SlffltlOIIIN Sondheim’s music challenged cast

By Kyra Smith-Cullen ksmithcullen@dailyitem.com

A production about a homicidal and vengeful barber might not be a musical that immediately comes to mind as a “must-perform” show, but for Shamokin Area High School Musical Director Kevin Styer, it was.

And so, the time was right for “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: School Edition.”

“I just needed to find the right time and the right students. We look at what students we have from the previous shows and who would be returning and decide what would be the best show for that potential group,” Styer said. “Sweeney challenges our students and gives them an opportunity to expand their acting skills.”

The musical, written by Stephen Sondheim, was a difficult undertaking for the cast and crew, because of a vocally challenging score.

“The music itself is not a typical score for high school students. We had to spend several rehears­ als working on the musical at the beginning,” Styer said. “Also, with the music, there were many timing issues that had to be worked out.”

Owen Amato, the 1 lth-grader who played the antagonist Judge Turpin, said the counting for each song was difficult for him to master in rehearsal — especially for the “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir” number, which combined complicated notes and counting.

Not only is the timing complex, but songs pushed singers to challenging vocal ranges. Junior Alaina Glowatski, who played Johanna, said “Kiss Me Part Two” was a difficult number to master because there were two different melodies and a wide vocal range involved.

“(Epiphany) is the number where I do scream and that really hurt my vocals for the rest of the show, but I got through it and everything was a-OK,” said Jacob Erdman, the junior who played the title character of Sweeney Todd.

He said Styer pushed him to really become the character he played and to really embody ev­ erything about Sweeney in all his ways and mannerisms.

Most of the students credited Styer and his wife, Sharon Styer, with helping them achieve the necessary level of complexity.

Also difficult was the set design. For the production, Dan Shuman and Ken Kuznicki built a two-story barbershop/pie shop that rotated 360 degrees to show the interior and exterior of the central locations — a feature that garnered much praise from The Daily Item’s reviewer Jove Graham.

“The creation of the set took some time to create. It was not until the week before the show that we started using the barber chair,” Kevin Styer said, referring to the stage mechanism that drops actors from the second story of the set. “It takes time to create the magic.”

But he wouldn’t reverse his decision to do “Sweeney Todd,” given the chance.

“Despite the difficulty of the show, it was an incredible experience and a success,” he said. “The response from the community was overwhelming.”

MM. FEEDBACK

The students of the Shamokin Area High School, under the direction of Kevin Styer, put on a stylish and spectacular production of “Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: School Edition” at Shamokin Area High School. With dramatic lighting and fog effects, a giant rotating set, and evocative period costumes, this production was an impressive and polished presentation of a complex classic.

Sweeney Todd, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, opened on Broadway in 1979 and tells the story of a barber who returns to London seeking revenge on those who wrongly imprisoned him decades ago. Restarting his barbershop, he kills his customers and sends them to a partner-in-crime, Mrs. Lovett, who bakes them into meat pies until their scheme unravels and ends in tragedy for all. The cast was led by the voices and acting talents of junior Jacob Erdman as Sweeney and senior Samantha Stancavage as Mrs. Lovett in the two lead roles originated by Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. There were many other standout supporting characters as well, including the young lovers Anthony and Johanna, played by senior Ethan Kauffman and junior Alaina Glowatski, as well as a large and impressive ensemble of over 20 students.

The centerpiece of the set, constructed by Dan Shuman and Ken Kuznicki, was an amazing two-story barbershop/pie shop that fully rotated to show both interior and exteriors of these two key locations, with additional elements of a 19th century London street and colorful spotlights by Matt Phillips with fog effects creating the right sinister mood for this show. Costumes by Sandy Krebs and Lisa Shappell were also beautifully done and evoked the Victorian setting. Sondheim’s challenging music was performed expertly, thanks to the strong voices of the cast and the large orchestra conducted by Mrs. Sharon Styer. Among the many highlights for fans of this show were the musical numbers featuring Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett together (“A Little Priest” and “By the Sea”), and ensemble pieces such as the “Ballad of Sweeney Todd,” “God That’s Good,” and the dramatic finale. Congratulations to everyone involved for a terrific production of “Sweeney Todd!”

— Jove Graham

Cost Uno Crew

Jacob Erdman (Sweeney Todd), Samantha Stancavage (Mrs. Lovett), Ethan Kauffman (Anthony Hope), Alaina Glowatski (Johanna), Owan Amato (Judge Turpin), Caden Hynoski (Beadle Bamford), Eric Zalar (Adolfo Pirelli), Bennet Elio (Tobias Ragg), Hannah Bashore (Beggar Woman), Molly Rossnock (Jonas Fogg), Sandy Lin (Bird Seller); Ensemble: Aaron Tinnin, Abbigail Long, Abby Lowry, Alaina Combs, Arianna Jovel-Martinez, Autumn Peifer, Brandie Yoncuski, Brielle Hornberger, Brooke Kerstetter, Carlee Allison, Elliott Bennet, Emma Boyer, Gabriel Grow, Hannah Hess, Jayden Duganitz, Jess Hadfield, Kenedy Snyder, Makayla Eyster, Makiya Zaleskie, Nadia Williams, Nevaehla Rodriguez, Raven Dudra, Ronin Elio, Rylee Bickert; Stage crew: Nicholas Yoswick, Reagan Elio, Kathy Schaeffer, Stephanie Rudy, Thomas Kleman, Madison Wyland, Eva Johnson, Kel Balthaser, Samantha Krajewski; Tech crew: Michael Artman, Noah Kerstetter, Tyler Kerstetter, Porter Kramer, Alexis Bressi; Usher: Abbey Noll, Lauren Noll, Selena Lin, Maddie Roman, Aden Santor, John Shepard