The blue hairs of Ft. Myers, FL don't understand Sweeney Todd- Page 2

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/1/09 at 1:47pm

It's sad that people expect all musicals to be Wicked or Les Miserables (or even worse...Cats).

Do they? Or perhaps they just prefer something more conventional, which is completely ok. I think it's quite possible that people enter the theatre hoping to see something they will enjoy, but are severely disappointed when they see nothing they enjoy. I certainly don't need any sympathy for the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed Cats and hated Spring Awakening.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/1/09 at 2:16pm

I like all kinds of musicals. But the staging of Sweeney Todd made no sense. Even the cast couldn't explain why it was staged the way it was. I pity someone who saw that production without knowing the plot.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 2/1/09 at 2:43pm

I'm so friggin' sick of hearing about how difficult and confusing this production is. All my friends who have seen it complain about it. I saw the revival when I was fourteen, completely unfamiliar with the show, and it's not like I'm extraordinarily intelligent, but I had no problem whatsoever.

[SoFarAway]

Posted: 2/1/09 at 2:50pm

Ft. Myers is pretty terrible when it comes to Theater. As it is, Wicked is coming there in March and there are still tickets available. Now, there aren't many and they're pretty terrible, but still. It's Wicked. It sells out at lighting speed everywhere else, including Miami, where it broke all kinds of records.

There's also a beautiful new theater in Miami and they're not bringing in the customers either. Except for Wicked, nothing seems to do well. Anna Karenina didn't sell out a few years ago, and that was a HUGE world premier event. I saw it and it was stunning. The Wizard of Oz didn't do well this season, and neither did Cats and the other smaller shows. I'm sick of Miami's apathy and I've lived with it my whole life. Half the people here - and I'm assuming Ft. Myers, too - are from somewhere else. The sports teams aren't supported, and neither is the theater.

I'm not surprised about the comments made about Sweeney. I was going to see the production in Ft. Myers but I found out La Boheme and Les Mis were coming to Miami around the same time period. I'm kind of glad I didn't plan to drive over there and see it if I would have had to listen to people next to me barking in my ears, or getting up mid show to leave.

[kingtito133]

Posted: 2/1/09 at 4:14pm

"They don't need to reveal their ages. As a current Ft. Myers resident, a Barbara B. Mann regular and actor, I can assure you that the only people who attend theater in this area are snowbirds. Many with blue hair."

As a long time resident of the Ft. Myers area and Barbara B. Mann regular I cant exactly agree with that. While the area is mostly older people, and has quite a bit of a sonowbird population, many other age groups attend theatre in the area and at BB Mann. I myself growing up there attended shows with my parents (who are no where near the blue hair stage in life) and other people in our respective age ranges. There is a large cross section of people that do attend the theatre.

I must agree though, that the area did not understand or openly receive this show. I spoke with my parents who saw the show (and are season ticket holders and theatre regulars) and they did not understand this show. This is the first Sondheim show I can remember coming there in the 15 or so years I lived in that area, and feel that for the general older age of the regulars and the style of the show where not a match.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 2/1/09 at 7:56pm

Why do you think that nearly every professional theater, and most community theaters, in this area go dark for the summer? Because the vast majority of patrons and season ticket-holders are snowbirds.

[SweeneyPhanatic]

Posted: 2/1/09 at 10:09pm

If it's at the Johnny Mercer Theatre, you won't hear a damn thing. The acoutics there are terrible.

Lucky for me I already know the show inside-out. I'm really just doing it to see that staging one more time. I really, really loved the B'way clips & photos, really, REALLY loved seeing the staging in action at the Fox, and I want one more look at it before it's really gone.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 2/1/09 at 10:14pm

If only I had seen this thread before I bought tickets for it's stop on Long Island, I just got the tickets Thursday night. Here's to hoping I like it!


To those who have seen it, if I saw the movie, should I be able to understand this production?

Updated On: 2/1/09 at 10:14 PM

[misto625]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 2:43am

Mister Matt- We must have similar tastes then. I also "throughly enjoyed" Cats when I saw it on Broadway, and I have no desire to see Spring Awakening.

I saw the Sweeney Todd tour last year with Judy Kaye and David Hess and thought it was really great. Very wondeful piece of theatre. I think the second act is definitely better than the first. Once you reach "A Little Priest," the show gets much better.

[binau]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 3:16am

"To those who have seen it, if I saw the movie, should I be able to understand this production?"

If you remember the movie well then yes for the most part. Just consider the cuts etc.. which will be unfamiliar.

Updated On: 2/2/09 at 03:16 AM

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 3:55am

"I saw the revival when I was fourteen, completely unfamiliar with the show, and it's not like I'm extraordinarily intelligent, but I had no problem whatsoever."

