A TALENTED cast from Bromsgrove School put on some razor sharp performances as they brought their version of Stephen Sondheim’s dark musical Sweeney Todd to Artrix.
Everyone played their part in this production which centres around barber Benjamin Barker, aka Sweeney Todd, who comes back to London for revenge after being banished to Australia by Judge Turpin.
Elliott James was a sound Sweeney who came into his own in the second half in the more dramatic scenes.
Sam Makar was suitably sleazy as the evil Judge, Archie Parker got plenty of laughs as stereotypical Italian fraudster Pirelli and Paige Corcoran as Johanna showed the best vocal range.
But the performance of the evening went to Nyree Williams who was a lovable Mrs Lovett. The audience warmed to her right from her first moment on the stage with the comical ‘Worst Pies in London’. And there were some great moments between her and James as Todd, especially on A Little Priest where the pair speculate about which professions will taste the best in the pies.
The full orchestra used were absolutely faultless and the set was also very cleverly put together, enabling the action to switch seamlessly from the pie shop and barber’s to the Judge’s home, the streets and the bakehouse. The humorous aspects of the show – of which there are many in this production – were taken to a new level in the second half with the purpose-built chair that enabled the Demon Barber to slit throats and then slide them down to the bakehouse with the simple pull of a lever.
The test of a good cast is whether it can move an audience equally with dramatic moments as it does with comedy and this Bromsgrove School line-up did just that.
During the final scenes where so much happens in a short space of time you could hear a pin drop.
This was a superb show which would have cut it on any stage.
