#Jamie Jackson

[demonbarbers]

random pictures of the sweeney todd cast

[captainshazamerica]

Final performance of Aaron and Jamie's Pretty Women in Sweeney Todd on Broadway, May 5th 2024!

Requested by @s4intjust !

[iambecomeahamburger]

[simperoniandcheese]

shitpost number 4?

[thesongofpurplesummer]

Who will be playing the role of Tobias in Sweeney Todd as Gaten Matarazzo’s replacement? Wrong answers only

[sixty-silver-wishes]

My thoughts on Broadway's "Sweeney Todd"

A few days ago, my friend and I saw Sweeney Todd on Broadway, and I have a lot of thoughts about the production. I've been obsessed with this musical for years and have seen quite a few performances, so here's what I thought of this one.

Right away, it was amazing. The lighting added a lot to this production, and while the way the set was constructed was a bit unconventional (usually, there's a separate area of the stage sectioned off for the pie shop so two scenes can happen at once, but in this one, they had a bridge over the stage that some scenes took place on), I thought it was still effective. The orchestral arrangement was an interesting change (and even sounded like Shostakovich or Weill at times!), although I was disappointed to not hear the iconic factory whistle in the opening.

So, the acting. I'll go through each character/actor and what I thought of their performance, and how it impacted the overall show. "Sweeney Todd" is a play where every single action or bit of dialogue is important and culminates towards the conclusion, and so the way the characters are interpreted often offers a different angle on the play as a whole.

Josh Groban did an excellent job as Sweeney Todd, and I really appreciated that, since his voice is very melodic, he didn't try to replicate Len Cairou or George Hearn. Sweeney is a very complex character, and I've noticed that most actors who play him take on a different angle of his personality to focus on. Cairou focuses on the pensive, methodical side of the character, Hearn's Sweeney emphasizes madness and rage, and while I'm not a huge fan of Johnny Depp's performance in the movie adaptation, his Sweeney Todd focuses more on his melancholy side. Groban's Sweeney, by contrast, is sentimental. We see him express rage and impatience, two core aspects of Sweeney Todd, but where he's most effective are numbers like the "Johanna" reprise and "No Place Like London/The Barber and his Wife." Sentimentality isn't an emotion typically associated with the character of Sweeney Todd, but Groban's performance hammered in how critical it is to his character. After all, Sweeney Todd is haunted and motivated by his past- his love for his wife and daughter, and his hatred of the judge who tore them from him. This even allows for moments of tenderness- for example, during the "Johanna" reprise, Sweeney spares a man who comes into his barber shop, because he came with his wife. While this could be explained by him not wanting any witnesses, Groban's performance made this moment (forgive the pun) surprisingly cutting. Sweeney is hoping to be reunited with his daughter and is reminiscing about Lucy, and so the man who earlier declared that "we all deserve to die" is letting a young couple live. Groban's "Epiphany," probably the moment I examine the most when watching an actor play Sweeney Todd, was stunning. The insanity and anger wasn't as pronounced as Hearn's, perhaps, but with the way Groban played the character, it didn't need to be. His rage is mainly driven by grief more than madness, and it showed through his angular movements, the near-desperation mixed with fury during the "you, sir" sequence where he breaks the fourth wall, and of course, his emotional performance during the "and I'll never see Johanna"/"and my Lucy lies in ashes" sequences, which require a sudden, yet convincing, emotional shift that he pulled off masterfully.

Jeanna De Waal's Lovett was just plain fun. While I was curious to see how Annaleigh Ashford would have played her, De Waal pulled off a youthful Mrs. Lovett in a hilarious, flirty way. Angela Lansbury was perhaps the most iconic Lovett (although LuPone's performance was stunning as well), and was particularly notable for her dark comedy through the juxtaposition of being a matronly pie shop owner and an accomplice to murder and cannibalism. I feel like the "matronly" aspect of Mrs. Lovett is probably one of the most important facets of her character, which is why I tend to prefer performances by older actresses as Lovett to younger ones, but De Waal, like Groban, gave a unique performance, in her case using her youth to her advantage. Her Lovett was constantly flirting with Todd, which created some hilarious juxtaposition between their personalities, and she added a lot of energy to her comedic lines, especially during "A Little Priest," where her chemistry with Groban was a blast to watch. I do wish she had a bit more chemistry with Gaten Matrazzo as Toby, which would have made the ending scene hit harder emotionally, and her sinister side explored further. De Waal focused mostly on the comedy aspect of Mrs. Lovett, who at her core is a ruthless manipulator, so I understand she's an incredibly difficult character to pull off when balancing those two elements. Nonetheless, I thought her acting was really enjoyable to watch, although she was more effective in comedic scenes than dramatic ones.

