#johanna todd

[finleyforevermore]

🌟CASTING MY MUTUALS IN: SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET!🌟

Side note: I cast based on if the character reminds me of the moot, or if I can see the moot playing the character! If you get cast as a bad guy, of course I don't think of you that way! The reason I casted you is the second reason, I can just see you in that role! Cool? Cool! Now grab your razors, and let's get to cutting!

For those who paid attention to my blog, you all saw this first one coming 😅:

Finley as Sweeney Todd and Zeep (@ziipzeepzop-eez) as Mrs. Lovett

Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett in the picture. (2023 Broadway)

Reasons for...me!: Sweeney is an actual dream role of mine! Not to mention it'd be a blast to get to play a not nice guy for 2 hours >:)

Reasons for Zeep: I wholeheartedly believe Zee has the comedic chops to play Lovett, and would absolutely sell the serious moments as well. In Zee we trust 😌

Mari (@heylittlestellbird) as Johanna

Maria Bilbao as Johanna in the picture. (2023 Broadway)

Reasons for Stella: Johanna is associated with birds. Who's got "bird" in their username? Mari! I rest my case! XD /silly

Atlas (@literatureisdying) as Anthony Hope

Jordan Fisher as Anthony in the picture. (2023 Broadway)

Reasons for Atlas: Anthony's number one character trait is yearning for Johanna. Atlas' number one trait is yearning for Auden. Simple! /silly

Mikey (@mushroom-hoodie) as The Beggar Woman

Ruthie Ann Miles as The Beggar Woman in the picture. (2023 Broadway)

Reasons for Mikey: Admittedly at first I had casted you as the Beggar Woman, because one, I just couldn't turn down your offer to be included, and two, I was struggling to think of skmeone else to cast you as but the more I thought about it the more I genuinely liked it! I think you'd do a really good job in this role! ^^

Frog (@ofthefrogs) as Tobias "Toby" Ragg

Joe Locke as Toby in the picture. (2023 Broadway)

Reasons for Froggy: I mean....just look at you and then look at Toby and tell me you don't look alike.

But also! Toby is a sweetheart! Froggy is also a sweetheart! I rest my case.

Ender (@ender-outlaw) as Adolfo Pirelli

Nicholas Christopher as Pirelli in the picture. (2023 Broadway)

Reasons for Ender: While you and Pirelli really couldn't be any more different, you're already a very charming person (Pirelli is in fact not that XD) and I think you'd have a great time playing him! Also, this is Tumblr! Who gives a hoot about gender? We can have a female Pirelli if we want!! >:D

Greaseball (@gb-diesellok) as Judge Turpin

Jamie Jackson as Turpin in the picture. (2023 Broadway)

Reasons for Greaseball: Just like Ender and Pirelli, you and Turpin really couldn't be any more different XD but your voice definitely fits comfortably into all of Turpin's vocal parts! ^^

Rook (@rook-specter) as Beadle Bamford

John Rapson as Bamford in the picture. (2023 Broadway)

Reasons for Crepuscule: Just like Ender and Pirelli AND Geebs and Turpin, you and Bamford aren't very much alike either! Who woulda guessed? XD

But I think your portrayal would be absolutely delightful and very funny (very much like his portrayal in the 2023 Broadway revival funnily enough)

And last, but most certainly not least..

What's a musical without it's Ensemble? :D

From left to right, we have:

@sandsmand, Troy (@the-fag-with-the-swag), Ash (@ripash), Wolf (@electricfied-wolf), Razzle (@whistlingstarlight), Ash (@idk-what-to-make-user), Charlie (@gently-decaying-flowers), Cal (@treasure-goblin), Amor (@nuncscioquidsitamor-14), Gabi (@splendidred05), Finn (@lordcatwich), & Eli (@theelispace)!

[artis-lined]

HELL YEAH IVE BEEN WAITING 4 THIS QUESTION--

long story short, yes, it was incredible and if ur able to see it I would HIGHLY recommend getting tickets

Going into detail tho...

