Sweeney Todd

On April 1st, to celebrate our Anniversary, Steve took me to see the John Doyle production of Sweeney Todd at the Ahmanson theater. This revival debuted on Broadway in 2005 and was such an amazing production! It featured a stripped-down cast of 10 actors -- double-dutying it as the orchestra! All play at least one instrument including cellos, violins, flutes and even the tuba. So when they're not singing or doing a scene (and sometimes even when they are), they are playing their instruments (in character!) and never leave the stage. This is particularly amazing because the Sondheim score is so intricate yet the 10-person cast/orchestra always seems to deliver a full, lush sound.

Now on to the show itself. I've never seen any version of Sweeney Todd, in fact the Johnny Depp movie was the first I'd even heard of this musical. I only knew that he was the demon barber of Fleet Street... so the show was a nice surprise. It had such a detailed storyline and a complex plot... beyond just rage and revenge there were so many underlying themes. The music was well-executed and the cast was amazing. I especially liked Tobias, when he was both singing and playing the violin. I think he also played the clarinet and piano at times. I can't believe how much effort the cast puts in -- they never leave the stage and each have lines and lyrics to memorize, a character to play as their main role and also while playing their instrument, and they also play supporting instruments in the background.



The only questionable performance of the night was that of the spitter, I mean the sailor. Our seats were in the second row, and without an orchestra that means we were right at the stage's edge. Anthony the sailor gave a great theatrical performance, but was awfully spitty. I'm talking huge gobs of spit that was probably detectable from all the way in the back of the theater. And worse yet, it catapulted at least 6-7 feet in front of him. You could actually see the front row flinch whenever one came at them. It was pretty distracting. :)

Nonetheless it was a great show and very different from any other musical I've seen. A little morbid for a 1st year anniversary date, but charming. :)