This was recently written by Peter Filichia of the Star Ledger:
...Though this weekend, you could also easily travel 12 miles west across the river and get to Newark. Why, you ask? The New Jersey Youth Theatre is doing Sweeney Todd.
What, you’re saying – children doing Sweeney Todd? No, not quite; teens and twentysomethings under the direction of Cynthia Meryl, an original cast member of “Nine.†It’s handsomely produced by her husband Ted Agress, who appeared in the original Shenandoah and Dear World.
What a school they run! What productions! I’m certain that someday you’ll hear about Kevin Melendez (a very centered Sweeney) and Jaclyn Ingoglia (a saucy Mrs. Lovett). They and the astonishingly accomplished cast do every word Hugh Wheeler wrote and every song Sondheim penned. This was hardly Sweeney Todd, Jr. Even the Judge’s “Johanna†is included – and good thing it is. Take it from someone who’s seen Sweeney 12 times dating from the first New York preview, I’ve never heard anyone sing this difficult piece of material better than Adam Bashian does here.
The show continues this weekend in Newark, before then moving to far-off Manasquan. Even that shlep would be worth it, but why not take a New Jersey Transit train to from Penn Station New York to Penn Station Newark? You’ll find yourself there in less than 20 minutes. The intimate Victoria Theatre is a handsome part of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and is only a 10-minute walk at best from the train station. (www.njyouththeatre.org)
My aforementioned girlfriend Linda, a demanding theatergoer who’s notorious for walking out of about half the shows we see – and who has very little patience for kid performers – reluctantly attended (even though for years I’d raved about the troupe’s Ragtime, Carousel, and 1776). But on the ride home, she said not once, but twice, “I’ll go see anything they do from now on.†Even though she wasn’t in New York, she didn’t feel as if she were missing anything...
link:
http://www.theatermania.com/peterfilichia/index.cfm?date=20090724 Better get your TIX for the NJPAC soon! We have three performances left!
(Of course there is always our tour down to Manasquan July 31st - August 9th)
njpac.org or algnquinarts.com
Updated On: 7/25/09 at 12:18 AM
