Middle Area Community Theater - "Sweeney Todd" [THNM]

[spirit_of_mahs]

EPILOGUEAs the audience enters, funeral music plays throughout the theater. Before a front drop depicting in a honeycombed beehive the class system of mid-19th century England, two workmen enter. They pull down the drop. The deafeningly shrill sound of a factory whistle

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NO PLACE LIKE LONDON

[spirit_of_mahs]

A street by the London docks. A small boat appears from the back. In it are Sweeney Todd and Anthony Hope, it is pulled by one of the cast/stagehands. Anthony is a cheerful young ship's first mate with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Todd is a saturnine man who might, say, be a blacksmith or a dockhand. There is about him an air of brooding, slightly nerve-chilling self-absorption.

Re: NO PLACE LIKE LONDON

[yourwound]

Ernst, in a pea coat and cap, is all smiles and wide eyed wonder as he sings. His voice is clear and full, a sweet youthful tenor.

"I have sailed the world, beheld its wonders
From the Dardanelles
To the mountains of Peru,
But there's no place like London!
I feel home again.
I could hear the city bells
Ring whatever I would do.
No, there's no pl -"

He breaks off, interrupted.

Re: NO PLACE LIKE LONDON

[james_m_bastard]

James, towering over the other boy, steps forward --stiff and stern-- and leans forward, hands on the railing. His face holds as much bitterness and contempt as the smaller man's does hope and joy. His face is starkly pale and looks more so with dark circles drawn under them. His clothing is of an almost upper class quality but old and worn.

"No place like London..."
His tone is caustic and his voice rolls over the city's name like gravel.

Re: NO PLACE LIKE LONDON

[yourwound]

He blinks, slightly taken aback. Shifting the knapsack on his shoulder, he tilts his head curiously. "...Mr. Todd, sir?"

THE WORST PIES IN LONDON / POOR THING / MY FRIENDS

[spirit_of_mahs]

As Todd disappears, we see Mrs. Lovett's pie-shop is rolled onto the stage. Above it is any empty apartment which is reached by an outside staircase. The light comes up on Mrs. Nellie Lovett, an amoral, pragmatic seller of meat pies. When Todd arrives, seeking out his former home above her shop, she describes her wares as 'The Worst Pies in London'. She bustles around worrying about the flies and her competitor, Mrs. Mooney, who has been thriving of late by "popping pussies into pies." She declares that times are hard, even harder than her pies

GREEN FINCH AND LINNET BIRD / AH, MISS/ JOHANNA

[spirit_of_mahs]

The pie shop is wheeled off stage as a staircase is wheeled on. On the top of the stairs is Johanna, a lovely girl with cascading blonde hair. A bird seller enters carrying a bizarre construction of little wicker birdcages tied together.

Re: GREEN FINCH AND LINNET BIRD / AH, MISS/ JOHANNA

[angela_love]

Angela stands there with a sad and disconsolate air until she sees the bird cages. Then she smiles sadly as she opens the window in order to feed them.

"And how are they today?"

"Hungry, as always, Miss Johanna." The birds are lifted, so she can see them and push little bits of bread to them. And as she does so, she sings.

"Green finch and linnet bird,
Nightingale, blackbird,
How is it you sing?
How can you jubilate,
Sitting in cages,
Never taking wing?
Outside the sky waits,
Beckoning, beckoning,
Just beyond the bars.
How can you remain,
Staring at the rain,
Maddened by the stars?
How is it you sing
Anything?
How is it you sing?
Green finch and linnet bird,
Nightingale, blackbird,
How is it you sing?
Whence comes this melody constantly flowing?
Is it rejoicing or merely halloing?
Are you discussing or fussing
Or simply dreaming?
Are you crowing?
Are you screaming?
Ringdove and robinet,
Is it for wages,
Singing to be sold?
Have you decided it's
Safer in cages,
Singing when you're told?"

Re: GREEN FINCH AND LINNET BIRD / AH, MISS/ JOHANNA

[yourwound]

He enters and catches sight of her. His eyes widen and he pulls in a little gasp, transfixed by her.

Re: GREEN FINCH AND LINNET BIRD / AH, MISS/ JOHANNA

[angela_love]

She sighs and continues singing. She is tall and graceful in her long pale gown and her yellow hair falls around her slightly as she leans out of the window.

"My cage has many rooms,
Damask and dark.
Nothing there sings,
Not even my lark.
Larks never will, you know,
When they're captive.
Teach me to be more adaptive.
Green finch and linnet bird,
Nightingale, blackbird,
Teach me how to sing.
If I cannot fly,
Let me sing."

Her task of feeding and petting the birds ended, she stares into the distance, her manner lonely and unhappy.

PIRELLI’S MIRACLE ELIXER/THE CONTEST

[spirit_of_mahs]

A hand-drawn caravan, painted like a Sicilian donkey cart is pulled onto the stage.. On its side is written in ornate script "Signer Adolfo Pirelli - Haircutter-Barber-Toothpuller to His Royal Majesty the King of Naples," and under this: "Banish Baldness with Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir.

WAIT

[spirit_of_mahs]

The cart is pulled off and the pie shop is wheeled on again. In the pie shop, Todd, waiting anxiously for the Beadle, is exhorted by Mrs. Lovett to be patient. What was the first word of her entrance number becomes the theme of the song Wait. Anthony then makes arrangements to bring Johanna to the barber shop while he makes arrangements for them to be wed.

It's not long before Pirelli visits Todd. Having recognized Todd's razors and realized his true identity, he threatens him with exposure. Rather than submit to Pirelli's blackmailing demands for half his earnings, Todd kills him, while downstairs Mrs. Lovett charms young Tobias.

The pie shop is wheeled from t he stage as the Tenor Chorus sings from a scaffold.

“See your razor gleam, Sweeney,
Feel how well it fits
As it floats across the throats
Of hypocrites“

Blackout.