Sweeeny's Final Night In Pittsburgh (Long Review)

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 10:58am

Forgive my rambling.

My first show ever was “Phantom” when I was 9 years old. In 11 years I haven’t had as much fun at the theatre as I did last night.

I was front-row center and from the moment the curtain went up until the cast left the stage after their bows I was completely consumed by the story. I gave them a standing ovation immediately, too. At the stage door most of the cast remembered me and called me “the front row guy.” Hehe. (Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything that would make that nickname a bad thing).

I can’t bring myself to criticize such a talented (and nice!) cast, so I’ll point out my favorite aspects of each performer.

Judy Kaye: Brilliant. I was looking forward to seeing her the most, and she didn’t disappoint me. During the beginning of “A Little Priest” when she and Sweeney Todd are singing at the same time (“Mrs. Lovett, you’re a bloody wonder,” etc) she tossed in this great ad-lib: “It’s an idea…” and just shrugged. EDIT: Now I know that this wasn't an ad-lib but is just something I haven't noticed before. It's a fantastic line!

David Hess: I don’t understand why everyone has such a problem with this guy. His voice was very strong and I thought he was pretty menacing as Sweeney.

John Arbo: Great job overall. Really creepy and believable during the asylum scene.

Edmund Bagnell: Again, I don’t understand what people don’t like about his performance. Yes, he’s a bit comical, but don’t forget, Toby has gone crazy and is re-living everything his head. I thought he acted as Toby should. One thing that stood out to me was when Mrs. Lovett was about to get killed. He was just standing there on a chair shaking his head and crying trying to stop it. During “God, That’s Good” when Mrs. Lovett told him to “See to the customers” he knelt down by the edge of the stage and started “taking orders” for pies, holding up his fingers and asking people in the audience how many they wanted. When he got to me I held up two fingers and then mouthed “Wait, three!” and he mouthed back “Three? OK!” then later on he came back and handed out the imaginary pies and mouthed “Good?” and I gave him a thumbs up. I thanked him for that at the stage door and he singed my playbill “Joe, thanks for buying!”

Keith Buterbaugh: Completely convincing as Judge Turpin.

Diana Dimarzio: What can I say? She nailed her performance. Completely in character the entire time, and the way she belted out her lines during “Johanna” was amazing.

Benjamin Eakeley: Incredible. Usually The Beadle annoys the heck out of me in general, but his interpretation was completely different than any one I’ve ever seen. He sang and moved in a very calm, slick, suave way. Evil from start to finish. What he did with the flashlight during “Parlour Songs” cracked me up, too.

Benjamin Magnuson: After Judy Kaye he was the second person I was most looking forward to seeing because I liked his performance on the Broadway cast recording. He did an even better job in person.

Lauren Molina: Incredible voice! She was into her role as well. Full of emotion, too… twitching nervously, crying, etc.

Katrina Yaukey: Great Pirelli. And when she wasn’t the main focus of a scene she was very creepy. She freaked me out with those shears during the asylum scene.

I took photos with a bunch of the cast members but I don’t have them on my jump drive so I’ll post them later, for now I just have a picture of my autographs.

Sorry for my rambling everyone but I wanted to share. :)

Updated On: 2/4/08 at 10:58 AM

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 11:54am

"It's an idea" is not an ad-lib. It's in the song. It's always been there. It tends to be not heard especially well. Since you were in the first row, you noticed it.

Glad that you enjoyed it so much.

Though I don't see what's wrong with wearing jeans.

[DAME]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 11:58am

Nothing wrong with wearing jeans.

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 12:02pm

Nobodyhome: Thanks for letting me know. I've listened to different recordings of Sweeney countless times but never noticed that line. I love it!

(To people in general: I've removed the comment about wearing jeans. Please don't spoil this thread by turning it into a debate. Save it for another time!)

Updated On: 2/4/08 at 12:02 PM

[wphsmusic]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 12:03pm

If it means anything, I saw the matinee yesterday and I absolutely loved it

Updated On: 2/4/08 at 12:03 PM

[BwayLover]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 4:30pm

I was there last night too, and got all the cast to sign my poster after the show...yay!

Judy Kaye was indeed FAB. She was the reason I went and she did not disappoint - she was in marvelous voice last night, very funny and touching when needed to be, and quite good with the tuba!