Jams Member Username: Jams
Post Number: 4666 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, February 01, 2007 - 8:28 pm: | |
Opens Feb 2 @ 8pm at The Abreact, 442 East Lafayette (over Loco & Bouzouki), Detroit 313-485-0217. If you've never caught a performance in this combination loft/Black Box Theatre, take advantage of this run. Donation only. Beer in the kitchen or bring your own. Seats about 40 on the risers with couches, easy chairs, and other unmatched seats so reserve a seat at reservations@theabreact.com or call 313.485.0217. Info: www.theabreact.com and www.myspace.com/sweeneytoddthe demonbarber Hang out in the kitchen or the living room before or after, chat and make some new friends and watch some of the most intriguing theatre in a most intriguing venue. Note to Gannon, a few of our favorite faces are in this cast including Molly from Cancer |
Jams Member Username: Jams
Post Number: 4672 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Friday, February 02, 2007 - 9:22 am: | |
From the Freep today (2/2/07}:
quote:'Sweeney Todd' Today may be Groundhog Day, but ground-up people are on the menu in "Sweeney Todd," Stephen Sondheim's darkly humorous musical. It opens tonight at the Abreact, Detroit's most unusual theater. What's unusual about the Abreact is that it never charges admission. Donations are more than welcome. The Abreact has done musicals before -- an original musical version of the movie "Night of the Living Dead" and the wholly original "Cancer! The Musical" -- but never anything quite as mainstream as "Sweeney Todd," which had two runs on Broadway. For Abreact's audience, "it'll be something they haven't seen at our place," says artistic director Chad Kushuba. "It does have a touch of the absurd and macabre. We like to be a little spooky at times." Thomas Hoagland, an Abreact founder now living in New York, has returned to direct "Sweeney." Accompaniment is on keyboards and percussion played by musical director Michael Fiedler. Frank Sawa as Sweeney Todd and Dawn Slaski as Mrs. Lovett, the maker of meat pies whose secret ingredient is you-know-what, head a cast of 13. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=/20070202/ENT 05/702020391/1035 |
Gannon Member Username: Gannon
Post Number: 8202 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Friday, February 02, 2007 - 10:19 am: | |
Hoagland and I go back to the summer of NINTH grade...we met at a Dearborn jobs program and were fast friends until senior year. I am STILL amazed that this is his baby...after going there for a few years before discovering that. What a small world. He's an absolute maniac genius who should NEVER be out of sight for an instant! heh. Cheers, see y'all tonight. |
Jams Member Username: Jams
Post Number: 4690 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 2:06 am: | |
Saw it tonight, while some of the solo vocals in the first act were a bit off (probably opening night jitters), the confidence level of the cast in the 2nd act was readily apparent. Special kudos to; Molly McHahon as Tobias, pulled together the plot as well, she pulled off the playing of a young boy brilliantly. Linda Rabin Hammell as the Beggar Woman just amazed me with her facial expressions and bearing of a street person who knows too much. I apologize to the rest of the cast for not naming you personally but much applause for your performance. I'll be back. Oh yeah, I'll give a bit of credit to Phil Bolden for his portrayal of a lackey. Great job everyone involved. (Message edited by JamS on February 03, 2007) |
Chitaku Member Username: Chitaku
Post Number: 1096 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 2:19 am: | |
where the hell is this? I live above loco and bozouki |
Ptero Member Username: Ptero
Post Number: 71 Registered: 12-2005
| Posted on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 7:42 am: | |
Where is this: the door is in the middle of the block and has the Abreact logo in red on it. Open the door and go up a steep run of steps and there it is...
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Gannon Member Username: Gannon
Post Number: 8239 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 12:25 pm: | |
Chitaku, Then you've heard them practise...heh. I could only catch the first half tonight, bozo'd up my schedule promising to drive some rabid Redwings fans around after the game...all I have to say is WOW. BIGGEST performance EVER for this space, as far as I know, and also by far the most complicated performance. Abreact is proving to be one of the area's important venues for live performance...I highly recommend anyone and everyone taking a few hours and enjoying the energies of a few dozen of Detroit's most talented as they perform their hearts out through this curiously entertaining horrible story line. Cheers! |
Jams Member Username: Jams
Post Number: 4724 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, February 08, 2007 - 6:16 pm: | |
Bump! Go see it! |
Gannon Member Username: Gannon
Post Number: 8276 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Thursday, February 08, 2007 - 11:22 pm: | |
Here's what the Freep's Martin Kohn had to say about it. That damn opening has been haunting me all week...cannot wait until tomorrow night, so I can see how the second half shapes up. |
Jams Member Username: Jams
Post Number: 4732 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, February 08, 2007 - 11:50 pm: | |
Should we stop at Ackroyd's Scottish Bakery and pick up some "pork pies" for the cast prior to the performance? |
Gannon Member Username: Gannon
Post Number: 8280 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Friday, February 09, 2007 - 1:33 pm: | |
My bet is they all turn vegetarian for a while. |
Gannon Member Username: Gannon
Post Number: 8299 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2007 - 2:41 pm: | |
OK, caught the second act Friday...this troupe constantly amazes me. Anyone curious should check them out. Consistently some of the best entertainment in town in a very low-key environment. |
Ptero Member Username: Ptero
Post Number: 86 Registered: 12-2005
| Posted on Monday, February 12, 2007 - 10:41 am: | |
Unfortunately, their lead took ill Saturday and the Saturday and Sunday performances were cancelled. Sounds like he is ok, but it impacted the weekend. I have friends in the cast and was going to see it as I had a highly unusual Saturday eve available. They are talking about adding a show next Sunday and adding a weekend after that if they can keep the cast together, pending other conflicts... (Message edited by ptero on February 12, 2007) |
Gannon Member Username: Gannon
Post Number: 8333 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Monday, February 12, 2007 - 12:46 pm: | |
If it the same flu I have now, God help him. I feel like I've been sleeping in a trash compactor. |