By Jennifer Mustoe and Caden Mustoe
I will start this review with four thumbs up. Both my son Caden (an actor) and I (an actress) both are lifting all our thumbs up–way up–for Springville Playhouse’s chilling, delightful production of Sweeny Todd. Caden and I sang the songs all the way home and are still kind of jazzed as we are writing this review. This isn’t one of those shows that you say, “Oh yeah, it was good. You should see it.” We are both shouting: “GO SEE THIS SHOW! DON’T YOU DARE MISS IT!”
So, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we’ll tell you a little bit about the show. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the plot, well, basically it’s about a creepy barber and a creepy widow who kill people and then bake them into pies, which they then sell. The music, by Stephen Sondheim, is eerily creepy. The ending is uber creepy. So what I’m saying is, the show is creepy. AND WE LOVED IT!
The show takes place at Merit Academy, a charter school in Springville. You probably didn’t even know the school was there, right? The stage is in the gym. And yeah, it looks like a gym when you first walk in. But then the set, designed by Albert Ricci, draws you in and as soon as you sit down, the gym-ness of the room falls away and there in front of you is a raked stage that has the bakery on one level and the barber shop on the next. The set design is brilliant and I started feeling pretty excited just by the tone the set…set.
If you’ve never been to a Stephen Sondheim musical before, recognize that he can sometimes write tunes that are haunting and rather dark, to be honest, and it completely works for Sweeny Todd. The music director, Michael Jensen, got everything out of his cast he could and I was amazed at the chops all these actors had. When you see a community theater production, you often see a cast that is heavy on excitement and passion and can sometimes be a little wanting in the singing department. Not in this show! From leads to ensemble, everyone showed off clear, well modulated voices with well articulated lyrics.
Caden’s first comment while the show was still playing was, “Three words: costumes, hair and make up. The look of the people.” Lisa Kuhni, the director, was also the costumer, and did a fantastic job at both. The ensemble looked like typical Cockney types in London. Sweeny Todd’s cool leather vest and coat were really impressive. And everyone else looked just like you’d want them to look. Really, the whole picture was perfect. I actually could have stood for the women, even the ones who were supposed to be poor, could have had a little lipstick on, but I’m sort of a lipstick geek. Take Caden’s word for it on this one.
Lighting by Ted Nelson was great. One little glitch for about 5 seconds, but nothing big. But the placing of the lights and the wonderful lamps that hung from the ceiling with their amber light bulbs in them were awesome. Sound was by Lance Whitaker, and except for a little static for maybe a minute, the sound was great. I can’t tell you how rarely this quality of sound happens in a community theater show, so hooray!
Finally, I have to give props to the leads of the show. Sweeny Todd was played by Curtis Adams, who I have found out from talking to him after the show, is onstage again after being away from theater for eight years. Both Caden and I say thank you to Mr. Adams, who played Todd with a delightful creepiness, a rather attractive sexiness (I say that, not Caden) and a myriad of motif like stances, looks, and movements. He commands the stage whenever he is on it. He has a clear voice, very well articulated words so you can understand every word, and I liked him. I liked Sweeny Todd, who is a bloody murderer!
Robinne Booth plays Mrs. Lovett, Sweeny’s partner in crime. She comes out onstage belting her powerful voice and is fabulous. But the look on her face when she realizes that Sweeny’s proclivity to murder can further her meat pie business is one of the best moments in the show. Indeed, my favorite number in the whole show is her song about going to the seaside, “By the Sea.” Booth struts, prances, flirts, and cavorts while singing away. It is hilarious and marvelous.
Kristian Huff plays Anthony Hope and a variety of other characters in the show. Huff has a wonderful voice and is a terrific actor. He is still in high school and played the love interest with a maturity that shows him to be very good at his craft. He, too, lit up the stage and I found myself wanting him to be in every scene.
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During intermission, Caden saw a few friends he knew and we chatted with them. I told them I had seen Nate Warenski, who plays Tobias Ragg, in a recent production of The Foreigner and he was great. We all agreed that he was doing fine in the part of Toby, but it wasn’t a very difficult role. Boy, were we wrong! The second act is where Warenski can show his acting chops, and what chops those are. I raved about this teenage actor when I reviewed The Foreigner and I will continue to rave now. Nate Warenski is a great actor and has a darn good voice, too.
Director Lisa Kuhni has done an amazing job. I understand they got this show together in eight weeks. Musicals are hard to do and take a lot of work, and getting this kind of quality in eight weeks is really nothing short of a miracle. Kuhni has taken what clearly are excellent performers but used finesse and a fine hand in giving them direction and giving them permission to do what they do best.
Caden has already said he is coming to the show again, and will be bringing friends. This is an excellent spooky, Halloween season show and shouldn’t be missed.
Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
October 17th – November 2nd, Friday, Saturday, and Monday
Thursday performances on Oct 17th and 31st.
7:30 PM.
Merit Academy, 1440 W. Center St., Springville
$8.00 adults, $7.00 students and seniors
Note: Sweeny Todd is suitable for teenagers and up.
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