Sweeney Todd at the Ahmanson

For most musicals, the orchestra's in a pit and the actors do their singing and dancing thing on the stage. For Sweeney Todd? Not so much.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into the Ahmanson Theatre for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I was going into it cold turkey - no movie-watching, no pre-listening of a soundtrack, no wikipedia-reading. All I knew was that there was a barber and there was going to be some dead characters by the end.

But while the story was a great twist of tangled relationships, dark humor, and memorable songs and characters - the best part was seeing the way the story was produced (which I post-read was a new production).

A handful of actors - instruments in hand - take to the stage to bring the story of Sweeney Todd to life. Try being in character while playing a cello...or a tuba for that matter. These singer/musicians take to the stage, often using their musical instruments to reflect their characters, and wow the audience with not one specific thing - but everything all together.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street runs at the Ahmanson Theatre from March 11th-April 6th.

-Charity Tran, ExperienceLA Web Coordinator