Notes on a play...

Hiya!
So, as many of you know, Allie and I went to a performance of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street last Friday. We were both fans of the movie and the music, so we decided to scrounge around some fundage and we went.
And here's how it went...
The basic premise of the play is that there's a guy who (you assume) breaks out of prison, where's he been wrongfully held for awhile, like 15 or 16 years. Anyway, he gets out, finds out that his wife is has been poisoned and his daughter's being held by the guy that threw our hero into prison, the evil judge. Our "hero", Benjamin Barker, takes on the name Sweeney Todd and, with a nutsy baker woman named Mrs. Lovett, decides to take his revenge on not just the judge, but anyone who allowed his wife's "murder" and his daughter's abduction to happen... by opening up a barber shop (his former trade) and slitting his customer's throats. Sounds gory, right?
Well, when we got there and opened up a program, we were surprised to find that the cast was their own orchester. You heard me... the cast (the nine people on the stage acting) also played instruments, providing the soundtrack for their own music. Sounds confusing, right? It gets better... Besides playing their own music, they also provided their own staging assistance (i.e. moving props, rearranging the set, etc). It was alot. And, while all this may sound a little distracting (i.e. Sweeney plays the guitar and the trumpet, Mrs. Lovett plays the tuba and a xylophone), it really wasn't. The cast worked so well together that everything was seemless and seemed totally natural. The set was only one setup, and the props were few, but what they used, they used for multiple music numbers and by just changing or turning a piece of it, would change its use or purpose.
Overall, kindof an amazing experience. Definately minimalist and certainly not something everybody would appreciate. But probably one of the better musicals I've been to. Certainly one of the most interesting musicals I've ever been to, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Next Saturday, Allie and I are driving to Atlanta, GA to spend the night and go to see the musical Wicked, something we've wanted to see for a long time, so that should be fun... I hope so.
I'll update with notes about that after we get back!
Later all!
Whitney