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Sweeney Todd
Presented
by:
Throwback Players
Date Reviewed:
May 17th 2008
Venue:
The Union
Theatre, Melbourne University
Reviewer:
Gulcan Gulan
Sweeney Todd
is an enthralling tale of murder, loss, obsession, revenge and love
as performed by the talented cast in tonight’s production by
Throwback players .
A lot of
people tend to stay away whenever a production of Sweeney Todd comes
around, I used to be one of those people, but I promise you if you
come down and see this amazing production Sweeney Todd will become
one of your favorite musicals.
The show opens
with a ghostly entrancing chorus that brings us in to the tale of
Sweeney Todd. One thing I need to mention about this production is
the sets, the back drop of old
London
was stunning. Although most of the sets were minimal, the use of the
lighting made everything seem bigger and was extremely effective.
The one thing
that distracted a lot from the performance was the crew moving the
sets, there were times when the lights would come on for the next
scene and there would be crew members still on stage and it would
spoil the start of that scene. But hey, it was only the first night.
Now let’s get
to the music, Musical Director Ben Kiley should be commended for his
conduction of the 14-piece orchestra, the string section was spine
tingling. Although the orchestra was a bit unsteady at the start, it
picked up halfway through the first act and continued to sound
brilliant through out the rest of the performance.
Director Gavin
Ballard and
Assistant
Director Katherine St
Lawrence did a fantastic job with all the staging and direction in
this show. Although there wasn't a lot of what I call 'danceical'
choreography, Caitlin Adams did do a great job with the few dance
numbers that she had.
Can I say what
an amazingly talented cast - the ensemble was fantastic but I must
say one person who stood out and kept the audience in stitches was
Simone French, she drew in the audience with her stirring voice and
her portrayal as the crazy chicken lady will go down in musical
theatre history.
Standouts for
in tonight’s show were Hayley Carrick (Johanna), Will Stanton (Aldofo
Pirelli), Helena Plazzar (Mrs Lovett) who kept the audience always
wanting more and of course Reuben Krum who played Sweeney Todd. This
guy is unbelievably talented, throughout the whole show he demanded
attention and his performance of Epiphany had audience on the edge
of their seats.
Altogether
Throwback Players’ production of Sweeney Todd is a must-see this
season and I congratulate all the cast and crew on a wonderful
performance and I can officially say that I will never look at a pie
the same again.
Gulcan was
last seen on stage in as Martha in CPACs production of High School
Musical.You may have seen her in such productions
as West Side Story (DTC)(Consuela), Fame (DTC), Grease (WTC) No
Business Like Show Business (DTC) and many other productions. Gulcan
in currently playing the role of Tracey in Creations School of
Dance's Cabaret performance of Hairspray.
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