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#sondheim really gets it
winepresswrath · 8 months
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The thing about Crowley is that he already tried fighting* the system and the end result was his fellow rebels making a new system suspiciously similar to the old system with torture pits and demotivational posters in place of the aggressive hypocrisy and kardashiancore interior decorating. And then after that he decided to fight the apocalypse and the apocalypse thwarted itself with minimal involvement required from him. His biggest contribution was fucking up a simple handoff completely accidentally. His apparent belief that it'll all sort itself out without him or it won't and either way his involvement will be largely irrelevant to everyone but himself is pretty well founded. I'm sure by the end of season three he'll have learned a valuable lesson about how admitting that you want to make positive contributions to the world is something you can do on your own terms and not simply an exercise in opening yourself up to god's preordained judgement and hell's torture pits and but he's old and tired and has probably never been kissed let him have a very specific vision for his retirement.
*ok his version of fighting was probably just asking a lot of very annoying questions and then semi-accidentally joining a rebellion.
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idkaguyorsomething · 3 months
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this is the anybodys/chino dynamic to me
(IMAGE ID: three images. The first one is two sketches of people standing side by side. The first person is glaring and has their arms folded while being labeled “actual sunshine” and the second person is smiling brightly enough that a halo is emanating from their head while being labeled “dangerous”. The second image is of Anybodys from West Side Story 2021. The third image is of Chino from West Side Story 2021)
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callixton · 16 hours
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at intermission. having SO many thoughts. i think the staging and the scenic are genuinely brilliant. i think there are some really good choices being made by the actors and the comedy is clean as hell. i also think that it’s missing most of what makes company compelling to me and the core message Does feel misogynistic in this context but also not condemnably so bc they make it work well with bobbie’s characterization she just. should have so much more to her. i think my overall opinion is that this is a Very successful execution of what sondheim and furth wanted company to be. unfortunately i’ve always thought they were wrong about it and didn’t understand their own show
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heyclickadee · 6 months
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Me, listening to the new(ish) Broadway cast recording of Sweeney Todd with Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford in honor of spooky season and getting to “Epiphany”: Okay. Okaaay. This is actually working.
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bloodyke · 2 years
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listening to the new 2022 into the woods cast recording trying to figure out if im just being an unjustified hater or if its just not that good
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andrewlloydwebber · 2 years
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don't you love farc
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furrymintysong · 7 months
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Thinking a lot about musical narratives that start and end with the same lyrics but could be interpreted differently/have changed meanings because of everything that happened in between. My brain is really loving that rn
Specifically thinking about Taylor Swift's The Archer and Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim.
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The Archer
The song starts and ends with the lyrics "Combat, I'm ready for combat". And to me, when it's sung in the beginning, it gives the feeling of some kind of anxious defensiveness. It's followed by "I say I don't want that, but what if I do". The protagonist of this song sounds as if they are in a hostile environment where they are tired of things going badly and now want to fight back. The song further implies that the protagonist has hurt others as well as getting hurt. I guess there's a bit of anger/frustration and self-loathing in there too. It gives the vibe of "me against the world".
However, when it's sung again at the end after going through the song and reaching the lyrics "you can stay", it feels more confident. Instead of being in a defensive position, it's more of a "I can bravely face the world now that you're by my side." It feels like a more assured readiness compared to the first time those lyrics were sung.
(I think it's also interesting how the themes of this song can connect with Daylight, especially the lyrics "threw out our cloaks and our daggers because it's morning now, it's brighter now." Those lyrics tell that the characters of the song were being defensive under the night (like they were ready for combat), but now they feel more at ease after finding daylight/each other. It's brighter now so they don't have to fear facing the world as much as before.) AGHHH
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Into the Woods
The musical starts with "Once upon a time… / I wish!" then ends with "And happy ever after! / I wish!" That first "I wish" is filled with so much classic fairytale hopeful yearning, but the ending feels more sarcastic to me. Especially since it comes after "and happy ever after!" Knowing the entire story and seeing that there is no fairytale happy ever after, not really, makes the idea of a "happy ever after" feel somewhat ridiculous/out of place. Unlike how it would usually end like "…and happily ever after. The end", the musical ends with an "I wish!", telling the audience that life doesn't just end like that; the story keeps going (sarcastically poking fun that there isn't truly a fairytale ending and that you can only wish there was).
I just find that really funny and clever lol
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summerhighlandfalls · 10 months
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I think I attach more meaning to Company than the average person because of the everything of it all that being said ITS A GOOD MUSICAL! How can you not like it
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heygutlcss · 1 year
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I could have happily lived my whole life not know the abuse Larry  Kert received while playing Tony in West Side Story. I knew the core four were hard to deal with on the creative front, but what they did to Larry was just unspeakable. A lot of my respect for them is really lost.
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cutesilyo · 6 months
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the thing i really like about just for once in nerdy prudes must die is that it's best iteration of the musical within a musical trope that has become characteristic of the hatchetfield musicals
like both show-stopping number and deck the halls (of northville high) are catchy songs from in-universe musicals that were very much written to have plots that suck
and show-stopping number was so well-beloved because it is, frankly, a hilarious scene that robert manion put 100% into
but i argue that only just for once is thematically relevant to its musical and fully emblematic of the wants and desires of the character singing it
because what is just for once, as a scene? it's ruth singing a song because she thinks she's got a chance of doing it better. it's ruth singing a song about a character who looks back on the mundane miseries of her lonely life and — at the last second — remembering who she used to be before the pain set in. it's ruth singing her version of cooler than i think i am and reflecting on how she is perceived and wondering what it takes to break away from it. it's ruth singing right after she says, "in my dreams, i'm the star of the show."
of all the losers that max jagerman victimizes, only ruth says who she'd like to become beyond that. where pete can't even admit to liking steph at gunpoint and richie doesn't ever get the chance to verbalize what he wants, ruth gets on the stage in the few minutes of break time and just for once, the spotlight is on her.
and the really crazy thing about just for once is — it has the "i'm not a loser" motif. possibly the most iconic and important motif of the whole musical, it's the motif that starts the opening number. and here it is, in the silly musical within a musical by the silly character who has — until this song — always served as comic relief.
in the climax of the song, just for once is no longer the song of a character from the barbecue monologues. it's ruth's. in those few seconds, it's her lamentation of the life that max jagerman forced on her.
but that's the thing about the "i'm not a loser" motif. the way it functions in the musical is as a harbinger for max's violence. the police at the beginning ask, "what the hell happened here?" and its the motif that answers. pete is the first character that sings the line and is immediately beaten up by max in the next scene. then richie sings it and max kills him in the same song. when ruth has the motif running as the crescendo to just for once, it sounds absolutely incredible... and it should come as no surprise when max appears shortly after.