I don't have a ton to say about Jordan Fisher's portrayal of Anthony; I liked his performance overall, but I felt he came across as slightly too mature, although maybe this came down to his voice. Anthony is a very idealistic and naïve character, meant to contrast with the cutthroat, conniving world of "Sweeney Todd." I didn't think I really got this with Fisher as much as with some other performances I've seen, but the maturity he gave to the character did pose an interesting angle in his scenes with Todd, as Groban's sentimentality meant an almost paternal dynamic between Todd and Anthony. This isn't an angle I see a lot, but it was definitely one I thought was really fascinating. His chemistry with Maria Bilbao as Johanna was good, and I felt he provided some grounding to her more neurotic portrayal.

I loved Bilbao's Johanna. Technical skill of singing "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" aside (which she nailed), I feel like a lot of productions miss the point of this number. "Green Finch" is to introduce Johanna and her trapped circumstances, yes, but I see too many productions that simply have it performed as a sad, pretty, virtuosic number, without saying too much about who Johanna is as a character, or the effects the circumstances she sings about have had on her. Betsy Joslyn's was unique in that she attempts to seem somewhat frazzled while singing it, but her purposefully-crossed eyes and overexaggerated vibrato risk coming across more as caricature than a sincere performance. Bilbao, however, is heartbreaking. Her Johanna is fighting to keep her wits together, evidently broken by living with an abusive father figure, and when she sings "teach me to be more adaptive," it almost seems like a prayer. (This also has the effect of making the following number, "Ah, Miss," darkly hilarious, as it implies Anthony was watching this random girl having a mental breakdown and immediately decided he was in love with her.) Her blocking was restricted and tense, almost making her look like a caged bird, and her facial expressions and gestures were cautious and restrained, bringing to mind a scared animal. This really brought home the essence of Johanna's character- while she's often played as a classic ingenue, Johanna is, in fact, a subversion of the archetype- a realistic portrayal of the mental strain a young girl locked away with a man like Turpin and kept from seeing the outside world would actually face. I honestly really like Johanna as a character because there's a lot more depth to her than is often portrayed, so it was really refreshing to see Bilbao apply this level of nuance to her.

Matrazzo's Toby was, of course, excellent. Toby is probably the character with the most variation across productions, as he can be portrayed as anywhere between a child to a young adult. Matrazzo shone particularly in two scenes- "Not While I'm Around" and the final monologue. Like "Green Finch," "Not While I'm Around" is a number that's frequently misinterpreted, with some performances portraying it as simply as an example of Toby's affection for and devotion to Mrs. Lovett. "Not While I'm Around," despite its lyrics, is not a sweet, tender number. In context, it's terrifying, and luckily, Matrazzo portrays this. His Toby is desperate, even frustrated. While it's not particularly dwelled on in the play, Toby has been mistreated by Pirelli, and so latches onto Mrs. Lovett, who he sees as a genuinely nurturing protective figure. However, not only is Lovett turning people into meat pies, she has no real love for Toby and is primarily focused on manipulating Todd, who, in turn, is also trying to use her for his own gain. However, from Toby's perspective, he's been abused, sees signs of abuse in Todd, and wants to prevent Mrs. Lovett, whom he genuinely loves, from meeting the same fate. Matrazzo's desperation puts this context largely into focus, adding to the suspense of the number. And in the final monologue, I got chills from the way he vacillated between a manic sing-songy tone and complete numbness, sometimes even normalcy. I've seen many productions where Toby keeps the "insane" tone throughout the monologue, but Matrazzo doesn't do that. When he says "you know, you shouldn't harm anyone," it's eerily straightforward and calm.

John Rapson (Beadle Bamford), Nicholas Christopher (Pirelli), and Ruthie Ann Miles (Lucy) were all fun to watch; I enjoyed how Rapson kept the character quirk of rolling his "R's," which not all Beadle Bamford actors do. His falsetto range was incredible, and his performance during "Parlor Songs" was both amusing and suspenseful. Christopher's Pirelli was good, but I felt he didn't place as much over-exaggeration in his lines as I would have liked to see, although I really enjoyed his facial expressions. And Miles' Lucy was absolutely haunting; I've seen a few productions where "Poor Thing" is portrayed through interpretive dance, and thought she especially stood out here, as her movements and blocking added a lot to her character.

