So, because one of the Theater professors has the hook up on student discount tickets, I got to go see the revival of Sweeney Todd at the Ahmenson Theatre this weekend. It was very cool because I love getting to downtown and I love seeing plays.

    It was really interesting because the show was a revival, so it took a different approach with the staging and was much more representational. They only had chairs, a ladder, and a coffin for furniture and they used those pieces to represent whatever they needed (say a judge’s stand or a restaurant bar or a balcony). The other really cool thing was that all of the actors were also instrumentalists, and everyone was onstage the whole time. When they weren’t acting in a scene, the actors went to the sides of the stage to play. My favorite was the character of Toby because he played violin and would sometimes play it while he was in a scene. He is also from Columbia, South Carolina, which is pretty cool. Mrs. Lovitt played instruments too, and she was really funny so she was my other favorite character.

    I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I don’t know how it compares, but if anyone is considering seeing Sweeney Todd on stage, get familiar with the plot line (it could be hard to follow since scenes set if different places aren’t clearly defined) and go see it!