(as a quick note: you can also hear the motif after max makes the car crash, then max appears two scenes later. you then hear the motif in the cooler than i think i am reprise and max also appears right after the song. it's like max is instantly summoned by any instance of the losers trying to shake off the role he placed on them — of trying to defy him.)
tl;dr: the inclusion of the "i'm not a loser" motif in just for once makes it the big lipped alligator moment that wasn't. like yeah, it accomplishes its goal in being the funny musical within a musical trope! the character acting makes it a funny song, and its a funny character performing it! but it also furthers our understanding of ruth AND of what the "i'm not a loser" really is: it's the characters trying to develop past being nerdy prudes and max doing everything in his power to prevent that.
and it does all that while being a banging musical tribute to stephen sondheim and, especially, his song the ladies who lunch. which in itself is a massive flex on jeff blim's part. what a brilliant song in a brilliant musical.
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redeyye · 2 years
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you should all thank me for not flooding your dashes with tonys liveblogging this year
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brittscafe · 6 months
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Yuji Itadori Headcanons
Synopsis: SFW and NSFW headcanons. Yuji Itadori x female reader.
I beg of y'all to listen to Being Alive by Stephen Sondheim while reading this bc it almost made me cry when writing this 😭
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SFW:
Yuji being a green flag? Babe, he's the whole damn forest.
Calls you pretty girl.
Adores it when he's playing video games and you sit in his lap, wrapping your arms around him.
Yuji promises he'll be done soon and you eventually fall asleep, your head resting on his shoulder.
Yuji will stop anything he's doing and just sit there, gently rubbing your back and holding you.
Yuji loves physical touch so freaking much.
He'll wrap you up in a blanket and cuddle with you in bed all day long.
When Yuji needs your attention, he'll ask for cuddles or text you.
You'll give him good luck kisses and they encourage him so much before going out into the battlefield.
His smiles are so precious and they give you butterflies.
His kisses are gentle, but he can become impatient. He'll hold your face his his hands, giving you long, slow kisses.
Yuji would rather pass out thanks top kissing.
Yuji is so romantic and gentle.
He'll walk on the side that closer to the street and hold your hand, tugging you away from the side where the cars are flying by.
There's no need to ask Yuji to hold your heavy bags because he's already grabbing them before you even can.
He always is watching you and asking if you're okay/ comfortable.
Yuji doesn't realize how cute and attractive he really is.
Especially, when he comes out of the shower, wet dripping from his pink hair and a towel hanging so dangerously low on his hips.
Whenever he texts you, he always uses way too much emojis and that brings a smile to your face.
The way he says your name makes your heart ram against your chest.
He's calling out to you with a tender voice that's almost begging and needy for attention.
Yuji could listen to you for hours, he never gets tired of hearing your voice.
Yuji makes you laugh to point where your chest hurts and your cheeks are burning and flustered.
He craves any type of hugs; bear hugs, side hugs, hugs from behind, etc.
He never knows what kind of gifts to buy you for Christmas or your birthday, so he'll take you shopping and will grab random things asking your opinion on them.
Always expresses how much he misses you while pressing kisses on your cheek.
He's just excited to be with you.
NSFW:
AHHHHh, if you sit on Yuji's lap, he just cannot help himself.
Make-out sessions on his lap, where you grind against him and feel his cock grow hard in his boxers.
When you wrap your legs around his waist, he's already gone.
Especially if you start to kiss his neck, right underneath his ear or start nibbling on his earlobe.
Yuji's body becomes flustered and you'll giggle, playing with his soft pink hair.
His hands drift down your body to your ass, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Yuji will groan into your mouth, praises spilling from his mouth that are so needy.
He compliments you all the time, calling you pretty, beautiful, gorgeous, whatever comes to his mind.
Yuji likes it when you ride him, feeling your plush walls clamp around his.
He really enjoys it when you take control, leaving tiny red marks all his neck and chest.
Yuji is super soft and gentle when it comes to sex.
His number one is hurting you, so he'll never do anything that could possibly do that.
He loves to take his time in between your thighs, using his tongue and fingers to pleasure you in insane ways.
Yuji would never ask you to pleasure him, he's really never thought of his own pleasure.
He definitely whimpers and groans as your hand runs up and down the shaft of his length.
He'll say how pretty you look on your knees.
Yuji is obsessed with your ass, squeezing it and his fingers melting into your flesh.
Yuji can get nervous during the act and you sometimes have to reassure him.
His cheeks fluster as he drives his hips forward, sinking his cock back inside of you and hearing your sweet moans float in the air.
He whispers soft praises and compliments into your ear, making your body tingle.
His touch is so gentle.
His pace is slow and sensual, filling you up with pleasure.
Yuji can be serious or he can be cracking jokes to make you feel better or make him less nervous.
AFTER CARE IS A 10000000 OUT OF 10.
Yuji will take his time, cleaning you up and running his hands over your body.
He loves the way your skin glides in his hands.
Yuji loves to watch you afterwards, his knuckles running up and down your bare side.
He'll stay awake long after your asleep, admiring how your pretty your face is.
Yuji loves to kiss your cheek before he falls asleep.
