Musical Review: SWEENEY TODD (Atlantis)

Part I:

GABI-LIVES-UNDER-A-ROCK-Trivia # 24601:I hadn't had the chance to watch SWEENEY when it came out as a movie, and so my first exposure was LIVE, today.

And BOOM! Fellow ignoramuses and I were cursing under our breath during the second act. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! If you haven't seen it yet, go watch it live for maximum effect! If Lea Salonga isn't enough to make it an automatic buy... There's also the fact that the entire ensemble had golden voices! And truly beautiful music played by the ABS-CBN Philharmonic. Iba talaga ang Pinoy talent. And it's an Atlantis prod, so you know you're in for an excellent show! They run at Solaire until Oct. 27, 2019!

Now excuse me, I shall be shellshocked for a bit longer to process what I just saw. 😲 😱

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Part II:

There are many glorious upsides to watching a show by one's self. But having no one to talk to about it afterward is not one of them. Haha. Pardon the short rave, but I need to get Sweeney Todd out of my system!

***Mild spoiler alert, so please read the rest only AFTER you’ve gone and seen the show!***.
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So it took around 24 hours until what I found so disturbing about Atlantis’ SWEENEY TODD dawned on me. It wasn’t the gore. Actually, there was none. Director Bobby Garcia treated his audience like intelligent beings capable of imagining the gruesome goings-on. The lack of blood did not detract in any way from the message of the musical. So if you’re a parent and you’re wondering if the play will traumatize your child, don’t worry. It won’t, for as long as you’re there to process the show afterwards. But be aware that the themes ARE difficult to discuss: rape, incest, cannibalism, and of course, (serial) murder most foul.

(Spoiler below!)
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What I found so disturbing was the fact that there was no redemption to be had for the main character. Lea Salonga's Mrs. Lovett was, despite her ghoulish tendencies, human in her self-sacrificing love for Sweeney, and her belief in sparing the innocent. But Jett Pangan as Sweeney possessed a hatred so encompassing, it no longer made any distinction between guilty and guiltless. And it’s all sooooooo disturbing when you realize just how easy it is to make that single defining choice between damnation and salvation. Sweeney Todd is all of us.

When anger and aggressiveness are glamorized instead of dignified civility, this dark and bloodthirsty musical serves as a timely warning during dark and bloodthirsty times.