SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
(1977)
“Sweeney Todd” was the first of our two major productions for school year 1977-78. This four act Brian Burton adaptation of a Victorian original, proved a worthy successor in the thrills department to our recent production of “Count Dracula”. This was another “buckets of blood” production that thrilled audiences with its scary moments but amused them with its “black humour”. The ambitious production required some interesting special effects, ten different settings and was a play that also required music. Played in a true Victorian melodrama spirit, it was a challenging but fun show to do.
The artwork featured in the program for this show was by Joan McAslan, Mike McBride, and Roger David Gilman. Roger, who later went on to work for Marvel Comics, provided program cover designs and artwork for a number of other SSHS Drama Club productions.
One night at rehearsal, we were going to practice a scene in which one actor “shot” another actor. We decided to try out and our new blank gun and our first batch of stage blood made from a new “recipe”. The effect worked very well...the gunshot fired and the stage blood dutifully ran down the wall of the set. This brought forth several screams from watching cast and crew as someone had forgotten to tell them of the upcoming effect to be used in the scene...they really thought our actor had been shot...oh well, at least we knew the trick was effective and would have the desired impact on the unsuspecting audience.