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asexualenjolras · 3 months
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It's been a few days since I went to see the current Les Misérables London cast at the Sondheim Theatre, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about Djavan Van De Fliert's Enjolras and Tom Hext's Grantaire. Here is an overview of their portrayals:
Grantaire isn't overly present during Paris/Look Down, as usual, but he can be seen at the back of the stage reading a leaflet that Enjolras and Marius drop on the street - and he watches as Enjolras runs off of the stage.
During ABC Café/Red & Black, Grantaire is separate to the rest of Les Amis. He sit with his drink in his hand, watching as his fellow students listen to Enjolras speak. Tom Hext portrayed Grantaire as drunker than most other Grantaires I've seen on stage: he had slurred speech and really did stumble around the Musain.
As Marius comes on the stage, Grantaire's focus is entirely on Enjolras' reaction and you can see the cogs start to get to work in his brain; he thinks deeply about how he can gain Enjolras' attention. As he does, Djavan's Enjolras looks so defeated and frustrated, but there's a softness in the way he directs Grantaire back onto their cause. Initially, Grantaire laughs off Enjolras' words and continues joking around, desperately looking to see if Enjolras was watching him.
When he realises he isn't, he walks right up to Enjolras (who had returned to his table) and grabs his face, turning him to look at him with a laugh. He only starts to be serious when Enjolras raises his eyebrows and silently pleads for him to stop.
After Gavroche announces that Lamarque is dead, Grantaire's whole body drops. As everyone else rallies around Enjolras, he grabs Gavroche and moves to the side of the group, watching in horror as the realisation sinks in that this was really happening. Enjolras notices that Grantaire is standing away from everyone else, cradling Gavroche, and stands by him during Do You Hear the People Sing? Grantaire offers him a smile in response, and Enjolras smiles back, believing he's won Grantaire round.
BUT the moment Enjolras looks away, Grantaire's smile drops again. And he looks on the verge of tears as he joins in with the marching.
During One Day More, Enjolras looks back to Grantaire and Gavroche and offers them a nod, which they both reciprocate.
When the barricade is built, Grantaire stumbles around the stage following Enjolras and making sure Gavroche is safe. When Éponine is shot, he runs onto the stage with the rest of the students and stands in utter disbelief, cradling Gavroche and staring at Enjolras with the saddest expression on his face. Enjolras walks in from being with Javert wiping his hands of the Inspector's blood. Grantaire looks at him with such a bland look on his face. After Éponine dies in Marius' arms, you can really see that Grantaire has accepted this is going to be their fate. Enjolras tries to reach out for him, grabbing at his arm to try and explain and console him, but Grantaire pulls away from him and leads Gavroche away.
In Drink With Me, he's physically shaking. The moment Grantaire starts to sing, Enjolras turns around and walks towards him with the most solemn look on his face. He pulls him into an embrace but Grantaire pulls out of it and walks towards Gavroche, who hugs him this time. He sinks down onto the floor and looks so heartbroken.
Because Grantaire does believe in Enjolras, but he's cynical. And he knows how this is going to end. And he's trying desperately to be there for Gavroche and make sure he's safe.
When Gavroche is killed, he breaks down completely and Enjolras tries to comfort him but Grantaire shakes him away. It's a really haunting scene. During their final battle, Grantaire doesn't pick up a weapon once. He watches from the sidelines, and offers Enjolras a small nod when Enjolras smiles at him from the top of the barricade.
And when Enjolras is shot dead, falling off of the barricade, Grantaire races to the top to be with him, screaming the most blood-curdling "you bastards!" I've ever heard. He dies running to the man he loves because, although he doesn't believe in the cause, he believes in Enjolras.
During Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, Grantaire and Enjolras are stood side by side - which has been the staging since they changed it in 2019.
Djavan's Enjolras is so passionate about everything he believes in. But he's also the softest Enjolras I've seen: you can see his confusion about why Grantaire hangs around, but he's empathetic and kind to him even through his frustration.
And Tom's Grantaire cares so deeply for Enjolras, and he's so desperate for him to see him. It's all so beautiful. The relationship between Enjolras and Grantaire is so poetically, and delicately, portrayed. And Djavan and Tom both understand their characters on such deep, personal levels. They're the perfect ExR combination. And I will never, ever get over them.
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demonbarbers · 3 months
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so high rn so sorry if this doesn’t make any sense i’m just so emotional about josh and annaleigh and this production so i’m gonna ramble a bit about what i love about it and them. ok. enjoy.
the thing about sweeney todd is that it’s mean. it’s a mean show. it ends on the cruel irony of 2 officers bursting in on toby slitting sweeney’s throat, surrounded by 2 other bodies and one in the oven; on johanna watching her father die holding her mother and not even knowing it. everyone is an abuser or abused, and there is no hope or redemption to be found. and it fucking rules! it just rules. it’s so fun to indulge in our basest pleasures for nearly 3 hours, delicately served to us by one of the greatest composers who’s ever lived.
and every major production takes the bile and cruelty inherent to the material and runs away with it. like- just look at this swedish production from 2006, directed by vernon mound. or the last time it was on broadway, directed by john doyle:
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productions tend go smaller and nastier, more intimate, in keeping with the spirit of how sondheim originally conceived the piece. (side note: i LOVE when they do that. my ideal sweeney has buckets of blood and visera right in your face)
the original production of sweeney was MASSIVE, but that came from hal prince. hal couldn’t really get an emotional foothold on the material until he found within sweeney an extended metaphor for capitalism and the industrial revolution; people literally eating people and the machine of capitalism grinding everyone up. revivals also tend to seize on the brechtian class elements, like this absolutely gorgeous korean production from 2019 directed by eric schaeffer:
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sondheim, meanwhile, always objected to readings of sweeney as brechtian- it was all a farce to him, just a good, nasty time at the theatre. he approached it as a horror fan who wanted to write some fucked up stuff, which is maybe now some of the best art is created. but hal made it into epic theatre.
