The blue hairs of Ft. Myers, FL don't understand Sweeney Todd

The non-AEA tour is currently playing in Ft. Myers, FL.

The review in the local newspaper:
http://www.news-press.com/article/20090130/ENT19/901300360/1070

Comments left under the review:
jmiller828@yahoo.com wrote:
They are giving away tickets for Saturday night, that's how bad this play is! Skip it, you won't understand what the heck is going on anyway.

murf2130 wrote:
jmiller828@yahoo.com says it all, but I will add that even if you have tickets, don't go either. I think that it will scare you from other musicals. When I called Barbara Mann the next day to discuss a few issues, he was basically rude and did not care what I had to say and defend the virtures of the show, so this article validates that the four of us are not insane. Also, there was a coughing person that sat near us and absolutely added to the disappointment of the evening. It scares me to go to other show at this Theatre.

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I'm just impressed that a person who uses the word 'unmusical' knows what dissonance is.

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Maybe mom used a word like un-melodic, or 'not melodic,' trying to convey that Sondheim's melodies don't flow in the traditional way that "older-fashioned" tunes did. Irving Berlin he ain't.

[I'm not making a judgment here about old-fashioned.] [Or new-fashioned.]

Does anyone,
still have
Blue Hair?

This thread is ageist.

Well I saw the Equity tour with Judy Kaye last year and I absolutely did not understand it. If I didn't have the score memorized I would not have known what was going on. The people who sat in front of me were confused to the point of tears.

It was a horrible horrible production and I think the review is much too kind.

"When I called Barbara Mann the next day to discuss a few issues, he was basically rude and did not care what I had to say ...."

Apparently, "Barbara" is not only rude, but a man. These people are confused, all right. Not just about musicals either.

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I missed that there! And apparently, people COUGH at this show! Take a pass on it, for sure!

Sweeney Todd is truly one of my all time favorite musicals. I saw the Equity tour with Judy Kaye and David Hess when it played in Chicago. I thought it was a complete mess. If I hadn't paid so much for tickets and had it not been my first dose of real theatre after 8 months of doing lighting for Carnival Cruise Lines, I would have walked out at intermission. I would not give anyone any guff about not liking this production.

Well, in Orlando Davis Gaines and Faith Prince are doing a concert version of Sweeney in March (as Sweeney and Lovett respectively)...

not sure how it has been selling (it's a two night engagement) but I got my seats. It's sad that people expect all musicals to be Wicked or Les Miserables (or even worse...Cats).

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I saw the Hess/Kaye tour in Atlanta and loved it. the guy sitting next to me who had never seen the show before and only knew the basic plot (Murderous barber seeks revenge. He and lady-friend bake the bodies into pies.) loved it, too. If people would just pay attention to what's being said they'd enjoy themselves a lot more. Not every show is going to be big & flashy with useless dance numbers to dazzle your eyeballs. Sometime you actually have to listen to get it.

I'm seeing this tour in Savannah this coming weekend. I'm looking forward to it!

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"I'm seeing this tour in Savannah this coming weekend. I'm looking forward to it!"

If it's at the Johnny Mercer Theatre, you won't hear a damn thing. The acoutics there are terrible.
Personal Rant: Thank God I don't live in that ghastly little un-Southern town anymore!!

I KNOW! We only picked some of the more melodic songs to do-- "Johanna Quartet" (hard because there were three of us), "My Friends," "By The Sea," and "Pretty Women." We didn't even do the Ballad or any songs that might have disturbed people like "A Little Priest"-- which is my favorite.

For me, the most baffling part is that my mom likes most musicals and knows a lot about them... so how would she think Sweeney Todd is a 'new' musical when it was created during her childhood?

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Long live the Roux Risne!