Dispatches from Home. Sweeney Todd!

Since first treading the boards forty-nine years ago, I’ve learned that the best theater is theater that creates magic. And magic was certainly created at yesterday’s Sunday Matinee for Center Stage’s “Sweeney Todd.” The unique blend of Sondheim’s haunting, discordant music, the evocative sets, and the cast’s period costumes magically transported the audience back to the grungy, tattered lanes of Victorian London. Watching so many dear friends on stage, acting their hearts out, brought tears to my old eyes. It was an honor to watch you perform! Hats off to the cast and crew of this entertaining show!

Sitting in the darkened theater, I momentarily closed my eyes and was whisked away to another darkened theater—Biloxi’s Saenger Theater. The year was 1991, and the curtain was about to rise on KNS’s production of “Sweeney Todd.” It was magical, too! I was privileged to tread the boards with a cornucopia of Coastal talent, many of which have been called Home. Watching Center Stage’s production conjured many ghosts from the past. Thankfully, one of the cast members from the KNS show recreated her masterful performance as Mrs. Lovett. Thank you, Terese Gargiulo Evans!

If you missed seeing “Sweeney Todd,” you have three additional chances: August 2-4. Due to sold-out audiences, the show has been extended, so don’t miss it. Let me once again thank everyone involved in this production for an afternoon filled with magic and memories! Big hug, y’all!