(if u don’t know what epic theatre is or what brechtian means google will explain it better to u than my ridiculously stoned ass can rn but im just focusing on one aspect of it rn: the distancing effect. basically, emotionally distancing the audience from the characters and the material so that everyone is engaging with the work on an intellectual level as opposed to an emotional one)
obc sweeney is an alienating show. it’s so fun and brutal and deeply felt, but these characters are grotesque. they’re cartoonish in their cruelty. just look at their makeup! john doyle also embraces the distancing effect; his revival is actor-muso, so we’re pretty aware at all times we’re watching a show. it’s all so cold, and the only warmth to be found is in the humor. and it rules. it’s nasty. i love it. this is the show i fell in love with.
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all these things have become inherent to sweeney over time, all teased out of the greatest broadway show to ever exist; visceral horror, cruelty, coldness, and class commentary.
but this revival is just.. it’s warm! it’s lush! it’s romantic! and i don’t mean that in the sense of lovett and sweeney (tho this is the warmest they’ve ever been towards each other in any major production i’ve seen). i mean that it gestures at and plays with romanticism.
my biggest critique of this production is, in doing away with the brechtian elements (sondheim just cheered), it also does away with overt class commentary. it’s all still there in the text- turpin is a corrupt judge, beadle is effectively a sheriff, sweeney and lovett are working class, the beggar woman is homeless- but as a director tommy kail seems… uninterested in any biting political commentary, to put it generously lmfao. and i hate so much how little of it there is to be found in this revival, bc you can still Do It without invoking brecht. but i’ve long made my peace with that. i wanna talk about what i love.
and what i really love and what kept me returning to it (beyond the fact that it’s sondheim, and it’s sweeney, and josh groban is so stupid fucking hot) is how human everyone is. the entire production, from the ground up, is built around taking these characters and their pain seriously.
the ensemble all have incredibly period accurate costumes, unique to each character they’ve crafted (fun fact even the swings have their own unique costume that’s only seen when they perform). gone is toby as a mentally disabled man child with an oedipal fixation on lovett. in gaten’s hands he’s a young teenager, aging out of being a cute urchin and just looking for a mother. in daniel’s hands he’s beaten down young man with a limp and a genuine love for lovett.
ruthie’s beggar woman has developed DID after a brutal rape and the trauma of institutionalization and homelessness. she’s not played for laughs, even if sometimes the audience chuckles, and she makes u feel guilty if you ever did laugh at her situation. daniel yearwood leans so far into anthony as a sweet guy completely unaware of the story he’s actually in to the point of comedy. maria is just a revelation as johanna, all nerve and tension and bloody nails from years of self-harm. it’s easy to lean into johanna as a princess track, but ~crazy~. and maria plays jo as mentally ill and traumatized from years of incesteous abuse, but it’s not a pastiche or a praody of it. jo feels human in a way i’ve never seen her depicted before. i love it. maria bilbao u have my heart forever for this.
and then josh and annaleigh…. ugh!!! annaleigh really captures the avarice at the heart of lovett, but still brings in enough genuine moments of humanity and compassion that you find yourself (like sweeney and toby) endeared to her. lovett is always cruel and can only love through manipulation, but annaleigh’s lovett is a woman who makes small concessions. bit by bit, piece by piece, she erodes whatever goodness she had inside her until nothing but her desire for sweeney is left. she’s a woman who’s used seduction to get her way, and it’s easy to envision that when lucy returned from turpin’s, she shamed her for “giving it away” without getting benjamin back. she’s a monster! and yet, when she dreams of a better life, you feel it. when she holds toby in her arms and cried at her perfect little life unraveling, you feel it. annaleigh makes you laugh so hard she gets under your skin and stays there, exactly how lovett seduces sweeney in ALP. and there it is- identification! the complete opposite of alienation. we’re in it with them.
and then there’s josh and his sweeney… i really feel like his sweeney is undervalued. annaleigh steals the show. she won the drama desk for a reason. it’s a legendary performance. but josh…. man. i just. i keep returning to josh’s open wound of a sweeney over and over again. i think he’s probably had this take bouncing around in his head for years. they smartly leaned away from sweeney as this embodiment of rage and physical menace, which surprised a lot of people. but instead leaned into sweeney’s grief in a way i haven’t seen any major production do. josh’s sweeney feels like a man who was put on this earth to be a father and a husband. there’s a buried sweetness to him and you can still see benjamin barker in him until the very end. i keep calling him “kendall roy sweeney” bc it’s the closest way i can covey to other ppl what josh is doing here. he’s all big sad eyes and suicidal ideation, tragedy and twitchy hands. he’s so deeply pathetic he just endears himself to you. i want sweeney to succeed more than ever before. even though he spends all of act 2 killing people and being a shit father and thus killing benjamin barker, i still find myself wanting him and lovett to get away with it. and when the reveal comes, and even worse the betrayal hits- that this woman who he let into his life and body and who, in some odd way, became a friend, lied to him this entire time- it hits like never before for me.
i just love it all so much. i’m so happy it exists, so happy this revival does something so new! sondheim has said sweeney todd is a show about obsession, and it is. this revival supposes: what is the difference between love and obsession? what if the two look the same?
i think often of this quote from luca guadagnino’s suspiria (a masterpiece btw): “Love and manipulation, they share houses very often. They are frequent bedfellows.”
to me, that’s this revival in a nutshell- the thin line between love and obsession, and all the blood spilled in between.
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hephaestuscrew · 9 months
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"Minkowski's been talking about Sondheim again…": Minkowski's love of musical theatre and what it reveals about her characterisation and her relationships
TL;DR: Renée Minkowski's love of musicals, while it might seem just like a mundane character detail, is used to give depth to her character because it contrasts with expectations of her from both the listening audience and the other characters. Her willingness or unwillingness to share this interest in different circumstances reveals her relationships with other characters at various points. Since this is a long one, if you'd rather read it as a document, you can view it here: Google Doc version.
"She actually really cares about these talent shows": Episode 8 (Box 953)
In the early episodes of Season 1, Minkowski is presented (largely through Eiffel's unreliable perspective) purely as a strict no-nonsense authority figure without much emotional depth, the kind of person who only likes things that are useful, purposeful, or mandated by Command. In contrast, musical theatre is a creative pursuit that has nothing to do with the mission of the Hephaestus and is viewed by many people as fairly frivolous or silly. The gradual exploration of Minkowski's passion for musicals is one of the many ways that the show expands and challenges our understanding of her as a character. 
