SWEENEY TODD @ A.C.T.

Hey everyone - I haven't been able to post lately because things are just so crazy busy. I will always try to post on Sundays for sure and other days if I have time. This week rehearsals for The Secret Garden started and thank goodness the first two weeks of rehearsal are minimal for me. We are still looking for some men to join the cast. If you know of anyone who might be interested please e-mail me. I have come down with a nasty cold this week and it still haunts me this weekend. Hopefully it will go away soon.

On Friday I couldn't go to school because I was feeling awful but I could not miss seeing Sweeney Todd at A.C.T. You know that saying "good things come to those who wait"? Well I have been waiting a long time to see this production of Sweeney and it was well worth the wait. This was probably one of the greatest nights of the theatre I have ever had. Everytime I go see a show I just want to fix it - I notice all the wrong things with it (don't get me wrong I also notice the good things too =+) and in this production I only had two little beefs with it.

If you know me well, you know that I played The Beadle in FMT's production of Sweeney with the amazing James Iglehart & Diana Torres Koss. The Beadle's music is the most intricate in the show - he has the highest range to sing of all the performers but in this production they made The Beadle into a baritone - a light baritone which took away from Ladies in their Sensitivities. Benjamin Eakeley is a very handsome man and he played The Beadle like a suave con man which worked great - I loved his performance though it did take away some of the humor out of The Beadle. When I was cast in FMT's production I hesitated to say yes because I found the part to be quite boring but I found ways to make him more interesting. I just wish they could have found some more of that for him either by his choices or by Mr. Doyle. That's the only major quibble I had with the production and I didn't care for the staging in the Johanna/Anthony/Judge/Beadle Quartet.

NOW onto the things I LOVED...there are so many. John Doyle's amazing direction & set design. I was skeptical of how the score would sound but it was a revelation. The orchestrations are genius and the actors not only play the score by memory (only the pianist has music) but the play as their characters - simply brilliant. I got chills looking at Tobias watching the piece intensely and playing the violin at the same time, the same goes for Johanna & Anthony.

I loved how they cut the number of breaks in the songs. We are not allowed to clap until the middle of the first act when Anthony sings Johanna (beautifully done by Benjamin Magnuson who was also HOT to look at) and by then the audience couldn't contain their applause. Sondheim's score of Sweeney is his masterpiece - I don't care what anyone says (Sunday in Park and Passion come close but Sweeney is a masterpiece.)

The entire cast was brilliant - BRILLIANT!! Keith Buterbaugh played the Judge like I have never seen before - like a politician. It was a great choice to underplay the villain. Lauren Molina was perfect as Johanna and you could see the slow transformation into madness. I loved how she didn't play Johanna as a bumbling idiot until the Quartet. Diana DiMarzio was a kick-ass Beggar Woman with terrific chops. I loved the lighting, the blood, the minimal props, and most of all the performances of Judy Kaye and David Hess. Both were such brilliant actors.

I loved, loved, loved this production and even though it cost me and arm and a leg I will be seeing it again in two weeks. Can't wait. Get your ass to the Geary Theatre now!!!!