David Charles Abell: “The Châtelet production of SWEENEY TODD is allowing me to fulfill a long-held dream”

On the 22 April, David Charles Abell will conduct the French premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s SWEENEY TODD at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The cast is led by Rod Gilfrey in the title role and Caroline O’Connor as Mrs. Lovett, and is directed by Lee Blakeley.

SWEENEY TODD follows Abell’s great success conducting and producing last summer’s BBC Proms celebration of Sondheim’s 80th birthday at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Abell’s professional partnership with Sondheim shows no sign of abating so this summer, he will conduct a historic Japanese version of PACIFIC OVERTURES in Kanagawa, where the musical takes place. The production will be directed by Amon Miyamato to celebrate the opening of a new arts centre.

David Charles Abell has had an extended career in musical theatre. He’s the musical director of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LOVE NEVER DIES. And last October he conducted the 55-strong Orchestra of the 25th Anniversary Concert of LES MISÉRABLES at the O2; having previously conducted the 10th Anniversary LES MIS concert at Royal Albert Hall.

David Charles Abell tells us about this upcoming production of SWEENEY TODD in Paris, and about his latest body of work in musical theatre, as well as about the importance of the orchestra in shows and his future projects.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO CONDUCT ‘SWEENEY TODD’ IN PARIS?
France is the country of cinephiles, and the Théâtre du Châtelet is the Parisian home of musical theatre. What better place to present the French premiere of SWEENEY TODD, which Stephen Sondheim described as ‘a movie for the stage?’
For me personally, it is very important as well. I have been asked five times to conduct SWEENEY, but have never been available. The Châtelet production is allowing me to fulfill a long-held dream.

HOW WILL THIS PRODUCTION BE?
The piece could be considered a ‘black comedy.‘ In English, ‘black comedy‘ means the audience is allowed, even encouraged, to laugh at taboo subjects. In this case, those subjects are revenge, mass murder and cannibalism! Sondheim’s skillful writing makes the audience laugh at things that would normally make them squirm. And the music adds another layer -- sometimes of humour, sometimes of menace.
Our production will be more symphonic in sound than most recent productions. We are using the original large Jonathan Tunick orchestrations played by an excellent Parisian orchestra. The cast is largely made up of very fine lyric voices -- with the notable exception of Mrs Lovett, who will be played by Caroline O’Connor, a wonderful musical theatre singer. My hope is that the sound in the impressive Châtelet theatre will enhance the drama, horror and humour of the story.

SONDHEIM IS A VERY WELL-KNOWN COMPOSER TO YOU. YOU HAVE CONDUCTED DIFFERENT CONCERTS CELEBRATING HIS MUSIC AND YOU WILL ALSO CONDUCT ‘PACIFIC OVERTURES’ THIS YEAR. WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT HIS WORK?
I love all of his shows, but if I had to choose a personal favourite, it would have to be SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. It is the story of two artists in different time periods finding their own voices and making careers in the arts, in whatever way they can. Their lives and their work are intimately bound up, which is true for most creative people. They make mistakes and yet survive to create beautiful works.
My favourite lyric from SUNDAY: ‘Stop worrying if your vision is new. Let others make that decision, they usually do. Just keep moving on.’
Sondheim creates a unique musical world for each of his shows; no two of them sound alike. With his encyclopedic knowledge of late 19th and early 20th-century orchestral music, he has been influenced as much by Ravel, Prokofiev and Bernard Hermann as by the great American songwriters. In many of his shows, the melodies are constructed from motivic cells, the harmonies unique and unprecedented, and the accompaniment figures intricate and complex.
More than just a composer and lyricist, Sondheim is a philosopher for our time.

PERFORMERS USUALLY SAY THAT SONDHEIM’S SCORES ARE SO DIFFICULT TO SING. DO YOU AGREE? ARE THEY ALSO DIFFICULT TO CONDUCT?
Yes, they are difficult! But possible, very, very possible (to quote another Sondheim show*). An eminently practical man of the theatre, Sondheim always writes within the technical limitations of his performers. Sometimes the tunes are tricky, but every singer I have ever worked with has managed to master them with a little (or a lot of) rehearsal.
* INTO THE WOODS

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE OLIVIER SPECIAL AWARD THAT SONDHEIM RECEIVED LAST 13TH MARCH? AND ABOUT THE FACT THAT OLIVIER AWARDS HAVEN’T ANY RECOGNITION FOR THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT?
The Special Award was, as we say in English, a ‘no-brainer.‘ He is one of the crowning geniuses of our art-form, and deserves to be celebrated as such!
I believe that the Oliviers should have an award for Best Orchestrations. Orchestration has as much impact on the audience’s experience of a show as set, costume or lighting design, all of which are honoured by the Olivier committee. If I continue to conduct the ceremony in future years, I will certainly lobby for an Orchestration Award! The Tony Awards in New York already have one.

