fancycwabs

Sweeney Todd had its preview night last night, and everybodys mothers and sycophantic friends who got free tickets said it was a great show. I'm a little too close to it to offer an objective opinion, but there are a couple of things worth sharing:

The chorus--especially the ladies--is tight. I've NEVER gotten the musical chills at a Theatre Memphis show before (and they've put on shows where by rights I should have), and there are no fewer than three places where I'm all like, "DAMN, what was that?"

There are moments in the show that you may not have ever heard or seen before--particularly a moment at the end that both telegraphs the big plot twist and heightens the sense of tragedy; so even if an audience member's memorized both cast albums from the original production and the revival, they'll have a (slightly) different emotional experience here.

It goes without saying, but if you've only seen the Tim Burton movie, you've never seen the show. I can't speak for everyone in the cast, but honestly I'd just as soon forget that the Burton movie ever existed--perhaps we could call it "non-canon" or something, like it was bad Sweeney Todd fanfic.