Sweeny Todd Analysis

Improved Essays
John Moore’s production of Sweeny Todd was a refreshing take on the classical tale. The artists brought to life a convincing dark comedy on how revenge and violence can consume a person until they are blinded by it. I believe the artists not only wanted to elicit a response from the audience but also leave them with a warning about the horrors of revenge and the importance of letting go of what is hurting your heart and soul. First, for the most part the musical accomplished their purpose. The audience from start to finish was enthralled by the production. The actor’s powerful yet effortless singing captured your focus. Also, their cunning and precise projection of the lyrics garnered more laughter and amusement. The artists did a phenomenal job in eliciting the comical aspects of the play to the audience. Their slap-stick delivery left the audience in smiles and enjoyment however; not to be …show more content…
They completed the role in which the actor was portraying. In addition, the costumes helped influence the audience of the time period and demeanor of each character. It gave them the visual to see who was rich or poor, young or old, and established the mood. The costumes illustrated to the audience the tragedy. The beaten worn out clothes of Todd, Mrs. Lovett, and Tobias Ragg showed their depressing state. The gallons of blood dripping from the victims throats after they were slashed symbolized to the viewers the gruesomeness and violence. Finally, the lightening and costumes affected the creation and reception of the play. They established that the musical was a dark comedy and helped draw the audience’s attention to the horrific actions that led to the destruction and demise of the main character. Finally, it left an impression on the viewers even if only for a short while to realize how revenge and its actions can cause people to betray their most important foundations leading to an inevitable

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    For this assignment, I watched a play called “The Insanity of Mary Girard” that was performed by a UT Theatre group, Round About Players, and was shown at the SAC black box. The play revolved around a young woman named Mary Girard who is thrown into an insane asylum by her wealthy husband, Stephen Girard. In the insane asylum, she is tormented by figments of her imagination and is told that she is not to leave the insane asylum for as long as she may live. In this particular adaptation, the cast consisted of 6 actors, 1 playing the role of Mary Girard and the other 5 doubling up on characters.…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Harvey Play Analysis

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages

    ‘Harvey’ is a Pulitzer Prize winning comedy by Mary Chase and directed by Ronald L. Watson. It was played at McAllister Auditorium at San Antonio College, from March 31st to April 10th. The play’s time period is 1940s when the World War II had been occurred. Elwood P. Dowd was a middle aged man who had an invisible friend, Harvey. He claimed that Harvey was a 6 foot tall rabbit and liked to introduce Harvey to everyone.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Elf The Musical Analysis

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages

    I went to see ‘Elf the Musical Jr.’ on Thursday, December 1, 2016. The tickets were $15 For decent seats and in my opinion, the show plus the seats that we had were not at all worth the $15, that we spent. This musical is not a show that I would recommend to anyone, at anytime. It was that bad. But, to help you understand in my own opinion as to why ‘Elf the Musical Jr.’ was so bad, let me give you some feedback and get into a little more detail in the next few paragraphs.…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stick Fly Play Analysis

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This play was one of the longest plays I had ever sat in on, but it didn’t feel like it. The characters and the story kept making me want more. It was that good! This play, however, did provide more than just entertainment. It provided a sense of wonder, wonder about the lives of the characters, what they felt, what they thought, and what they did.…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the early 1940’s, the audience members of the theater knew exactly what they would see at a musical comedy. Defined by the “Follies formula,” the American musical followed a very precise recipe that produces success every time: a chorus line of beautiful women in revealing costumes; jazzy, upbeat tunes; coarse jokes and cheap gags; and a rollicking opening number. Most musicals consisted of great numbers strung together with a decidedly flimsy plot. Even in a more narrative show, irrelevant songs tended to grind the action to a halt; comic songs were often about current events that had no connection to the plot. The formula was absolute – most producers on Broadway thought that it was impossible to fill seats without having pretty girls, silly antics, and catchy tunes.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the musical “Where’s Charley”, the main character, Charley, dresses as his aunt to shapparon his and his roommates dates. The show was set in the late 19th century and for the two young women to stay with two young men they had to have a shapparon. Charley’s aunt was suppose to arrive the morning of the lunch date, but she didn’t so, using the costume from his school performance, he dressed as a woman and pretended to be his aunt. The only reason the two young women, Amy and Kitty, met with the young men, Charley and Jack, was because their guardian was at a meeting all day and had no idea that they were there.…

