Tell You Why, Mrs. Lovett, Tell You Why

Greetings, friends. Nothing particularly fantastical has occurred since last we met EXCEPT that I realized I'd forgotten to tell you all about Sweeney Todd. About two weeks ago Liz and I went to see a youth summer production of the musical and it was one of the best plays I've ever seen, youth, professional, community or otherwise. Seriously. The kid who played Sweeney was mind blowing. I've never heard any guy his age (nine-friggin-teen!!!) with a voice that sounded that good. If there were a cast recording with him in it I'd buy it and rank him juuuust behind the original with Len Cairou, slightly before the revival with Michael Cerveris (and I love MC's voice, I want to have it's babies, but still...) and way the hell out in front of the movie with Johnny Depp (sorry, Johnny). I also loved it because he made Sweeney almost affable. Really, you can play him creepy all you want but it seems more likely that you'd get in his chair if he appeared to be a normal person rather than a terrifying dead-faced brooder, right? And yet he was entirely believable when he had to be a horrific, hopeless, outraged, vengeful killer. This production also put in all the humor and just-bordering-on-over-the-topness that I love about the play and which was sorely lacking in the movie. Mrs. Lovett was loud, busty, deceitful, ditsy, amoral, needy, salty and thoroughly entertaining. Sweeney and Lovett really seemed to be enjoying themselves while heckling Tobias as he tried to sell Pirelli's Miracle Elixer and the puns go over so much better in "A Little Priest" when they seem silly and even a little slap-happy with their so-crazy-it-just-might-work murder/cannibalism plan. It wasn't a perfect production, of course, and some little things REALLY made me laugh in a way that the director probably did not intend. Example: the kid playing Antony was, shall we say, of noble heft, and the tight white sailor pants really did nothing to flatter his figure. But all in all, a damn fine way to spend $15 and a Wednesday night. If it weren't for the fact that it's no longer running I'd go see it again right now.