Tryouts took place back in mid-December. Rehearsals began shortly after the new year and have been going on most evenings after school and weekends since. Now, with a cast, crew and pit orchestra of nearly 120 students involved, Suffern High School’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s classic thriller, Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, is nearly ready to make its public debut. But first, cast and crew go on a day-long, accelerated road show all day Monday as part of the Spring Musical’s music education outreach.
Suffern High students perform Sweeney Todd this week, a musical set in 19th century London that tells the story of Benjamin Barker, alias Sweeney Todd, and includes drama, plenty of sharp humor, murder, meat pies, miracle elixir, ballads, dancing, and a lot of difficult singing.
“We start here early in the morning,” said Christina Defeo, the energetic English teacher who directs the play. “We pack up the entire cast, pit and crew, get them ready to go on buses, and are on the move from 7:30 in the morning until we come back to school at 2 p.m.”
The traveling musical show visits Suffern Middle School and Viola, R.P. Connor and Cherry Lane Elementary Schools today in a whirlwind of performance for the Spring Musical’s District Tour. “It’s an all day event,” said Defeo. “We’re literally a musical troupe. The kids love it because they see all their old teachers, their music teachers. The district tour is important because it’s a great way for us to display some of the music education and show what students are able to work towards. Because they learn it in elementary schools; they’re the ones that kind of spot the talent and feed the talent.”
The District Tour and all the past months’ preparation comes to a head this Thursday, March 22, when the show opens at Suffern High School. If the energy level of rehearsals are any indication, the SHS production of Sweeney Todd promises to be an excellent night of entertainment. Defeo’s previous productions have been bold and brimming with standout performances. Last year, Joe Keller, the original Phantom for New York’s production, showed up at one of SHS’s performances of its well-received Phantom of the Opera and took time to greet and meet.
“We did Les Miserables the year before that,” said Defeo, “so we’re used to hard shows. We have that level of talent, especially with the pit orchestra under Mr. McCarter’s conduction — it’s one of those things where we’re able to do because of him.”
Suffern High School has developed an outstanding music and performance curriculum. Daniel McCarter has had a big hand in the school’s success. McCarter teaches Symphony Orchestra, directs the Chamber Orchestra, and serves as Music and Technical Director of the Spring Musical, serving as the silent leader that steers the whole musical production.
“What makes our show so successful is that it’s a real team effort,” said Defeo. “You have a lot of collaboration between me and Mr. McCarter. He’s the music director, but also the tech director, so he does all the lighting design and all the sound. Really, anything special effects — that’s him. He designed and built the barber chair.”
Pit orchestra direction is key for a highly difficult musical score such as Sweeney Todd, where each song seems to have its own signature key and time change that burden even the best. McCarter essentially cues the cast to keep proper pacing.
“The counting is crazy,” said cast lead David Stedge about the score in a recent interview with Peter Kramer, theater writer for LoHud. “I’m always watching (conductor Dan) McCarter to keep up. He’s the man.” Stedge actually plays the man, the murderous Sweeney Todd in this year’s production. The seasoned senior understudied the Phantom last year as a junior.
The entire cast handles the notoriously difficult leads with attitude. Sondheim is not for the feint of heart, for both performers and audience. But it is great theater.
The lead roles are filled by mostly seniors, nearly all of whom are National Honor Society members and include Jessica Sofen (Begger Woman), Julia Castle (Mrs. Lovett), Dylan Finley (The Beadle), Jacob Sandler (Judge Turpin), Daniar Kadyrkulov (Adolpho Pirelli), Kristen Tenore (Jonas Fogg), Victoria Trifiletti (Johanna Barker), Benjamin Stevens (Anthony Hope), and Daniela Feingold (Tobias), who was recently accepted as an early admission into Harvard.
Sharyn Salerno choreographs the 14 featured dancers for the production, and R.P. Connor music teacher Alison Meyer is vocal director. Adriana Gheta and Brian Murray worked sets while English teacher Kathy Farrow produced the show.
“Ms. Salerno, she’s phenomenal,” said Defeo of the choreography. “What she gets the kids to do is brilliant. Alison Meyer teaches the kids the vocals, sort of breaks down the songs and turns them over to Mr. McCarter and the pit. It’s very much a collaborative effort, really, we all work very very well together. We’re all very excited. We get closer and closer to selling out every year.”
Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street starts performances at Suffern High School Auditorium Thursday, March 22 @ 7 p.m. and continues its run Friday, March 23 @ 7 p.m., with a matinee performance Saturday, March 24 @ 1 p.m. (leads filled by understudies), and final performance Saturday night @ 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors.
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Suffern Sings Sondheim — Auditions were finished last week and the final cast is complete, with David Stedge set to play the Demon Barber Sweeney Todd and Julia Castle playing Mrs. Lovett. A nice twist in casting has Daniela Feingold taking on the role of young Tobias Ragg.
Sing For Your Supper — The sounds of holiday singing were heard throughout the day Sunday at the Waterwheel Restaurant and Cafe in Tallman as carolers and students sang for their supper, entertaining friends and family.