LAST OCTOBER YOU CONDUCTED THE ORCHESTRA IN THE HUGE 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT OF ‘LES MISÉRABLES’. HOW WAS THAT EXPERIENCE?
It was one of the most exhausting weeks of my life! Luckily, I have conducted many large events with the action happening behind me (including operas like BUTTERFLY and CARMEN), so I am used to listening very carefully to how the singers breathe. Technically, it was a challenge. I took a more epic approach rather than concentrating on small details. I felt that was the right approach for such a huge space as the O2 (16.000 seats).

YOU ALSO WERE LEADING THE ORCHESTRA IN THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT OF THE SHOW. HOW DIFFERENT WERE THE ORCHESTRATIONS? HOW HAS THE SHOW EVOLVED IN 15 YEARS?
The show has become more driving and percussive since 1995; the new orchestrations reflect that. At the 25th Anniversary concert, I pushed the tempos forward and adopted a more muscular conducting style.

YOU ARE THE MUSICAL DIRECTOR OF ‘LOVE NEVER DIES’. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE MUSIC COMPOSED FOR ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER FOR THIS SHOW?
The score is absolutely beautiful. It is even more operatic, perhaps, than THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and David Cullen’s orchestrations are refined and powerful. I loved conducting it every single night, even after performance no. 264. I have now left the show to come to Paris and Japan for my Sondheim projects.

AND HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS THE MIXED REVIEWS THAT THE SHOW HAS RECEIVED?
We had several rave reviews in the UK papers -- people must not forget that! There were mixed reviews as well, and only a few really negative ones. There will always be people who want to bring someone like Sir Andrew down. He is at the top of his profession, and has had huge success. Some people resent that.
That said, the show was not perfect when it first opened. Some of the storytelling was muddled. The score, however, is his finest since SUNSET BOULEVARD. Andrew felt very deeply for the characters of the Phantom, Christine and her son Gustave. The father-son relationship has resonance in his life; his father was a classical music composer and the head of the Royal College of Music in London.
The show has had standing ovations nearly every night since it opened over a year ago. That has to mean something!

YOU HAVE ALSO CONDUCTED DIFFERENT BERNSTEIN PIECES, SUCH AS ‘WEST SIDE STORY’, ‘ON THE TOWN’, ‘MASS’ AND ‘CANDIDE’. WHAT WOULD YOU HIGHLIGHT FROM HIS WORK? I knew Leonard Bernstein quite well in the last decade of his life, and worked with him on editing his music. He was truly a Protean composer, excelling in orchestral music, opera and musical theatre. CANDIDE is a particular favourite of mine, because it pastiches so well the various national forms of European operetta. To illustrate Candide’s travels around the world, Lenny wrote waltzes, a Ländler, a chorale, an Alleluia, a barcarolle, a gavotte, a rondo, a Schottische, a tango and one of the greatest choral anthems in all of musical theatre: ‘Make Our Garden Grow.‘ Through it all he wove various musical themes associated with the characters. That was truly virtuoso composing!

WHICH IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU HAVE FACED IN YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
Every engagement presents its own challenges. For concerts, I have to memorize music long in advance because rehearsal time tends to be short. There is also a great deal of preparation involved in opera and musical theatre, because the pieces themselves are so long. Sometimes there is research to do as well, if orchestral scores and parts are lost or not readily available.
A conducting career involves a great deal of organisation and management as well as music-making. I had the idea for a Sondheim 80th-birthday celebration when Steve was still only 76 or so. I took the idea to the head of the BBC Proms, who approved it after about a year. The next two years were spent getting my team together: a director, a choreographer, a large chorus and eight magnificent singers. Then there was the questions of Would they be available? When could they rehearse? How could we get or create suitable orchestrations? How could I plan the programme so that Steve’s songs would work in a concert situation? What surprises might come up at the last minute?
Planning is EVERYTHING! Well, nearly everything. Then there’s the performance. And the performance is truly everything!!

DO YOU THINK THAT ORCHESTRAS AND MUSICIANS HAVE THE RECOGNITION THEY DESERVE IN MUSICAL THEATRE?
It’s a similar situation to that in the cinema, which is the only place where ordinary people experience the sound of a symphonic orchestra on a regular basis. They may not realise it, but their emotions are being stimulated by a group of 60-100 musicians bowing, breathing, and hitting their instruments! The human element is all-important.

COULD YOU COMMENT ON ANY OTHER OF YOUR CURRENT PROJECTS?
With musicologist Seann Alderking, I am editing the score of Cole Porter’s classic musical KISS ME, KATE. We have located the original orchestrators’ scores and the original parts used in the orchestra pit on Broadway in 1948. The Cole Porter Trusts are funding the project, which is to publish the full script and orchestral score in a critical edition with the highest musicological standards. Come July of this year, I will stop conducting for the first time in a year and a half to devote myself full-time to KISS ME KATE. Our deadline is the end of March, 2012. 

David Charles Abell conducting the orchestra