Sweeney Todd

                                               

I was warmly welcomed on arrival by Vandi Rathbone and met with the two young Directors (aged 16 and 18),  the Assistant Director, the two Musical Directors and a number of cast members after the performance.

This was a superb production very cleverly created by the two young Directors who had very inspirational and innovative ideas from the beginning which encompassed all aspects of this production. The music was vocally challenging with plenty of harmonies and stellar performances by ALL the principals. The chorus had plenty of involvement throughout with rousing songs, good acting with some dialogue and movement carefully choreographed.

Title role of Sweeney Todd was taken by Simon White and what a fantastic and powerful  performance from Simon. He was a demonic character thirsting for revenge for the loss of his wife and daughter and his vocal range was awesome across a vast number of songs. He was well paired with Taffy Fuller as Mrs Lovett the owner of the pie shop who was energetic and funny and had a remarkable vocal ability. Kieran Foreman, as Anthony Hope a sailor, impressed enormously with incredible vocals and acting and his solo  ‘Johanna’ describing his love interest was both compelling and emotional. Johanna, (Sweeney’s lost daughter) was expertly played by Phoebe Wiggett with a solo and also a powerful duet with Anthony, ‘Kiss Me’.

I loved the role of Tobias Ragg, played at this performance by 15 year old Ava Foster who acted really confidently. Lynne Farlie, as the Beggar Woman, had some amazing facial expressions and injected a touch of evil into the role with a menacing and so powerful delivery of ‘Ah Miss’. Mitchell Bond was the evil Judge Turpin with Beadle Bamford, played by Joe Fusi and the power of their voices melded well together in ‘Ladies In Their Sensitivities’. Adolfo Pirelli, a con man and rival barber was convincingly played by Dominic Simpson, whose strong vocals came over well in a duet with Sweeney. Sam McCarthy was a convincing Jonas Fogg and Heather Cordell had a lovely niche role as the Bird Seller.

The set was so versatile. Seemingly based on two levels with the Pie Shop downstairs and Sweeney’s barber shop upstairs it had been so cleverly designed and constructed by the society, affording two good entrances/exits and a large ‘oven’ at the back. Props denoting the pie shop and bakery were moved in and out efficiently as also was the barber’s shop with The Chair and various tools of the trade. The Chair tipped to allow the ‘victims’ rapid descent through the trapdoor which caused the audience to gasp in horror the first time ! Good spots and lighting were used to aid the changes of scene and good sound levels were maintained throughout. Costumes were all appropriate to the time and supplied by the society

The musical score was expertly directed by the two Musical Directors, Francesca Goulding and Lizzie Merrell who provided excellent support to the cast and they both worked so hard throughout.

Many congratulations to the two Directors, Sam Smith and Sophie Megan Edwards, supported by Assistant Director Joanne Morris for their vision, innovation and ability to bring this production to stage.

I congratulate everyone involved in any way. This was an amazing and enjoyable production from a very talented society

 

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