    • 1527 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    St Rose Play Analysis

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The College of Saint Rose is heavily dedicated to the promotion of the Arts and Drama, with an arts center and a theater, there is always a deep interaction with some form of artistic expression. The College is renowned for its top of the line music program which is what made it perfect to host a musical. On May 6th, The College of Saint Rose Drama program performed a revival of the 1970s Tony Award winning musical, Pippin, to a packed campus theater. The musical was an end of the year showcase for the drama program, highlighting the talents of some senior student who took lead roles and students from a local elementary school taking their first steps into the theater world. As the director Angela Ledtke said in her forward before the play,…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Avenue Q Analysis

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It sucks to be me or anyone else sitting in the Gates Abegglen Theatre. Entertainment and acceptance may be the ineffective purpose of this disturbing, bad acting Broadway musical. But maybe the most noticeable part is that it is not easy sitting through a musical full of bad acting and scenery that fails at telling a scene. There are irritating puppets, overly animated characters and actors that forgot how to act, but the musical truly soars on rare occasions when the costumes portray the character to a tee. On Thursday, April 16, 2015 Miami University’s “Avenue Q” directed by Saffron Henke left me on the edge of my seat—wanting to leave.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    ‘’ An experience. ‘’ The movie of ‘Tomorrow’, but as everyone knows it Annie, this musical was based on a comic strip, Little Orphan Annie, created by Harold Gray in the early 1900’s. It is fact that originally the playwright Thomas Meehan was a bit hesitant of creating a musical based on a comic, but in fact it was Martin Charnin the director also lyricist who had this idea, in this case persistence paid off when eventually Thomas and the composer Charles Strouse agreed. The production of Annie was first performed at the Alvin Theatre which is now the Neil Simon Theatre in 1977 on April the 21st.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I attended The Nutcracker Christmas Carol at the campus’ Humanities Theatre. I was not sure what to expect from this play since I did even know the nutcrackers storyline. I was worried that I would not be able to write a concert report on this musical since I had never been to a live musical play, but it turned out very successful. They performed a musical skit for each storyline of this play.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This year Spring Hill High School put on the musical of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. Which ended up being some of the most famous Peanuts Comic Strips that were sung and acted out for the audience. The original musical was performed in 1967, and was directed by Clark Gesner. During the presentation of the musical on Thursday, very few members of the audience knew what was going on, because it did not have a plot. Although, the musical was enjoyable for the older generation because they grew up reading the Peanuts Comic Strips and could relate to the production.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The purpose of this essay is to explain how one important event helped the audience understand manipulation through the character of Dr Merrick. The text studied this year in class was “The Island” by the director Michael Bay. The three techniques that were used effectively to support the purpose of this essay are Cinematography, dialogue and symbolism. Dr Merrick has black hair and wears glasses. He is the head of the clone department and is shown in a futuristic building.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The musical blew me away from the very first note till the bowing of characters, I was completely engrossed. The production was a success. Everything came into agreement. I watched it 4 times and I would recommend everyone should do so to.…

    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The costumes of the play were exquisite. They all fit each character very well. For instance, in one scene there is a little girl and little boy that come across Everyman. The little girl was wearing a pink dress and the boy was wearing a simple blue outfit. It shows the audience that the children are innocent and wealthy.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Throughout this Semester I had the task of going to three musical performances and reviewing them. The first performance I attended was Hairspray, this took place at North Central College at the Red Horse Theatre which my friend invited me to see with her. Overall this performance was very organized and the tempo sustainability was upbeat throughout the entire time. I was very impressed how drawn the audience was and how there was never a dull moment. These things fall under the category of musicals that we have learned about.…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays