“Sweeney Todd” was performed by Aragon students from Nov. 15-18.
This year’s fall musical, “Sweeney Todd,” showed from Nov. 15-18, featuring 26 cast members and 13 crew members. The dark story revolves around a vengeful man wrongly convicted of a crime.
“Sweeney Todd is actually Benjamin Barker, who is wrongly accused and sentenced for a crime he didn’t commit,” said drama director Shane Smuin. “He escapes prison and comes back to London and gets revenge.”
“Sweeney Todd,” a musical with an aspect of horror, contrasts the previous year’s comedy “9 to 5.”
“Many of the actors we have in the show this year from last year wanted to do something dramatic,” Smuin said. “This year I have a really good group of singers and actors, so it seemed like a good year to do ‘Sweeney Todd.’”
Along with the difference in genre, “Sweeney Todd” also posed a new level of difficulty.
“This show is very hard. There are many demanding vocal parts; the ensemble is in almost every song,” said junior Jonathan Trimble, who plays Anthony Hope, a sailor who helps Sweeney Todd.
The difficulty of the show made hard work and dedication necessary.
“We have been in rehearsal since the end of August, Mondays through Fridays. Typically we are in rehearsal for three hours a day, sometimes more,” Smuin said.
In addition to rehearsals, cast and crew prepared for the production utilizing new resources.
“Costumes, props and tickets all come from the Aragon Drama Boosters,” Smuin said. “We’ve spent more money on the music side that we ever have by hiring professional musicians to play in our pit orchestra. It is a big budget.”
In addition to the professional musicians, Aragon students performed the soundtrack to the musical in the pit orchestra.
“The most challenging part was that there were a couple songs that were in 5/8 rhythm like ‘Pretty Women.’ It’s just so tough to align the accompaniment with the singers,” said sophomore cello player Simone Hsu. “With the actors we needed to keep our ears open [and] our eyes open. It’s just not all about us. It’s about being part of the show.”
The demands of “Sweeney Todd” have challenged the Drama program, but it has paid off as seen in the positive responses from the audience.
“The play was incredible and fun to watch. I have not gone to many plays in the past, but ‘Sweeney Todd’ has made me want to go and see more plays at Aragon,” said freshman audience member Isaiah Lott.
“My favorite scene was ‘A Little Priest,’ one of my favorite Broadway songs ever,” said history teacher Erin Quint. “It is the perfect degree of dark humor and bad puns about eating people. It very much tickles my fancy.”
With a hardworking and talented cast, crew and orchestra, Smuin said “Sweeney Todd” was a huge success.
“We had four of five nights with standing ovations, which has never happened before,” Smuin said. “[Attendance] was way above average, selling out both Friday and Saturday night performances; Thursday was a big night too, making the entire production even more rewarding.”