Finally, Jamie Jackson as Judge Turpin was repulsive in the best possible way. His voice and delivery had me on edge, and I also couldn't get it out of my head that his facial expressions reminded me of Werner Krauss in "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," which added a whole extra layer of creepiness. His Turpin felt incredibly realistic, like that creepy uncle or skeevy politician you always read about in the news, although he was surprisingly effective with comedic lines, especially the way he enthusiastically delivered the line "ah yes, women!" in "Pretty Women." He brought an air of discomfort to the stage every time he was on it, and the suspense in every scene between him and Groban was extremely palpable.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Diverge (2016)

Diverge will make you wish you had a time machine so you can either warn yourself not to watch it or travel into the future to when the film is over, which might be something like 3 hours? Oh, wait. it only clocks in at 85 minutes. It only FEELS like it lasts half a day because the film is so boring.

In a post-apocalyptic world, a strange disease has wiped out most of humanity. Chris Towne (Ivan Sandomire) is sent back in time by a scientist (Jamie Jackson as Dimitri Tarkov) to save his wife and in the process, all of humankind.

Written, directed and edited by James Morrison (in his directorial debut), the film sort of plays out like a bargain-bin 12 Monkeys. We begin with Chris and his wife Anna (Erin Cunningham) wandering through a seemingly endless salt flat. The implication is that the earth has dried up… but wait. A biological disease that kills people (and cows) caused the apocalypse, not some heat wave. What’s going on? Anyway, soon after, Anna dies and Chris is sent back in time against his will. Of all the people who might’ve survived the end of the world, one is the inventor of a time machine and the other is the person who unwillingly fumbled the cure that could’ve prevented this whole thing from happening? What are the odds? I know, I know. The plot’s got to happen somehow but we’re talking the first fifteen minutes of the film and already, things are looking wobbly. Still, I won't dock points for that.

Plot holes and contrivances are not the film’s downfall. The biggest sin Diverge commits is the biggest sin any movie can commit: it’s boring. Chris is not an interesting protagonist. All he does is meekly wander around, trying his best to accomplish his mission without ever stressing out or even running. The most enthusiasm he shows is when he catches a glimpse of his wife. The past version of the character is similarly dull. As for the film’s villain, he's wholly unnecessary and cut from the same cloth as Umbrella Corp. but way less fun. It isn’t uncommon for science-fiction stories to be a little light on the character development; they’re often about the plot rather than the characters. The thing is that Diverge has such a basic plot there’s just nothing for you to latch onto. Yes, Chris is going back in time to save the world. We’ve seen that before. So. Many. Times. It’s not enough but this film acts as if it is.

You’ll be so desperate for some substance you’ll find yourself rewriting the movie. What if future Chris wanted to kill and replace his younger version because now, he’s matured and become a better person? If that sounds wild, it wouldn’t be unprecedented in this film. At one point, Dimitri travels back in time so he can kill his past self and take his place. “Woah! Spoiler alert!” you might say but I disagree because this event doesn’t affect Chris or the plot in any way whatsoever.

Although I struggled to stay awake during Diverge (a terrible title by the way), I won’t call it wholly devoid of merit. As a first film, it’s well-shot and makes pretty good use of its (surely) minuscule budget. Sometimes, a bad movie proves the people in charge are complete hacks. Though Diverge is unimaginative, unengaging and unmemorable, this is not one of those cases. (July 29, 2022)

[fairrryprose]

[BOOK TOUR] THE SPARROW AND THE OAK TREE // JAMIE JACKSON

Today, I'm pleased to be a host on the tour for THE SPARROW AND THE OAK TREE by JAMIE JACKSON, hosted by ESCAPIST BOOK TOURS! This is an adult fantasy romance, with magic, romance (heavy on the romance!), a spirited horse, and... zombies? Check out my review for the book below, as well as a link to find other stops on the tour for more exciting content!

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Book Blurb:

Unicorns don't exist, and dragons aren't real, but the Fae are. And they are to be feared.

Or so the tales say.

As the sole sorceress within the Lion King's court and kingdom, Isolde is valued for her power, provided she fulfills the king's commands.

Her task? Deal with a child who has emerged from a forest no one has returned from in over one hundred years. As Isolde works to fulfill her order, accompanied by her nameless guardian, she'll encounter a creature she's only heard of through myth and legend...

When he kidnaps her.

See Also: 

(This is our attempt at a bit of fun. We ask our authors to come up with a few short, clever, possibly pop culture laden, descriptions of their books just to give a little taste of what’s to come for readers.)

