Count Anthony Tommasini, the music critic of the New York Times, among the many devotees of Stephen Sondheim’s masterwork SWEENEY TODD who wondered if Johnny Depp would be able to sing the “vocally daunting” role. “Indeed he can. Or perhaps the way to put it is that his performance as captured on screen is stunning in every dimension: dramatically, psychologically, physically and, yes, vocally,” writes Mr. Tommasini in a Times article entitled “An Actor Whose Approach to Singing Lets the Words Take Center Stage.” While conceding that Johnny’s voice doesn’t have the “heft or power” needed to perform the role on Broadway, the critic finds his vocal technique well suited to film, where he can “almost whisper many lines,” an option not available in a cavernous theater: “The effect is stunning.

“In Mr. Depp’s portrayal, words come first in the shaping of a phrase,” explains Mr. Tommasini. “Expression, nuance, intention and controlled intensity matter more than vocal richness and sustaining power. These principles of vocal artistry matter just as much onstage, as the best operatic artists understand,” the critic continues. “But too many opera singers are overly focused on making beautiful sounds and sending notes soaring at the expense of crisp diction and textual clarity. They could learn something from Mr. Depp’s verbally dynamic singing.”

Mr. Tommasini also takes issue with reviewers who comment that Johnny sing-talks his way through the role; not at all, says the critic. “I don’t mean to suggest that his vocal performance is merely a savvy kind of sung speech. There is musical distinction in his work. His ear is obviously excellent, because his pitch is dead-on accurate.”

Above all, Mr. Tommasini appreciates the way Johnny uses his voice as an instrument to add “tragic depth” to Sweeney’s character. “Beyond his good pitch and phrasing, the expressive colorings of his singing are crucial to the portrayal. Beneath this Sweeney’s vacant, sullen exterior is a man consumed with a murderous rage that threatens to burst forth every time he slowly takes a breath and is poised to speak,” writes Tommasini. “Yet when he sings, his voice crackles and breaks with sadness. ‘There was a barber and his wife/And she was beautiful,’ he sings, letting the sustained tone on the word ‘beautiful’ swell with shaky vibrato and linger with impotent longing.”

You can read the full New York Times article on the Zone’s Porch message board; we thank FANtasticJD for posting it. –Part-Time Poet