Let's start off w/ Jordan Fisher since he was (imo) the weakest link of the main cast. The end of Joannah was kinda anticlimactic and his vocal range wasn't the best. You could tell he didn't have opera lessons or smthn whilst the whole cast was very classical sounding, but I'm going to take a guess he just didn't have enough breath support since he sounded a bit shakey towards the end. He was stronger in the second act tho he wasnt rlly belting then. Jordan Fisher has never rlly surprised me vocally, but that's not rlly a bad thing, I just kinda wish they casted someone a bit more fit for the role.. but if that was the "worst" thing abt the show, I think it's going to be just fine.

The ensembles dancing was either hit or miss, some of it was very awkward whilst other numbers was incredible and clever. For "there was a barber and his wife" They had two dancers on a platform where they danced in the dark and it made them seem like silhouettes in the moonlight. Seeing as the show is still in previews, tho, they still have time to patch it up :).

Gaten Matarazzo was great as Toby and had nice vocals. I was also able to see him in deh and although he was more a talking role I think he is a great singer and actor. He definitely pulled off the ending as well and didn't worry about looking attractive or something while conveying to the audience that he had succumbed to the stress of his situation. Believe it or not I've seen a few shows where an actor would try to make themself look hot but also insane and its just kinda annoying tbh-- like they always sacrifice being believable over being handsome/pretty. All in all, he is a great performer and had wonderful stage presence.

Johanna was incredible. Like actually incredible. Green finch and linnet bird is one of my favorite numbers and she did it justice. I forget her actresses name unfortunately, but she was truly Johanna when she was onstage, and embodied the character beautifully.

Beedle was hateable as was the judge, but that's good because it means that they did their job well. Funny thing is that when he said his line "Deceiving slut!" A person behind me just went "oh-- 😨" and it was clear everyone was surprised.

The beggar woman was so good omg-- like she was great at switching between personalities when begging and it was so funny at times but other times it had the audience sobbing or thinking.

Mrs. Lovett was so incredibly funny it was unexpected. She's no Angela Lansbury but I think it's unfair to compare them to each other since no one is going to be as great as her. She was very lively and I never felt bored when she was onstage! Well-- I was never bored during the show but you know what I mean! Her songs were great and she has her own little twist on things. I don't know if they changed the key for "worst pies in london" bc I haven't listened to the og recording a lot but I wouldn't be surprised since every Mrs. Lovett has had a different key it seems. I really hope I get to see her in something else because she was just so fun to watch and I just loved her so much!

And finally...

JOSH FUCKING GROBAN LEZZ FUCKING GOOOO--

I love that man! I fucking love that man so much 😭!

He was absolutely incredible. My mother said she doubted he would be able to pull off an insane middle aged man but my god, he did it. It was strange to see him being so mean and malicious considering he seems so nice irl, but he was so great and I'm so glad he got to play Sweeney. And I'm even more thrilled that I got to SEE him play Sweeney. His vocals were stunning and he was incredible at acting (even if Todd himself is a rather silent and monotonous man).

So yes, all in all, it was amazing and I rlly hope I'll see it again! Here are some pictures of the stage and playbill :)

@succsessions @mystically-michaela

[tessva5728]

This is going a bit crazy on my theater insta so why not

[little-lovett]

there is SO much depth and beauty in the stories we hear in sweeney todd. a murderer who was once a doting father, so blind with hatred and anger towards the world that he couldn’t even see his own wife and daughter, staring him right in the face. a woman down on her luck and in love, trying so desperately to make a connection with a deeply broken and disturbed human. an unfortunately innocent and unknowing boy who ended up being the one who could sense the dark truth. a love at first sight that refused to die, even when torn apart by the disgusting perversion of a greedy abuser. sweeney todd is about all of these people, doing absolutely horrible things, all out of some form of love. that’s the beauty of sweeney todd. sweeney killed for a father and husband’s love. lovett baked real people with real lives into pies to maintain a shallow, lustful relationship she impossibly dreamed would bloom into true romance. turpin destroyed an innocent family because he could not contain his ‘love’ for a pretty woman and her daughter. toby slit a throat because his mother figure was all he had, and he loved her, simply and purely, as an innocent child loves a mother. their love is the purest of all in the story.

but my point is — yes, sweeney todd is about a murderer and his accomplice who cannibalizes and sells his victims. but it’s not. sweeney todd is about love. how love is even stronger and more dangerous than the deepest hate. it’s about how love can destroy people. this show is so beautifully, deeply, disgustingly human. and this dark, telling tale is somehow warped into some of the most gorgeous music to ever be written and made hilarious, lovable, and entertaining. musical theatre is truly magic. human nature is love and filth and greed. sweeney todd perfectly embodies both of these ideas.

