Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd
If you follow me on social media, you would know that I recently was in New York City for a musical vacation.
I attended two shows, Hadestown and Sweeney Todd, and though I could write full novels about both musicals and their casts, today is dedicated to my absolute love of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
I have adored this musical for a really long time, a love that sparked from the movie version made in 2007. I have always been a fan of darker themed musicals and the stories they tell. In the past I had seen on college version of Sweeney, but was really excited to see it was back on Broadway.
When the show first came back, Josh Groban played Sweeney, which the soundtrack is really fun to listen to. But when I went, we were able to see one of my favorite musical theater actors Aaron Tveit (for those who pay attention, we went to see him in Moulin Rouge last year). Along with Aaron, Mrs. Lovett was played by Sutton Foster, who was amazing. I also had the joy of seeing the role of Tobias played by Joe Locke (who is Charlie Spring in the Heartstopper series on Netflix). For our show, Anthony was played by Felix Torrez-Ponce, who is the understudy of the role.
For those who don't know the plot, the story follows Sweeney Todd, formally known as Benjamin Barker, as he returns to London 15 years after being sent off on a false sentence by a judge, Judge Turpin. Turpin used this chance to get rid of Barker and try to seduce Barker's wife Lucy., but ends up causing her to poison herself. This means their daughter, Joanna, is left in the care of Turpin since Barker in away. When he returns as Sweeney he is determined to find his wife and child and get revenge on those who wronged him. This means teaming up with Mrs. Lovett, the owner of a failing meat pie shoppe, and trying to work through his revenge plan.
The story is dark, a bit gruesome and honestly, has a lot of laughs. Mrs. Lovett knows the secrets of Barker's past, falls hopelessly into his schemes, and tries to win him over with an obsession-like love she has had for him since before he was sent away. She lets him use the area above her shoppe as his barber shop, helps him get noticed, and comes up with the idea to dispose of the bodies within the pies she bakes. Sutton Foster was absolutely amazing at bringing the character to life, with the right amount of silliness and antics to really make you see how driven by love (obsession) she was. She was great the at accent that makes Mrs. Lovett who she is, and the silliness that helps lighten the mood when Todd is 'intense'.
Sweeney himself is a man driven by revenge and loss, learning his wife has passed and his daughter is in the care of a man that took it all away from him. When he gets back to London, he keeps contact with Anthony, the sailor who helped save him and eventually works to help him get Joanna back. His need for revenge makes him dangerous, and uncaring to those who might be in his way. Which involves a run-in with another barber who recognized him from the 'old days', Pirelli. Aaron Tveit was a very fun and sometimes intimidating version of the character. Though his vocal range isn't as low as Josh Groban's, the way he sang the songs was magical, and his facial expressions were great. You could see the moments Todd was starting to have 'fun' and the darkness in his eyes when it was time to do something horrible. His voice was haunting when trying to find Toby near the end, and had emotion always flowing through it. I was honestly really impressed with the way he played the character and how he brought Todd to life. His work with the accent was different than other things I've seen him in, and I honestly really enjoyed it.
Pirelli was played by Nicholas Christopher, who briefly had a run as Sweeney between Groban and Tveit. Pirelli is a colorful character with a lot of charisma, who uses that charisma to con people into buying an elixir that doesn't work while he treats Toby poorly. Christopher's voice was absolutely wonderful and his acting was really impressive. I found myself laughing out loud anytime he was on stage and really liked how he incorporated his accents into the show. Pirelli may only be on the stage for a short time, but his singing and expressions were really memorable.
Now for our dear Toby. If you don't know I am obsessed with the show Heartstopper, and the graphic novel series. To see Joe Locke in a completely different role and SINGING was an absolute treat. Locke sings amazingly well, with a lot of expression and a fun vibe for the character. But, if you don't know, in the stage performance, Toby loses his mind near the end of the show due to what he has seen and Locke did an amazing job at portraying this. It was haunting is last few scenes, with how he interacted with Todd then what he said when Anthony and Joanna show up with help. I'm honestly super excited to see where this kid goes in the future because he is really talented.
I feel like I could talk forever about the other members of the cast but that would make this blog a novel. I want to take a second to shout out the crew and ensemble of this show. They way they incorporate moving set pieces with small bits of song, using spotlights and shadows to enhance the story. It was all very well done and super cool to see. It felt like the set changed like magic at times, because you would focus on another part of the stage while others moved things. It was really cool. The orchestra aspect was also a really fun addition and the music definitely enhanced the experience overall.
If you can't tell, this show was a 5 out of 5 stars for me. I'm happy I was able to travel back to NYC to see Aaron in this role and to see this show on Broadway. I do believe they announced the show would be leaving Broadway in May, and though I understand, it is a bummer to see it go. It's a really fun show, with a lot of really good songs and moments that stick with you.
What are some of your favorite musicals? Have you ever been to NYC to see any?
Would you be interested in a review of Hadestown as well?
Let me know!
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