The production of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” recently took stage from Nov. 10-13 in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center.
Showcasing the talents of many WCU students and a 2007 graduate, the show was a major success. “Sweeney Todd” had many different things to offer the audience. There were two main stories taking place throughout the performance, the romance between Johanna and Anthony as well as the revenge that Sweeney was taking out on the townspeople.
“Sweeney Todd” started on time and had only minor microphone glitches during some of the performances. The cast received standing ovations at the end of every performance. The cast also gave credit to the extremely talented orchestra that accompanied the showed.
As a member of the set crew, Kyle Smith had some fears on opening night.
“I was worried that something would go wrong with the cube, like it maybe getting stuck,” Smith said.
Smith also gave credit to the cast.
“Everyone was so talented and fit their parts perfectly.”
At the end of the weekend Smith was pleased to inform that they never faced any detrimental setbacks.
Members of the audience had a different view of the show.
Matthew Alexander, a student at WCU, praised the cast and credited Tobias Ragg, played by Peter O’neal, as his favorite character.
“My favorite song was ‘God, Thats Good’ because it used the whole cast,” he said.
“My favorite part of the show was definitely the set. It added so much to the musical,” said Desirea Hodge, a sophomore at WCU. “The set changes really flowed together.”
Hodge claimed that the show met all of her expectations, though she feels like the accents could have been better.
Kasey Privett, also a sophomore at WCU, believed that the performance of Anthony Hope, played by Joseph Callahan, was the best in the show.
“Anthony had a very clean voice and that’s why my favorite song was ‘Johnanna’,” Privett said.
According to the musical-theatre report, 2,391 tickets were sold for “Sweeney Todd”, which is over 500 more tickets than were sold for the spring student production of “Kiss Me Kate.”