essay that is extended

[only_thinking]

I'm working on a Sweeney Todd essay, only I can't decide what my topic should be within that. There are so many things... first I thought I'd write about Sondheim's use of operatic style and how Sweeney is not actually a Broadway musical show, but a contemporary opera. Then I thought I'd analyze the relationship between the song "My Friends" and Sweeney's "Epiphany". Now I've got all other kinds of ideas: Sondheim's use of discord to create tension; the rhymes that make the play not only hilarious, but incredibly dark and macabre as well. The reasons behind the use of the past tense before Sweeney dies and the use of the present tense after he dies (in the prologue the chorus introduces Sweeney with "His skin WAS pale... he KEPT a shop...", all in past tense, whereas in the epilogue the chorus speaks of Sweeney as though he lives on, in spite of the fact that he has died less than two minutes ago: "Sweeney waits in the parlor hall, Sweeney leans on the office wall / Nothing can help, no one can hide you / Isn't that Sweeney there beside you". I find that use of grammar interesting.) There's so much! The brass/wind/reed section in the romantic songs, the tempo and speed of certain songs vs. others. It's enough to write a book! But I have a limit, so I don't know what to do.... any ideas? Suggestions? Opinions? Anything you have to say would be great.

If only that icon said, "When God said "Let there be light" Joseph Harrison said "Say Please"... Harrison is the teacher for which I am writing this essay.