[lunarhobbits]

so i saw sweeney todd the other day and it's consuming my thoughts

+ bonus meta meme

[can-of-w0rmz]

The Sweeney Todd brainrot is real

[ashleyslorens]

[dollarstoreartsupplies]

forever thinking about johanna shooting fogg and what it says for both her and anthony as characters

because the whole show, from the very first scene, we've been set up to see anthony and sweeney as parallels of one another; anthony is sweeney back when he was benjamin, he's full of hope, he's in love (with a woman who looks almost identical to lucy), and then he gets that love brutally ripped away by judge turpin

in 'no place like london' sweeney says: "you are young, life has been kind to you-- you will learn" and by the point in the show where anthony is going to rescue johanna we're almost inclined to agree with him

except anthony cannot shoot the gun, he's not like sweeney in that he cannot kill another person even if it was to save someone he loved. anthony is never going to become sweeney todd.

and then we realize that we've been looking at the wrong person the whole show, and it's so obvious it's laughable: johanna shoots the gun.

johanna who has been raised to be silent and obedient and perfect, johanna who, without knowing the half of it, has had everything taken away from her by judge turpin, her mother, her father, and her freedom. johanna who we've been led to believe is the lucy to anthony's sweeney.

she is fully justified in shooting fogg, no one could fault her for it, but she doesn't even hesitate.

in that moment she is her father's daughter.

that isn't to say that I think johanna is going to go on a killing spree after the musical, obviously, but it's such a fascinating scene in terms of their development: because despite it all anthony is still the same, and because of it all johanna is not

anthony is the last bit of hope left in the story, and johanna is the last bit of sweeney

[trashpidgeon48]

I can’t believe my adopted father has suddenly proposed marriage to me, this sucks so bad i need to [remembers suicide jokes only worsen my mental health] marry Anthony Sunday.

[jesperr-fahey]

something about. the survivors in sweeney todd. about how it's the children. it's anthony and johanna and toby. the adults are parents and tormenters for these three, and at the end of the show, they're gone.

it's up to you now, kids.

you, anthony, do you realize what todd did? the man you trusted as much as your own limbs, the man who's life you saved. he's gone, now, and he was a killer all along, but he killed the judge before he went. and the judge would've killed you. so where do you go from here? who do you trust now? can you build that beautiful life with the woman you loved?

you, johanna, do you know what happened to your family? your mother, insane, begging, dead. your father, banished, killing, dead. the man who ruined them both, who tried to ruin you, dead. was he right, to put you in that place, with the mumbling and raving mad? the bird is free, but will she ever sing again?

you, toby, do you know what you've done? the razor in your hand, the blood on the floor. the man who gave you a job, murdered and shoved into a crate, cooked and served. the woman you swore to protect, thrown away and burnt like waste. the man who did it, the demon you warned her against, dead at your hand. can you see it? can you realize it? who's the demon now?

[nigft]

my cage has many rooms, damask and dark

[artis-lined]

IM SEEOMG SWEENEY TODD TODAY OMG IM SCREAMING W/O THE S--/HJ

[iambecomeahamburger]

Sweeney Todd (2023) + Onion headlines

[come-see-our-show]

anthony compares johanna to a bird because she’s beautiful and melodic and mesmerizing not realizing she’s also a bird because she’s twitchy and flighty and anxiety-ridden

[atimburtonfan]

[ashleyslorens]

“The red on my nails is the result of Johanna's self harm that she puts herself through to kind of, you know, take her mind away from all the turmoil in her life, with, you know, being captive by Judge Turpin and that awful reality that she has. Me and Tommy Kail just kinda came together and thought this would be an interesting and gruesome little easter egg for Johanna.” - Maria Bilbao