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Picture
Sweeney Todd
Southend Operatic & Dramatic Society
The Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea
11-14th November
Sondheim's Sweeney Todd is the gruesomely dark tale of Benjamin Barker who, after returning to London following 15 years transportation to Australia on trumped up charges by the evil Judge Turpin, finds that his wife has killed herself and his daughter, Johanna, has been made a ward by the  Judge.  Turpin, he discovers, banished him to the other side of the world in order to seduce his wife.  Thus, Barker resolves to plot his revenge on the corrupt judge and reinventing himself as Sweeney Todd, conspires with Mrs Lovett, the meat pie shop owner, as she allows him to take up his previous residence in the room above her pie shop and be reacquainted with his barbershop.

Sweeney’s attempt to kill the judge becomes scuppered though and in a fit of rage, he determines that he will kill all future customers, since ‘all people deserve to die: the rich to be punished for their corruption, and the poor to be relieved of their misery’ and Mrs. Lovett, short of decent meat for her pies, slyly suggests that they use the flesh of Todd's victims in them and Todd joyously agrees.

Southend Operatic & Dramatic Society has a fantastic set for this production, instantly evoking the feel of 19th Century London by having various characters wandering the set, going about their daily business as the audience settle into their seats.  As the show starts the audience are literally flashed back into time and as our eyes readjust to the stage before us, the ensemble are eerily still as they sing out the opening number, which sounded fantastic.   The score for this production is not an easy one, yet, SODS chorus were consistently unfaltering, particularly in the opening and end sequences.  The sound quality was very clear and well designed as was the lighting which worked effectively with the set and mood of each piece.  Costumes were all perfect for the period.

This production has given SODS an opportunity to showcase some of their up and coming talent and there were some lovely performances from Maddy Lahna, as Johanna and Declan Wright as her love interest, Anthony.  “Kiss Me” which they sang together was lovely and Maddy did a fabulous job with “Green Finch and Linnet Bird” with her soaring soprano vocals.  Declan may want to slow down his dialogue a little though in some places.

Other members of the cast who stood out were long time SODS members, Laura Mann as the Beggar Woman, who’s final scene was particularly moving and also, Jonny Buxton as the comedic Pirelli, who proved that he has a rather impressive singing range and provided good characterisation for this small but interesting role.

You can appreciate that Les Cannon and Ashley-Marie Stone as Sweeney and Mrs Lovett have worked hard with their roles and certainly did the best they could with the direction they were given but I would have liked to have seen more characterisation with their parts as at times they were a little one dimensional.  Having said that, there were some lovely moments between them; “A Little Priest” gave them an opportunity to bring out the comedy element of their characters but I still feel that more could have been made of it, which was rather disappointing.

The stand out part for me however, was from Scott Roche as the Beadle, Judge Turpin’s sidekick.  Of all the characters in this show, his was the most believable and his songs “Ladies in their Sensitivities” and in particular, “Kiss Me” with Johanna, Anthony and Judge Turpin were unfaltering.

I loved the use of the orchestra pit for bodies to come out of and also into; and with all that activity hope that MD, Elizabeth Dunlop and the orchestra weren’t harmed in the making of this production.  The orchestra certainly did a fine job with the score and sounded amazing.

Sweeney is a show that needs to tell a story and at times I felt that director, Ian Gilbert, could have pushed his cast a tad harder as it often felt slightly lacklustre in places and needed a little more guidance.  This could have just been a case of first night jitters and I’m sure as the week progresses the pace will pick up.  

This show, for me, highlights the point that there is no such thing as a small part and I congratulate all the members of SODS for their commitment to this production.


www.southendtheatres.org.uk
What the audience thought


David Perry, 39, Westcliff on Sea
“I thought it was quite good.  They managed to do the barber’s chair scene pretty well.  The character I enjoyed the most was Johanna.”
​
Nathan Gray, 23, Eastwood
“The set was brilliant.  Anthony stood out for me and also Toby.  I think the deaths could have been a bit more gory, I only saw blood on 2 of the victims.  The slide looked fun though!”

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