The first indication that we get of her interest in musicals is through her entry into the infamous talent show, something that is required as part of the mission. Minkowski really cares about 'crew morale' activities in general, even when they actually have a negative effect on morale and even before she's friends with any of her crew (for example, the Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners in the earlier stage of the mission), perhaps partly because doing things in the "right way" is important to her. 
But Eiffel senses that the talent shows aren't just about rules for her: "it’s bad enough when she makes us do something just because it’s military protocol, but I think that she actually really cares about these talent shows". This might be the first indication that we get of Minkowski caring deeply about anything that isn't inherently part of her role as a Commander. Moments like this are part of the gradual process of giving us insight into her character beyond the Commander archetype that she tries to embody. And yet, she only indulges her theatrical passion because something mandatory gives her permission, or an excuse, to let another part of herself out.
Of course, to satisfy the needs of a talent show, she'd only need to provide a performance of a few minutes. But Eiffel mentions "the second act of the play" - which along with Hera's comment that "Isabel isn't the biggest role in the play" - implies that Minkowski was intending to put on the whole of Pirates of Penzance as her talent show act, rather than a few of the songs or some kind of medley. (I suppose that Eiffel could be exaggerating or Minkowski might have been planning to do extracts from different parts of the play, but I prefer the interpretation in which Minkowski gets to be more ridiculous.) 
Even though no one else would be willing to be in her production of Pirates of Penzance, Minkowski casts Hera as Isabel, a role with two lines and no solo singing. I found some audition notes for this play which said "The traditional staging gives [Isabel] more prominence than the solo opportunities of the part suggest, so she must be a good actress" which does make me sad in relation to Hera's inability to have a more significant role by being physically present on stage. 
It’s sweet that Hera still wants to take part though. She tells Eiffel "Pirates of Penzance is a classic of 19th century comic opera", so either she’s absorbed what Minkowski has told her about the show, or she’s done her own research and formed her own opinions. I enjoy the fact that Hera is the one Hephaestus crew member who shows potential to share Minkowski's musical theatre appreciation; I like to think that this is something they could explore together post-canon.
Anyway, I'm obsessed with the idea that Minkowski was planning to play every character except one in Pirates of Penzance, a show which is designed to have 10 principal characters and a chorus of 14 men. It seems that her contribution to the talent show was supposed to be an entire two-hour two-act musical, with costumes and props, in which she would play almost all of the parts. This is very funny to me as the perhaps predictable consequence of giving an ambitious and frustrated grown-up theatre kid a position of authority and asking them to arrange a talent show. Minkowski knows that the audience will be made up of her subordinates who are theoretically obliged by the chain of command to watch and listen, so she absolutely tries to make the most of that opportunity. There's probably also a degree to which she limits other people's involvement in her musical because - as with her other endeavors - she wants the outcome to be almost entirely within her control (something that is usually pretty much impossible in as collaborative a medium as musical theatre).
Of course, Minkowski's behaviour in most of the talent show episode is affected by her being drugged by Hilbert. This creates an exaggerated situation which is the first real opportunity for Minkowski to be something other than the strict sensible authoritarian Commander and the foil to Eiffel's jokey laid-back attitude. I don't agree with ideas that being intoxicated brings out anyone's true self (especially in the absence of consent for the intoxication), but it seems pretty clear that being under the influence of whatever was in Hilbert's concoction caused Minkowski to fully commit to a level of manic enthusiasm for her musical production that might have otherwise been obscured by her professionalism. It's a particular kind of person who belts showtunes when drunk, and Minkowski is that kind of person, even if that's not how she wants to present herself. (As a sidenote, I seem to remember that they took Emma Sherr-Ziarko's script off her to help her sound more drunk. It's an excellent performance.)
Minkowski wants interval ice cream. She wants "pirate costumes" (and she'll threaten to shoot a man to get them). She wants "swashes and buckles". She wants whatever props she can get her hands on (including a real cannon). This show is important to her, even though only three other people will witness it and two of them actively don't want to be there. It’s important to her for its own sake.
Eiffel says Minkowski wants "a second pair of eyes to tell her if the prop sabre for her Major-General costume was a bit much…"  While I certainly wouldn't put it past Goddard Futuristics to have a prop sabre on the station for no apparent reason, it feels more likely that she might have made it or adapted some existing item. Which suggests that maybe she was that passionate about the props even before Hilbert drugged her. 
Even so, it does feel significant that Minkowski's love of musicals is only revealed in the episode in which she is drugged, exhibiting lowered inhibitions, exaggerated behaviour, and an "impaired euphoric effect". Her love of musical theatre is initially revealed through a professional structure that provides permission, and then further emphasised by a forced intoxication that exaggerates some impulses that perhaps she already had.
"Some hobbies other than making trains run on time": Episode 17 (Bach to the Future)
After Eiffel tells to find Minkowski to find something else to do while her work duties have quietened down, they have the following exchange:
EIFFEL: You must have some hobbies other than making trains run on time. Something to do with friends? Boyfriends? MINKOWSKI: Of course I do, but, well, there aren't really a lot of opportunities for rock climbing or trail hiking in the immediate vicinity. 
Even though this quote doesn't mention musicals, I've included it here for two reasons. Firstly, it's very funny to me that, even after the talent show debacle, Eiffel acts like he's never had any evidence of Minkowski's hobbies. She tried to perform a whole play almost single-handedly and it didn't occur to him that this might indicate an interest of hers outside of work. I think this reflects the fairly two-dimensional view that Eiffel has previously had of Minkowski, which her interest in musical theatre didn't fit into. 
