author: Jake Schwartz
Anyone need a shave? Why not come on down to Fleet Street? Or even better – why not come down to Rockville Musical Theatre’s production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
We need to start by saying Director Karen Fleming does a PHENOMENAL job with this production. The show was a well-oiled machine, and while the run time was nearly 3 hours: it didn’t feel that way at all.
Every moment is a moment when you’re in the woods— again please.
It’s the Vagabond Players’ turn to try their hand at Sondheim’s most beastly bear…Into The Woods, under the co-direction of Audra M. Mullen and Kerry Simons, launches its five-weekend run as the first show of the company’s 109th season. With Musical Direction by Stephen M. Deininger, this challenging Sondheim musical has a few twists, turns, and pleasant surprises in store for audiences who are familiar with the work,
The more he bleeds the more he lives…he never forgets and he never forgives…not Sweeney… not Sweeney Todd…and you do not wish to be on his hit list, I assure you. Rogue Swan Theatre Company, celebrating their ten-year anniversary, has gone all out— not just the spacious stage and auditorium of Havre de Grace’s STAR Centre— but they’re producing Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on said STAR Centre’s mainstage and this beast of a Sondheim musical is waiting with glistening razor edge and an unusually unique Rogue Swan hallmark stamped across its existence.
author: Amanda N. Gunther
Angry men don’t write the rules and guns don’t right the wrongs. A debatable truth from “The Ballad of Booth” inside of a Sondheim show. What’s not up for debate is the caliber and quality of the production of Assassins now appearing live at Silver Spring Stage— their first musical in 27 years! And it’s quite the impressive feat considering it’s their first musical in nearly three decades and it’s a Sondheim to boot!
Right and wrong don’t matter in the woods… only feelings. And the feeling is that Woodbrook Players has some talented vocalists appearing in their current production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods. Directed by Ron Oaks with Musical Direction by Bryan Alston, this iconic fairytale-gone-wrong musical brings all of your favorite storybook characters together to unravel their stories amid the darkness of the woods. Sondheim is a bear at the best of times (not featured in this particular woodsy setting,
Somebody hold me too close. Somebody hurt me too deep. Somebody sit in my chair and ruin my sleep and make me aware of being alive. Being alive. That’s the plea of protagonist Bobby in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Company (book by George Furth) which is currently gracing the stage in the elegant Opera House at The John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts in our nation’s capital. Originally produced in 1970 Company was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won six.
When Director Roy Hammond got the rights for Merrily We Roll Along in 2019, little did he know a pandemic and some Broadway wizardry would interfere. But it’s up! And it’s amazing! This 1981 musical covers the trials and tribulations of three artistic friends … backwards … starting with their ultimate breakup and ending with the hopeful youths staring up on a roof in October 1957. Being Sondheim, you’ll be hard pressed to whistle a melody on the way home,
No one can help. Nothing can hide you. Isn’t that Sweeney there beside you? Sweeney— Sweeney— there— there! There! THERE! And if you’re in the state of Maryland the demon barber of fleet street is literally everywhere right now. With no fewer than three theatres producing the bloody Sondheim classic, it’s no wonder that Small Town Stars Theatre Company wanted to throw their hat in the ring and invite you to attend their tale of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
“Spit it out, dear. Go on. On the floor. There’s worse things than that down there.” – Mrs. Lovett
And she’s right. In a world where borders are overlooked, people are minimalized, and one pill or another is all you need what ails you, the floor of humanity is riddled with disgust. The Havre de Grace Opera house has found a way to give us a three-hour respite from what lies outside their doors.
Splendors you never have dreamed all your days— my lucky friends! With spooky season upon us, you’ll have your pick— there seems to be a Sweeney in every market this October! Live in or around Frederick and that side of the state? Other Voices Theatre has got your covered with their production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Directed by Amy Hebb, with Musical Direction by Paul Cabell,
*gasp* A theatre!
Wait! What’s your rush? What’s your hurry?
You’re in for such a treat— thought that they were closed—
Hang on a minute, go and sit! Sit you down! SIT!
They’re so excited, they haven’t seen an audience for months—
Did you come in for a show, folks?
Do forgive them, they’re putting Sondheim on the stage…
What was that?
A rarely produced Sondheim. Perhaps one of Signature Theatre’s signature marks as they frequently unearth some of the lesser recognized or at the very least, lesser attempted, Stephen Sondheim works. Pacific Overtures is no exception for this season. The irony of white men creating the musical narrative for Eastern culture is not lost on anyone, particularly not Musical Director Alexander Tom, who is a Chinese and Vietnamese American. In a phone interview with the show’s musical director,
Every moment is a moment when you’re in the woods. Be careful what you wish for, bring a slotted spoon to catch the potato, and nice is different than good. Direct from Broadway (including an opening weekend surprise of Andy Karl re-joining the company for the weekend), the darkened Sondheim Fairytale launches its National Tour debut from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Are you ready to go Into The Woods?
Let’s start by saying that Into the Woods is one of the most accessible and beloved musicals of Stephen Sondheim. The book by James Lapine and the music and lyrics by Sondheim offer everything we want from a musical. It has catchy tunes, fascinating subplots, cleverness, magic, love stories of all sorts and a call for the audience to use their imaginations. The current incarnation of this play at Signature Theatre, directed and choreographed by Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner,
Two midnights gone. The slotted spoon doesn’t hold much soup
but it can catch— well, in this case, the Phoenix Festival Theatre production
of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods appearing now as a part of LIVE! at
Harford Community College. Directed by Dickie Mahoney and with Musical
Direction by Terri Matthews, the iconic fairytales of happily after plague the
stage in a warped and twisted fashion, craftable only by the depraved mind of Sondheim.