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies Goes Medieval

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Book Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sparrow-Oak-Tree-Jamie-Jackson-ebook/dp/B0BM8BR346/ 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sparrow-and-the-oak-tree-jamie-jackson/1142798365 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63347302-the-sparrow-and-the-oak-tree

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My review:

3.5/5 stars

This book has a very cozy cast of characters, mainly revolving around 3 (4 if you count the horse named Horse!) -- Isolde ("Sparrow"), our Sorceress; Tristan ("Oak"), our Fae; and Bear, Isolde's guardian with a mysterious past with the Fae.

As a fantasy romance, it leans more heavily towards romance, where the love story between Tristan and Isolde is the crux of it and unfolds like a sweet (and tragic) whirlwind; it deviates from the Celtic legend and reminds me much more of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The story is fast, with emphasis on developing the romance, and I felt this made the other characters and other plot elements fade into the background. For instance, we have Bear, who has had dealings with the Fae before, and these are alluded to, yet it's not too deeply delved into, which is a shame as I thought it could have added more to his characterization, to endear him as a solid character to us and not someone who's just comic relief-ish/the more solemn and serious character who keeps everyone on track and fixated on their goals. He's a more realistic and grounded character, with depth to be uncovered, while Tristan and Isolde are more reminiscent of dreamers in love.

There's also magic, deals with the Fae -- as one would probably expect from a Fae story -- and, in a turn of events, zombies. I thought that the action could've been more detailed/intense and with more worldbuilding, but the romance was really well-developed that what occurred at the end did make my jaw drop.

If you're looking for a bittersweet love story with hints of magic and action, this is the book for you!

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Book Information:

The Sparrow and the Oak Tree by Jamie Jackson

Series: N/A, Standalone

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Intended Age Group: Adult

Pages: 385

Published: February 14th, 2023

Publisher: Self Published

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Content/Trigger Warnings:

Shown on Page (things clearly told to the reader): 

Blood and gore

Harsh language

Sex and sexual situations

Alluded to (things only mentioned in passing or hinted at):

Sexual assault

Possible animal harm (the horse is unharmed)

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Author Bio & Information:

Jamie writes books with words in them. She lives in Charlotte NC with her husband, three feral children and two badly behaved dogs.

Find her at:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VillainLeaning

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/villainleaning/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@villainleaning Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/villainleaning

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Check out other stops on the tour below for more exciting content!

[webyspeaks]

I saw sweeney todd on broadway yesterday and while i got my playbill signed Jamie Jackson (judge turpin) said “look at this wild womans hair” ive been screaming ever since (my hairs green)

[horrorwomensource]

Nathalie Emmanuel as Evie Jackson • The Invitation (2022) dir. Jessica M. Thompson

[i-like-media]

That's how it went, right

[iambecomeahamburger]

my masterpiece:

[sufroyo]

next stop burnout city

[headcanonsandmore]

Doctor Who companions summarised in ten words or less (classic edition)

Susan Foreman: Gallifreyan teenager abandoned on post-apocolyptic earth because love.

Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright: Married schoolteachers educate grumpy alien about morality.

Vicki Pallister: New granddaughter acquired!

Steven Taylor: Future Blue Peter presenter enjoys double act with adoptive sisters.

Katarina: She's lovely- oh, wait, now she's dead.

Sara Kingdom: She's cool- oh, wait, now she's dead.

Dodo Chaplet: Northerner loses accent due to BBC classism, more at ten.

Ben Jackson and Polly Wright: Opposites attract couple near-immediately overshadowed by new companion.

Jamie McCrimmon: Himbo highlander as gay as sixties television will allow.

Victoria Waterfield: Nineteenth century teenager has worst week of her life.

Zoe Heriot: Master martial artist knows one (1) throw.

Liz Shaw: Scientist is too competent for this nonsense.

Jo Grant: Cinnimon roll has no self-preservation instinct.

Sarah-Jane Smith: Feminist journalist surrounded by idiotic military men.

Harry Sullivan: Otherwise-sensible medical professional becomes world's biggest imbecile.

Leela of the Sevateem: Knife lady kicks ass, takes names.

K9: Robotic dog malfunctions for ninety minutes.

Romana: Sheltered Gallifreyan has surprisingly good fashion.

Adric: Math kid go boom!

Tegan Jovanka and Nyssa Of Traken: Hypercompetent space girlfriends have unintentional homoerotic subtext.

Vislor Turlough: Universes most incompetent assassin accidentally becomes friends with intended target.

Kamelion: BBC producer gets tricked into buying cursed prop.

Peri Brown: Dubiously-accented botanist struggles with sexism and BBC wardrobe department.

Mel Bush: Health nut weaponises volume of scream.

Ace McShane: Awesome butch bisexual pyromaniac hits things with baseball bat.

[silena-laney-laney]

[kdoxkeic]

Long overdue… Irish women/men have a chokehold on me