Secondly, it feels notable that Minkowski doesn't mention musical theatre here. She wants to show that she has non-work interests, but without undermining her own authoritative image. Her interest in rock climbing and trail hiking - while it may be genuine - fits with how she wants to be seen as a Commander. These are hobbies which portray her as physically capable, with a high degree of stamina and a willingness to adapt to perhaps less hospitable surroundings. Of course, Minkowski does have these traits and they serve her well on the Hephaestus. But there's not really anything particularly surprising about her expressing these interests. The surprise in this scene comes from the reveal that she has a husband, a character detail which - like her love of musicals - isn't something we'd necessarily expect from the archetype-based view of her we are initially presented with. 
Her interest in rock climbing and trail hiking never come up again, because these details don't really deepen her characterisation (or at least, they aren't really used to deepen her characterisation beyond proving that she isn't entirely all-work-and-no-play). In contrast, Minkowski's love of musicals is brought up over and over because it shows another side of her that she struggles to reveal on the Hephaestus, and that allows more interesting things to be done with her characterisation.
"You wanted to write showtunes": Episode 35 (Need to Know)
Alongside the more high stakes discoveries prompted by the leak from Kepler's files, we also learn that Minkowski applied to - and was rejected from - the Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program.
Up until this point, we've only had evidence that Minkowski enjoys performing in musicals. But here we learn that Minkowski doesn't just love watching or performing in musicals - she wanted to write them too. This suggests a creative side to her that we never see her fully express.
The course
The Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program claims to be the only course of its kind in the world and it accepts just 30 students each year. The current application process requires applicants to: upload play scripts or recordings of songs they've written; answer a large number of extended response questions about their creative process and views on musical theatre; write a 'statement of purpose' which has to talk about why they are applying and include 3 original ideas for musicals; provide a professional resume and a digital portfolio; complete an exercise of writing in response to a prompt; and undergo an interview. The process might have changed somewhat since Minkowski would have been applying (which, if it was soon after she finished college, might have been around the early 2000s) or it might be different in Wolf 359's alternate universe, but I think we can safely assume that applying to this course was a serious undertaking that required an intense amount of commitment and work. 
Applying to a course like that isn't something you do half-heartedly or on a whim. You couldn't apply to this course if you hadn't done a fair amount of musical theatre writing already. (The course requires applicants to choose to apply as bookwriters, lyricists, or composers, but I'm not going to make a guess here as to which of these Minkowski went for.) The fact that Minkowski wanted to study this course suggests that she was seriously considering trying to make a career out of musical theatre writing. In Once In A Lifetime, she tells Cutter that commanding a space station has always been her dream job, but we've got evidence here that it wasn't her only dream job. There's something kind of funny and kind of sad about the idea that writing musicals was her back-up / fall-back career path. She does not like to make life easy for herself.
The revelation 
This information is revealed against Minkowski's will. It's not something she wanted people to find out, and she isn't happy about them knowing:
JACOBI: "Dear Renée, thank you for your interest in the Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program..." MINKOWSKI: Oh, come on!  JACOBI: (pressing on) "We are sorry to say, we will not be able to offer you a spot in this year's blah blah blah." Oh this is too good. You wanted to write showtunes?  MINKOWSKI: Number one? Shut up. Number two, why are my personal records on there?! [...] How is it in any way relevant?! JACOBI: Oh, I think it's very relevant. I mean, if you're sending someone to pilot ships in deep space, you want to make sure that they can, you know... paint with all the colors of the wind.  Jacobi CRACKS UP - and, although to a lesser degree, so does Lovelace. Minkowski looks at her: really?  LOVELACE: Sorry, Minkowski. It's... it's a little funny.  MINKOWKSI: No, it isn't!
Minkowski seems defensive and embarrassed here. She obviously doesn't trust everyone there with this revelation (Jacobi, Maxwell, Lovelace, and Hera are all present). She considers this information to be "personal" and irrelevant and not even "a little funny". She's used to reactions like Jacobi's (and to a lesser extent Lovelace's); in Ep41 Memoria, she says "most people think it's hilarious that I like musicals" (see below for more thoughts about this quote). But the fact that these mocking reactions are expected doesn't mean that they don't bother her. She wants so badly to be taken seriously and, in this scene, her interest in musical theatre seems to be incompatible with that. Jacobi reacts the way that he does because of the idea that I've already expressed, that a passion for musical theatre does not fit with the serious authoritative image that Minkowski has often presented. It's not the typical hobby of a soldier, especially not a Commander.
To me, the way Lovelace laughs suggests that she might not have previously known about Minkowski's love of musicals, or at least perhaps not the full extent of it. At any rate, it's definitely news to Jacobi. And Minkowski clearly hasn't talked about it enough for it not to feel like a big reveal for her.
The rejection 
It's notable that this reveal is not just that she wanted to write for the stage, but also that she failed to get into a course that might have helped her work towards that goal. This of course compounds Minkowski's discomfort at having this information revealed. Not only did she want to write showtunes, but she encountered rejection in her attempts to do so. This detail implies that perhaps it wasn't just the appeal of her spacefaring dream that stopped her going down a theatrical career path. 
I'm about to move more into headcanon territory rather than just straightforward analysis, but I personally believe that, while Minkowski auditioned for a lot of musicals (particularly as a child / young person), she was never cast as the main role. She seems embarrassed about her interest in musical theatre in a way that (at least judging by people I've encountered) people who were always the lead in their school / college productions don't tend to be. 
We don't have much evidence about her actual level of singing/acting ability, given that she is inebriated during the only time we hear her sing in the podcast. However, it resonates with other aspects of her characterisation to imagine that Minkowski was generally good enough to get an ensemble part but never quite good enough to be cast as a main part. I think she might see only ever being cast as part of the ensemble, and failing to get into the Tisch Musical Theatre Writing programme, as slightly more down-to-earth examples of the same pattern as her repeated rejections from NASA. She is desperate to prove herself. She is "someone who very much wants to matter. To do something important." When she casts herself as almost every part in Pirates of Penzance, she is finally taking the opportunity to be a main character, an opportunity which I imagine had been denied to her over and over in both a literal and metaphorical sense.
