Silhouette

Issue date: 10/19/06 Section: Front Page

Media Credit: Nick Snyder Dianne Wilken and Clayton Wright , both of Garden City, rehearse an act from 'Sweeney Todd' which opens to the public Friday, Oct. 28.

Several people are to be murdered on the stage of the fine arts building, in the upcoming fall musical "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Children under 10 years of age are asked to be left at home.

"There will not be a lot of blood and gore, but the imagination begins to take over," Amy McAllister, vocal coach, said.

McAllister has had a hand in the production and will not be bringing her 3-year-old daughter to the performance.

"Young children will be afraid of Todd's anger," McAllister said.

Sweeney Todd begins to loose his mind in the second act. The barber begins to slit throats of select town-folk in his barber chair.

"It just has some more adult themes than previous musicals," Stage Manager Sammie Stockemer, Holcomb, Kan., said. "If parents think that they [the children] are mature enough, they can bring them, but we don't recommend it."

Doral Mancini, drama director, said there is nothing in the show that even compares with the usual fare of television, though a grown man was reported to jump out of his seat and run out of the theater in a past showing, as the performance shortly interacted with the audience.

"It is a musical drama, not a musical comedy, filled with murder, mystery, and mayhem," Mancini said. "Because of the subject matter and dramatic tone, we are not recommending this production for children under 10 years of age."

Sweeney Todd will show Oct. 27-29 and Nov. 3-5, tickets will cost $10.

"The show promises to be our best," Mancini said.

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