Jeffrey Seller, who is a producer on both Hamilton and Sweeney Todd said that Sweeney is a different case, exactly because it has been revived so many times on so many different stages. He orchestrated and conducted 10 musicians in Hamilton. 'I think the style of music is changing,' said Alex Lacamoire, who's Sweeney Todd's music director. Yet finances are not the only reason to keep an orchestra small. Broadway was shut down by a musician's strike 20 years ago over just this issue. In fact, many producers have reduced the sizes of orchestras playing classic shows, citing finances. 'It's just frankly not feasible from a financial standpoint.' Finances aren't the only reason orchestras are small 'I think that anybody who has been in the American musical theater in the last 20 years has not had the opportunity to sing with an orchestra this large,' she said. 'It's quite overwhelming and spectacular.'Īshford has been in a lot of musicals – she won a Tony for Kinky Boots – but Sweeney Todd is the first time she's working with a pit orchestra this large. 'This is just such a rarity, to have this many pieces underneath you,' said Annaleigh Ashford, who plays Mrs.

We hold them off to the second bar.' He demonstrated, singing: 'Swing your razor wide – BOOM – Sweeney!' The orchestra is quiet, at the beginning, but then 'the brass come in for the first time supporting the chorus, except for the low instruments. Tunick said audiences can feel the weight of the 26 pieces in the opening number. Back in the 1970s, he orchestrated Sondheim's massive score in three-and-a-half weeks and has done 13 different versions of it since, written for everything from chamber ensembles to a full-size symphonic accompaniment on Tim Burton's film. 'It feels normal,' to work with an ensemble that large, said Tunick, laughing. The new revival, starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford, features the full complement of strings, woodwinds, brass, harp and percussion. But in every subsequent Broadway appearance, it's used a smaller orchestra. When Sweeney Todd premiered in 1979, composer Jonathan Tunick orchestrated it for 26 musicians.

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