"It's just from a play I saw once": Episode 41 (Memoria)
The next scene I want to talk about is from a memory of Hera's, which took place on Day 57 of the Hephaestus mission and in which Minkowski appears to be talking about the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George:
MINKOWSKI: Oh, it's just from a play I saw once. It doesn't matter. (BEAT) The guy who sings it is this famous French painter. And his entire life is kinda falling apart. But he can always turn what's happening around him into these beautiful paintings.  HERA: And? MINKOWSKI: And... That's, I don't know. Reassuring, maybe? (BEAT) I don't know why I'm going on about this. You don't care.  HERA: I think it's interesting.  MINKOWSKI: Yeah? Most people think it's hilarious that I like musicals.  HERA: I don't see what's funny about it.  MINKOWSKI: Well, thank you Hera, but you're not exactly... you know.  HERA: I'm not... what? 
There's a couple of different things I want to pick out from this exchange. Firstly, the line "Most people think it's hilarious that I like musicals" makes me sad. I don't think she's talking about people on the Hephaestus there. Judging by the quote I talked about from Bach to the Future, Eiffel definitely wouldn't have registered Minkowski's love of musicals at this stage, and I doubt Hilbert cares at all about the hobbies of his fellow crew members. So Minkowski is talking about experiences that she's had on Earth, of people mocking her interest in musicals and thinking it doesn't fit with who she is. You can hear the impact of those experiences in Minkowski's reluctance to elaborate, in the way she says that something she obviously cares about doesn't matter, in her assumption that Hera doesn't care.
Secondly, this scene is a complicated one for Minkowski and Hera's relationship. On the one hand, Minkowski freely talks to Hera about something she's passionate about, and Hera listens and expresses interest. Hera validates Minkowski's interest in musical theatre without making a thing of it being weird and Minkowski thanks her. Again, it’s shown as an interest they could could potentially share.
But on the other hand, it seems like part of the reason Minkowski feels able to open up to Hera is because at this point Minkowski doesn't see opening up to Hera as fully equivalent to opening up to a fellow human. She doesn't just accept Hera not making fun of her interest; instead it seems Minkowski is about to imply that this lack of judgment indicates Hera's difference from humans (although she does have the decency not to say it outright). Minkowski's expectation of judgment from others contributes to her saying something very hurtful to Hera here. (This kind of potential consequence of negative self-attitude is explored a lot with Eiffel, so it's interesting that Minkowski can sometimes have a similar issue.)
Minkowski and Hera's conversation is interrupted when:
The DOOR OPENS.  EIFFEL: Hey, Minkowski, we've - What are you guys talking about?  MINKOWSKI: We were just discussing how I'm going to take away your hot water privileges if you don't reset the long-range scan.
Eiffel can obviously tell that he's walked in on a conversation that is about something other than work, or he wouldn't have asked. But Minkowski actively chooses not to tell him that she was talking to Hera about musicals. Perhaps she doesn't know how to open up to a human subordinate about it. Perhaps she doesn't trust him not to make fun of her. Perhaps she just doesn't have any impulse to talk about her interests with him. Either way, if Minkowski's love of musicals is something which reflects a side of her personality outside of her Commander role, this is a moment where she chooses not to take an opportunity to share that side of herself with Eiffel. This reflects the emotional distance between them three months into the mission, which forms a nice contrast with the next couple of quotes I'm going to talk about.
"Composition. Balance. Harmony.": Episode 54 (The Watchtower)
When Eiffel comes directly face to face with alien life, he discovers that music is the human invention that fascinates the Dear Listeners:
EIFFEL: You haven't figured out music?  BOB: ORDER. DESIGN. TENSION. COMPOSITION. BALANCE. HARMONY.  EIFFEL: (low, to himself) Minkowski's been talking about Sondheim again…
I only learned in the course of writing this post that in this moment the Dear Listeners are almost exactly quoting a repeated phrase used throughout Sunday in the Park with George. The titular protagonist lists various combinations of these qualities in multiple songs in reference to his art. In the closing song, the lyrics are "Order. Design. Tension. Composition. Balance. Light. [...] Harmony." It's not only Eiffel's references that the Dear Listeners are incorporating into their speech - they've picked this one up from Minkowski. This also suggests that some element of her appreciation for musicals and the way she talks about them has fed into the Dear Listeners' understanding of the human phenomenon of music. The Dear Listeners aren't just parroting - they understood the quote enough that they left out the word "light", arguably the only quality in that phrase which isn't a big part of music as well as visual art. Eiffel likes music too, but I don't think that this is how he'd talk about his favourite songs.
This is a refrain about finding order and beauty out of the chaos and uncertainty of life, which was also the aspect of Sunday in the Park with George that Minkowski focused on when talking about it in Memoria. It suggests that art/music could be something governed by rules and principles, which is potentially something that appeals both to Minkowski and to the Dear Listeners.
Eiffel's response to this reference is one of those little hints that reminds us that Eiffel and Minkowski have spent a lot of time together and that not all of that time has involved them being at each others' throats or actively in a life-or-death situation. Some of it has just been Minkowski going on about a musical she loves and Eiffel (willingly or not) paying enough attention that he recognises this phrase as a Sondheim quote that Minkowski has talked about. I suppose that this quote might have been in Eiffel's pop-culture-brain anyway, but judging from Eiffel's general tastes and the fact that I don't think Sunday in the Park with George is one of the more commonly known Sondheim musicals among non-musical fans, it seems more likely that this quote is something he only knows because Minkowski has talked about it. 
Eiffel sounds exasperated at the mention, like he's heard Minkowski talk about Sondheim far too much. But I'd argue that this still says something positive about their relationship, when we contrast it with a couple of other moments I've already mentioned. Firstly, when her previous musical theatre ambitions are revealed to Jacobi, Maxwell, and Lovelace in Need to Know, Minkowski seems embarrassed and defensive. Secondly, in the memory from Memoria, she avoids telling Eiffel that she was talking about this same musical. Yet, by the time The Watchtower takes place, Eiffel is sick of hearing Minkowski talk about Sondheim. She doesn't have the same barriers up in sharing her interests with him, even though he doesn't have the same interests. I think this is a demonstration of how comfortable she feels with him. It's a hint at the kind of easy downtime that they've sometimes shared.
