Sweeney Todd

While I was in All Shook Up, Tammy and Holly mentioned that they wanted to do Sweeney Todd.

I told them I would LOVE to help direct the chorus.

Of course, I wanted to be in the show too.

So right now, I am enjoying one of the most stressful responsibilities I have ever faced. I have spent the last four weeks teaching the cast some of the most difficult music in all of musical theatre history. If you doubt it, listen to this particular gem on youtube:

A Performance "The Letter"



In addition to that, I am playing Mrs. Lovett. I adore this part. It is incredible, but I am at my wit's end trying to find a way to direct the music and play this amazing part at the same time. So far, so good. This is the part of life that I feel I'm good at. I'll post about my lesser strengths later.

Come and see it. It will be amazing. This cast is just wonderful. We open October 28th and play through November 12th. Visit Midvale Main Street Theatre for tickets and information. 

Last night,  our cast performed The Letter.  I was amazed. We still have a month left, but the music is perfection right now. There are other parts of the show that need some work. "God That's Good!" is still kicking our little tushies.  I swear Sondheim changes the key 10 times during the song. I sit there plunking away at the piano, and realize that the key signature no longer has 5 flats, it's now got 6 sharps. It's at this point that I begin randomly swearing and screaming. The cast has grown accustomed to my vulgar fits. They're so sweet.

But really--6 sharps? And then on top of that, he throws in random double flats and double sharps.

Throw the tenor treble clef in there where I have to transpose all their music down to the bass clef and I'm ready to throw a hissy fit.

Oh! And forget trying to figure out if it's 4/4 or 6/8. Half the time it's in 5/12!  (It's a wonder I don't leave rehearsal with a migraine.) But we usually manage to feel things out and luckily when I'm ready to explode, one of the cast members will step forward and help me find the right counts. It's such a privilege working with this group.