Sweeney Todd: EC Performance
Dear readers,
Well, I can't believe it, but all of the GoFundMe fundraising, community awareness, and YOUR SUPPORT has made SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET a complete success at Eureka College Theatre.
As director/musical director/producer/set designer, you can bet that I personally oversaw every aspect of the production from inception to strike.
Before I continue this post, I need to personally send a thank you shout out to every single person listed inside of the programs, my assistant director, my stage manager, my professors, anyone who donated, my family, and the good Lord Jesus. Theatre is a collaborative art, and only together was this production possible. Thank you.
In continuation, anyone who has clicked on this blog between the winter of 2016 and fall of 2017 know that I've been going nuts about this particular production -- this was my first directing experience with a show longer than 10 minutes (and in a larger capacity because I was also in charge of music). This production was advertised as part of the mainstage season for my school, Eureka College, and was also my senior capstone project -- an added academic step for me as I took on this project. The main challenge, of course, was that because of budget cuts I did not have any base funds to put together this show; everything purchased was all by donations, between the rights, scripts, musical recording, costumes, sound equipment, set materials, props -- the list goes on.
Auditions were open, which means anyone that wanted to come between campus and the community were able to audition, and therefore, I had a diverse cast/crew of students, alums, and community members across Central IL.
I could not be happier to have met such wonderful, devoted, and supportive people as my capstone project became a full blown musical journey for all involved (as I'm sure Sondheim intended).
Shows started at 7PM for a four consecutive night run - Wednesday, November 1st to Saturday, November 4th. We sold out three out of four nights.
All of the proceeds we made were "Pay What You Decide" with donations benefiting The Penguin Project in Peoria, IL -- a camp that "empowers children with special needs" (more information can be found here: http://penguinprojectpeoria.org/). We raised over $2000 to help youth with special needs find passion through theatre.
I cannot say thank you to everyone enough. This whirlwind musical experience is one I will never forget. See pictures below, or go to the gallery for extra explanation on some pics.