"One day more": Episode 61 (Brave New World)
Eiffel recognises another musical reference of Minkowski’s in the finale. As the crew are preparing for their final confrontation with Cutter and co., Minkowski quotes Les Misérables, mostly to herself - but Eiffel recognises the lyrics and joins in:
EIFFEL: Hey - chin up, soldier. We're almost through. Just one more day, and then we're done.  MINKOWSKI: Yeah, one more day. (more to herself) The time is now, the place is here - one day more.  EIFFEL: - one day more.  They both stop, dead in their tracks. MINKOWSKI: Did you just - ?  EIFFEL: Was that what I - ?  They look at each other: No way. And BURST INTO LAUGHTER.  EIFFEL: Man... this is really it, huh? The end of everything. 
It feels really important that Minkowski and Eiffel share this moment of togetherness before she tries to send him back to Earth and before the rest of the action goes down. I think there’s some nice symbolism about them finding a way to communicate that they both understand. Making references is Eiffel's thing, and musicals are Minkowski's thing, so this is a synthesis of their two approaches. Again, there's a contrast with Minkowski's previous unwillingness to share her musical theatre passions with Eiffel (at least without the mitigating circumstances of a mandatory talent show and some kind of intoxicating substance).
I talked about the significance of the fact that they reference this particular musical in this post from ages ago. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler for Les Misérables to say that the revolution that the song One Day More is building up to does not end well for the revolutionaries. When Eiffel says "Just one more day, and then we're done", it encompasses both the possibility that the crew will escape to travel back to Earth and the possibility that they will all die. Minkowski's reference to a famously tragic musical suggests that it's the latter possibility that's at the forefront of her mind (right before she tries to send Eiffel away from the danger). But Les Misérables is also a story about people standing together in solidarity against powerful oppressive forces, which gives particular resonance to the way that this reference brings Eiffel and Minkowski together in a moment of being completely on the same wavelength as they prepare to fight Cutter and Pryce's plan.
When they laugh here, it's not about the 'hilariousness' of Minkowski's interest in musicals, it's about their unexpected unison - Eiffel's recognition of Minkowski's reference and Minkowski's surprise at the fact he joined in. It's a laugh of togetherness, of shared understanding, of friendship. It's a moment of lightness in dark times. And that moment is provided by Minkowski's pop culture interests, not Eiffel's. In spite of all they've been through, she's not lost that part of herself, and in fact, she's more open about it, at least to Eiffel.
I'll finish by highlighting what Eiffel says when he's trying to get into character to impersonate Minkowski so he can turn the Sol around:
EIFFEL: Umm... yes, this is Lieutenant Commander Renée Minkowski. I'm... uh... well I sure love schedules, and, uh, musicals. And that man, who I married…
I just think this is a nice example of Eiffel not defining Minkowski solely by her professional Commander role. Sure, she likes schedules (probably in a personal as well a professional capacity to be fair), but she also loves musicals, and her husband. It is a fairly reductive overview of her as a person, but it feels reductive in a fond way, like these things are part of Minkowski's brand to Eiffel in a way that he might affectionately tease her about. (Credit to @commsroom for this thought.) His view of Minkowski has come a long way from "our resident Statsi agent" or even just "you must have some hobbies other than making trains run on time." He doesn't see any contradiction or inherent humour in Lieutenant Commander Renée Minkowski's appreciation of musicals.
Conclusion
Minkowski's love of musical theatre is used to deepen her characterisation and is one of the ways in which we gradually begin to see her complexity beyond the strict Commander archetype. The degree to which she is prepared to share this interest at various points is used to illustrate the nature of her relationships with other characters: a general unwillingness to show a less serious side of herself; a complicated potential shared interest with Hera; and the growing understanding between her and Eiffel.
If you read this whole thing, well done / thank you 😄 It wasn't meant to be this long - it just happened… Feel free to share your thoughts!
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little-lovett · 4 months
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sweeney bway round 2 ~ all the little things + my favorite moments 🩶
- toby!!!! daniel marconi was absolutely divine. i really loved his movements, he kind of flails about with a tiny, strange limp. you can tell there’s something off and it just makes him all the more endearing. he’s so loving and his not while i’m around broke my heart into a million pieces
- i forgot how disturbing poor thing is. turpin has this vulture mask on and he just looks so disgusting and cruel. the staging looks like a satanic ritual and really establishes judge turpin as a perverted, evil piece of shit from hell
- mrs. lovett kissing up and down sweeney’s shoulder and beginning to slide his suspenders off just after wait, then someone walks in and she quickly slides it back up (and forgot who LMFAO i was so giddy)
- mrs. lovett genuinely calming affect on sweeney just melts me. they really needed eachother 🫂
- josh & annaleigh are so perfect, they read so genuinely as old friends and apprehensive lovers. they are magnetic. their bond is so palpable and it just makes everything hurt more
- mrs. lovett holding sweeney’s arm and nuzzling her face into his shoulder during pirelli’s
- lucy cries a lot. you can hear her sobbing whenever she’s on stage. she’s clearly very sensitive to men’s anger and is distraught whenever sweeney yells at her. my poor baby 💔
- also during pirelli’s; sweeney rubbing mrs. lovett’s hand and whispering into her ear. it’s def their most mutually affectionate song besides a little priest. felt like their little honeymoon era 🥰
- anthony began to sob at the end of johanna. i interpreted it as him seeing turpin abuse jo cuz he looked horrified. it was really really impactful
- sweeney holding lucy’s body and screaming in grief during toby’s monologue
- during a little priest after the whole privates gag, mrs. lovett was down on her knees and had her hand at sweeney’s groin and they both just stared at eachother it was PERFECTION
- i think a little priest was prob 10 minutes long because josh and annaleigh had SO MUCH interaction. they milked the living shit out of it and i’m so glad they did
anyway this is a fucking spectacular production of the best musical ever written. will not take any other answers thanks. hilarious, heartbreaking, dark, sexy sondheim. it doesn’t get any better. i will be back trust me. GOD, THATS GOOD!
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