Theater Thursday - Sweeney Todd

We were given complimentary tickets to Sweeney Todd for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own. 

What: Sweeney Todd

Where: Lunt-Fontanne Theatre 

             205 W. 46th St.

             New York, NY

Who: Recommended for Ages 12 and Up

Me - This production of Sweeney Todd was really good. For starters, the cast was phenomenal. All of the singing and acting was great. Analeigh Ashford as Mrs. Lovett and Josh Groban as Sweeney Todd had amazing chemistry. They played so well off of each other and seemed like they were having a lot of fun too. 

Analeigh was the standout, however, in my opinion.  Her portrayal of Mrs. Lovett was hilarious. She made the character sympathetic even though she is committing heinous acts. Additionally, she is one of those singers who makes singing sound effortless, and her voice is very pretty.

In case you are unfamiliar with the story of Sweeney Todd, it is about a vengeful barber who kills his clients and bakes them into pies with the help of the infatuated baker, Mrs. Lovett. As you can probably tell from that description despite the humorous undertones, this is a very dark show with a lot of death, blood, and heavy themes. Therefore, I would say this revival is worth your time if you're a fan of the show, horror, or dark gory dramas, but if you're looking for satire or a more lighthearted theater experience, this is probably not the show for you. 

Mom - The current production of Sweeney Todd is extremely well cast. Although it may seem like Josh Groban is too sweet to pull off the villainous role of Sweeney Todd, he does a great job with the part. Analeigh Ashford does amazing in the role of Mrs. Lovett as well. She imbues the character with a humorous quality that makes her quite enjoyable. The two work so well as a pair that they make you root for characters that shouldn't really be that likable at all.

Although the show contains some of Stephen Sondheim's extremely well-known and quite popular songs including "Not While I'm Around" and "Pretty Women", it also contains quite a lot of his songs that are not really popular at all. They work in terms of the story, but you are not going to want to go around humming them. 

The lack of popularity of many of the songs may have to do with the show's grisly plot. It is not quite wall-to-wall violence, blood, and gore from start to finish. There are humorous moments and happy ones as well. However, on the whole, the show is extremely dark. If you can handle that, it is definitely worth seeing. If not. you should find another show.

And that's our view. For more about Sweeney Todd or to purchase tickets, go to 

sweeneytoddbroadway.com

Tune in Sunday for this week's Sunday Scoop.

Photo credits: 

All Sweeney Todd production photos by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Images used in this post have been sent to us from publicists, artists, and/or  PR firms.
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