Sweeney Todd

Tonight W and I went to see Sweeney Todd, Demon Barber of Fleet Street down at the Music Hall.  I have been a fan of this musical for years and was really looking forward to it.  I knew the show had been revamped before I went so I was ready for a totally different experience than what I was used to.  Thank God I was ready, otherwise I would have been very disappointed.  While not a bad show, it just wasn’t what Sweeney Todd should be.  The guy playing Todd, in my opinion, just didn’t have it.  Maybe it was him or maybe it was the shows direction, but I just never really cared for the character.  When he dies in the end it was just, well ok, he’s dead now.  Didn’t give a damn.  I was also very put off by the fact that though much of the show the actors never interacted with each other, they just sang to the audience.  Simply put, there was just too much damn standing around with them not really doing anything.  If I didn’t know the story I probably wouldn’t know what the hell was going on, I’m sure much of the audience didn’t know because I noticed a lot of empty seats that were once filled during the second act.  The only part of the show that really stood out was when Toby and Mrs. Lovett sang Not While I’m Around.  That was really good and I totally got into it.  So to sum up my feelings about this version of Sweeney Todd I say this. . . Meh, whatever.  Still, it was a good evening and beats staying home watching the crap on TV.