Just a single little finger can change the world.
9— Dayton, Ohio August 4, 2019
22— El Paso, Texas August 3, 2019
3— Gilroy, California July 28, 2019
34 people dead from just a single little finger.
Something just broke.
It’s the strap-line for Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins now
open and running at Signature Theatre in Shirlington, Virginia. And they’re not
wrong.
Attend the tale of Sweeney
Todd. The opening line should be enough to entice anyone to visit this dark
and bloody Sondheim event at The Heritage Players. The second in their annual “musical
theatre concert” series, this year’s devious stage offering is none other than
the bloody demon barber of fleet street. Sweeney
Todd, Directed by John Gary Pullen with Musical Direction by David Zajic,
and Vocal Direction by Sharen Camille,
Amanda N. Gunther | TheatreBloom
Everything’s coming up Toby’s! Everything’s coming up— TOBY’S!
Let them entertain you with their stunning, thrilling, exciting, and magical
production of Gypsy. Directed by Mark
Minnick and Toby Orenstein with Musical Direction by Ross Scott Rawlings, the
truth of a brilliant story is told in earnest, with the heart of that gripping
tale at the forefront of the show creating honest theatrical magic for everyone
who comes to the table and lets the cast and crew of Gypsy entertain them.
“The history of the world, my love, is those below serving those up above.” The daunting lyrics of Stephen Sondheim seem to echo through our world at present, where at the top are seated those privileged few making mock of the vermin in the lower zoo, and what better way to exemplify this than to take one of Sondheim’s darker musical classics and spin it on its head in a modern vent? Rep Stage is giving you Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street with this concept firmly in mind.
“Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd… his skin was pale and his eye was odd… he shaved the faces of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard of again. He trod a path that few have trod, did Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”.”
The opening lines to the haunting and delightfully disturbing Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street still have the power to chill and unsettle audiences,
You may know what you need, but to get what you want, better see that you keep what you have! And what Memorial Players has is an extraordinarily talented production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods. And what they want is for everyone in Baltimore to come and see it. So they need you to do exactly that! Running just two weekends, and as always at Memorial Players, a free performance for all in attendance,
Once upon a time at a theatre just outside Baltimore a director had a wish, to bring to life a production featuring some of the most beloved fairytale characters of our childhoods. His tale is one full of magic, woe, and cows. Does he succeed or is this just a moment better left in the woods? Well you will just have to read on as I share with you my journey at The Heritage Player’s performance of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapines’ Into the Woods Directed by TJ Lukacsina.
Angry men don’t write the rules and guns don’t right the wrongs. America’s got a problem…Sondheim has a solution. Never a more poignant and relevant time in our current political climate than right now has it been so appropriate to produce a production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins. Pallas Theatre Collective is boldly daring to do so, and it draws striking attention to the world around us at present. Directed by Clare Shaffer with Musical Direction by Alex Thompson,
Purchase your tickets, la la la! Queue up at the entrance, la la la! Unfold your program, la la la! Hi-ho the glamorous life! It’s so much more than a weekend in the country if you’re venturing to Signature Theatre’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Opening the 2017/2018 with this simplistically elegant classic, Director Eric Schaeffer sets the 28th season in motion with a glorious performance of smiling nighttimes and sensual characters entangling themselves around and through one another all whilst dripped and draped in one of Sondheim’s convoluted albeit romantic,
And though scary is exciting— nice is different than good! Isn’t it nice to know a lot? The student performers of Storytellers: A Theater Arts Academy’s current production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods now definitely know a lot more about theatre than when they walked through the door! Directed by Terry Sweet Bouma, this fairytale adventure sets the bar high for the academy’s first production, but Bouma and the staff deliver, giving these student performers an exceptional chance to experience a real musical theatre production from every angle.
Hey, pal! Feeling blue? Don’t know what to do? Hey, pal— I mean you! Come on and shoot a president! Pretty darn appealing prospect, isn’t it? Especially when you listen to their stories and hear it in their songs; you learn that angry men don’t make the rules and guns don’t write the wrongs! Everybody’s got a right to their dreams! So come on, and shoot a president! But if you’d rather not take the rap sheet and fry up in the hoosegow,
Oh, if life were made of moments— even now and then a bad one! But if life were only moments? Then you’d never know you’d had one! And have one you shall, providing you take a moment to see The Fiasco Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods appears for but a moment— until January 8, 2017— on the Eisenhower Theatre stage of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.
Nothing that’s formal! Nothing that’s normal! But something for everyone at Twin Beach Players— a comedy tonight! Old situations! New complications! Nothing portentous or polite! Because tragedy tomorrow— A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum tonight! Directed by Sid Curl, with Musical Direction by Katie Evans, this Sondheim classic will tickle your funny bone for a good two hours’ stage traffic over the course of the evening! There are servants running amuck,
Order. Design. Tension. Symmetry. Composition. Balance. Light. Harmony. And look they made a hat, where there never was a hat. Producing the final production in a “Celebration of Sondheim” festival that spanned the course of nearly two seasons, The Milburn Stone Theatre brings to a close an era of one of musical theatre’s greatest minds by mounting Sunday in the Park with George. With Musical Direction by Dan McTiernan and Production Coordinator John Desmone at the canvas,
The journey is the destination in the Max Theatre as Road Show gets underway for the backend of the 2015/2016 season at Signature Theatre. With all of the style, flare, and spark of an old-world adventure tale, this lesser recognized Sondheim treasure hits the open stage with Director Gary Griffin and Musical Director Jon Kalbfleisch at the wheel. Being the third collaborative effort of Music and Lyricist Stephen Sondheim and Book Writer John Weidman,