There is nothing confusing about the book, music or lyrics, for me it is specifically the staging that makes it a muddled mess combined with a crappy sound design, and in the case of the night I saw it, very bored actors. The staging and direction here does leave a lot to be very confused about. Locations are difficult to figure out especially with character being in the same room, but on opposite sides of the stage looking straight ahead and never at each other, people are rather confused that the object Sweeney was waiting for was a small white coffin while he was singing about a new chair. Big lavish sets are not needed, but good actors and good direction are needed.

I have seen many productions of Sweeney, some big, many rather intimate, and this was the worst for me. If this had been the first production of Sweeney that I had ever seen, I would have written off the entire show as garbage. My exact thoughts at the time i saw it can be found here: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=964287#3535701

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 5:53am

Do we all realize that we've posted a heck of a lot longer than the original TWO posts from the paper we were talking about? When I looked at the original article...there were only THREE posts about the show.

[born2bebroadway]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 10:37am

"They don't need to reveal their ages. As a current Ft. Myers resident, a Barbara B. Mann regular and actor, I can assure you that the only people who attend theater in this area are snowbirds. Many with blue hair."

This is 100% true. The people who attend the theater in this area are the snowbirds. Theater does very poorly during the summer months, which leaves theaters reaching out to kids. So we're stuck always putting on High School Musical, Joseph, and Peter Pan, only one of which sold well. Guess which one.
I know a bunch of people who saw it and for the most part the older ones didn't understand it. It just wasn't what they were used to. Theres a theater here that wants to put on RENT next season, but they're worried because they dont think it will sell very well. Among other things that are rarely done around here are any Sondheim, and basically anything the older generation doesnt recognize. Also, they dont like any vulgarity so we're forced to do very edited versions of Whorehouse...Texas. During the current Nat'l tour of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, during What Was A Woman To Do, instead of saying so goddamn continnental, they replaced it with gosh darn. But then continued to blow those little f***ers heads clear off.


But of my actor friends who saw they show. They loved it. They came back raving about it and talked about it all day. So if you are already familiar with the show, i would deffidently suggest it based on their reviews. Just dont go in expecting the movie or the original production
Updated On: 2/2/09 at 10:37 AM

[actorgaedu]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 11:09am

My friend Carrie Cimma is playing Mrs. Lovett in this production and she is an abolutely fantastic performer and vocalist. I can see where some would not understand this production, but I wish more people would become open minded to the possibilities of thought provoking theater!

[pattilupuppy]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 1:31pm

this is too funny.... I grew up in Ft Myers Florida so I totally understand. My professional theatre career started in Ft Myers so I experienced alot of similar events when I did shows there....

totally crazy

[WesternSky2]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 3:32pm

Absoultey BBMann is kept alive by the snowbirds. I grew up in Ft. Myers (well, Cape Coral, but same difference. Went to high school at Cypress Lake.) I was at BBMann all the time and couldn't help but notice how much younger I was than 80% of the audience.

I was surprised when I was home over the holidays and saw that Sweeney Todd would be in town. Definitely not the kind of show for most of the area...

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 4:18pm

Those of you have worked as actors in the SW Florida area will totally appreciate this then:

Last season I was working in a show that had a minimal gay subplot. Basically, it turned out that two of the characters (whom were both male) had previously been in a relationship. Nothing sexually suggestive actually happened other than one character reaching for the other's hand at one point, but never even actually taking it, but our audiences were LIVID. People walking out, vicious letter, rude comments post-show. Over a diverted hand holding attempt. Seriously.

And this is why every theater in this community is perpetually doomed to hackneyed productions of Oklahoma!, Singin' in the Rain, or My Fair Lady. Shows I all love, don't get me wrong, but which get a little tired when it's all you get season after season.

[pattilupuppy]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 9:52am

Yea.. i did GIGI for 86 performances .... it just KEPT getting extended

[pattilupuppy]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 9:52am

[pattilupuppy]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 9:53am

PS ... Jeff Bowen of TOS is also from SW Florida

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 2:16pm

He is? Where?

[pattilupuppy]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 4:33pm

Ft. Myers

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 4:35pm

OT, but colleen_lee: that piggy is so cute! Reminds me of my sister's

[musicalman2]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 4:44pm

Well, I have several relatives down there all of whom know Sweeny Todd quite well, and they also disliked it and couldn't understand it -- mostly because the sound design is so bad that almost nobody can hear it. 2 of them know the show by heart, and were amazed at how poor the sound design and articulation by cast were. I feel relatively certain this is one of the reasons why people don't get it.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 6:50pm

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

Why? Unmusical is a perfectly valid word; it's in dictionaries and is fairly commonly used.