.”
Variety

“Neil Patrick Harris (“Doogie Howser, M.D.”, Rent) was a perfect Tobias. Again, I was astonished by how absolutely right on he was for the part – both the vulnerability of his acting and the perfect pitch and enunciation of his singing.”
Jenny Howard @ TalkinBroadway.com

“Ms. Baranski’s contributions to the lavish, five-performance revival at the Ahmanson Theater, which also featured Kelsey Grammer, Melissa Manchester, Neil Patrick Harris and Davis Gaines, should without a doubt place her on the short list of potential Mrs. Lovetts, if and when ”Sweeney Todd” comes back to Broadway. And while we’re at it let’s declare it no contest for the roles of Anthony, the story’s lovesick sailor, and Toby, the wayward manchild, in any future production: the vocally astonishing Mr. Gaines, a longtime Broadway Phantom, and the exceptionally tender Mr. Harris, best known and criminally underemployed as television’s Doogie Howser, were nothing less than breathtaking in their respective parts.

The real innovations here, however, came in the guise of individual performance. Mr. Grammer, unfortunately, seemed a bit intimidated by the role of Sweeney; vocally he does not have the upper register for the demanding part, and the deficiency seemed to drain the portrayal of energy. Similarly Dale Kristien’s virginal Johanna, the long-lost daughter of Todd, and Ken Howard’s villainous Judge Turpin suffered from underdevelopment. Ms. Manchester’s Beggar Woman, while beautifully sung, had no tragic dimension. It was left to Ms. Baranski, Mr. Harris and Mr. Gaines to ring this musical’s haunting bells, and each came through vibrantly at a critical juncture in the show’s musical progression.

Mr. Gaines’s triumph occurred first, in ”Johanna,” the song that jet-propels the love story; it’s hard to conceive a closer approximation of shouting from the rooftops. Mr. Harris’s moment came last, during his purring second-act rendition of ”Not While I’m Around.” It was the capstone to a portrayal of surprising clarity and sensitivity that made sense of the character for what seemed like the first time ever. Mr. Harris’s Toby became the conscience of the piece. Through him you believed in the possibility of redemption.”
New York Times

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