London stars Jeremy Secomb (as Sweeney Todd), Siobhán McCarthy (as Mrs. Lovett), Duncan Smith (as Judge Turpin), and Joseph Taylor (as Tobias) will reprise their performances alongside New York cast members Matt Doyle (as Anthony), Alex Finke (as Johanna), Betsy Morgan (as Pirelli and Beggar Woman), Brad Oscar (as The Beadle), as well as Colin Anderson, Liz Pearce, and Monet Sabel.
6 comments:
While I do enjoy a good meat pie, as well as Sweeney Todd, I am a little disappointed if all they mean by "immersive" is that you get served a pie before the show. I've been to a production of Oklahoma! in Oklahoma that served a classic barbecue dinner before the show, and both the food and the show were good, but I wouldn't call it an immersive theater experience. Immersive theater, in my mind, has to make the audience truly believe they are in the world of the show in some way. And while food could be a part of this, a big part even, I don't think it alone is enough to classify a theater piece as "immersive".
This is very exciting because I love Sweeney Todd, and this seems like a solid cast. However, I do not really get how this is an immersive production. When they said immersive, I thought it meant they would have cast members planted in the audience getting killed when they go onstage to get a shave. However, the article makes no mention of that, so I assume that is not what is happening. Is the immersive aspect only that the theatre is going to be set up like a pie shop? That's kind of cool, but not really immersive at all I don't think. It just kind of seems like a weird kind of merchandise stand that is mildly disturbing. I don't know if I would ever buy any kind of food during a performance of Sweeney Todd, just because it is not an appetizing kind of show. Oh well. I am still excited because I like Sweeney Todd, but it's also another production of Sweeney Todd, and how many of those do we really need.
It looks like the immersive theatre boom is alive and well in New York, and I'm really incredibly excited about it. I think immersive theatre creates so many new opportunities to diversify audiences, particularly by attracting more younger audience members. It's great from an audience perspective, but its also great when any part of the theatre industry is developing and growing as it brings in new opportunities for theatre artists to be supported and making a living working in the art. It takes an incredibly massive creative and technical team to pull of an immersive show, just because there are so many additional factors to consider in terms of the audience experience. The level of detail alone has to increase exponentially, as depending on how interactive the show is and how close each design aspect is to the audience, it's likely that you're not really able to get away with simple flats and cutouts that are normally considered too far away from audience eyes to bother spending the time and money to put a lot of detail into.
When I saw the title I was very interested. I thought it was going to broadway and said wow not another revival since the last one happened so soon. However after reading the article my opinion changed so quickly. This production is going to be an experience unlike any other. The director is doing the show in such a smart way to get the audience really into the story. If they are smart they will really get them involved and hopefully have the fourth wall broken along with other things. the cast is amazing for an off broadway show. Many broadway celebrities that will help makes this production strong and run long. Maybe this along with other great off broadway shows happening now, more shows will have a life off broadway and more producers will be able to earn back their money on the shows. Hopefully I will not be disappointed.
I am so excited for this! as someone who loves both immersive theater and sweeny todd i really do hope i will be able to see this. bringing sweeny into this immersive atmosphere will in my opinion really capture an audience. because its a musical i feel that people can be aware that this is a show while creating a more immersive experience it can really lose that and the story can bring a whole new feeling. when the article mentions that it will be a "working" pie shop one thing poped into my head. the fact that actual pies might be made there the smell of a real pie shop creates a whole new realm of experience. the thought of this delicious pie and then watching someone "become" that pie your smelling. how ghoulish. i cant wait to see more theater like this.
I always feel like there is interesting work coming out of London. Punchdrunk has started numerous productions there, the National Theatre has an incredible reputation for inventive, provocative work, and there are many more. There is a fascinating relationship between New York and London. The way that shows are discussed as they move from one to another is different from the way that people talk about other transfers. It often feels like when someone describes a show from London transferring to Broadway, people treat it like a new premiere. Now, that may in part be to the way that Americans think but that’s a different rabbit hole. I am going to London for Spring Break so I will try to learn as much about how Londoners think of American transfers and what the stigma is of that production there. Cameron Mackintosh once said that he refused to debut a show on Broadway solely due to the expenses, but I am curious how that plays out artistically.
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