Whew. Crazy, crazy week! We had the annual Gala on Saturday night, which was a blast. Sweeney opened (Harriet Harris is so amazing!), Freud’s Last Session opened, and Into the Woods started rehearsals! Plus, we’ve all been busy getting ready for KidsAct! which starts on Monday. We had a meeting last Friday which went very well; I’m excited to start working with such a great team.

Embarassing fact of the day: I wake up singing “There are Giants in the Sky,” go to sleep singing “Alms, alms… for a miserable woman…” Yes, it’s true. Sondheim is taking over my life.

Oh, and can we talk about Chip Zien? Yeah. He came to speak to the Youth Theatre cast. Meaning I was there. Meaning I heard his casual stories about hanging out with Bernadette, good ol’ Stephen, and Katherine… Hepburn (WHAT?!!) Yeah, yeah, I know, you want to be an intern, too.

Last week, we took some of the students from the Playwright Mentoring Project to see Sweeney Todd, and afterwards, almost the whole cast (including Ms. Harris (I KNOW! (Applications for internships won’t be available until 2011 (nanny-nanny-boo-boo))) was gracious enough to hold a talk back, just for us! It was great. I did notice, however, that a lot of the students had previous perceptions created from the film that came out in 2008. They loved both and really enjoyed seeing the original stage version.

Now, I am personally a fan of Mr. Burton (if you saw his art at the Modern earlier this year, don’t tell me, I’m pretending I didn’t miss it. I did stare at this enough to have actually been there. Or so I’m telling myself) and a fan of Sondheim, and I believe they are fans of each other, so I thought it was a beautiful film.

The goregeous original musical, which is being so marvelously presented here, is an entirely different subject. It’s so different from the film that I watched both (in the same week…yeah…) to contrast and compare. There’s not a lot to compare! They’re both great pieces of art, but if I were asked to pick and choose, I wouldn’t know what to say. It’s like choosing between a sculpture or a photograph. Even if the subject is the same, they are two entirely different pieces!

Sorry. It’s a small rant my roommates are tired of hearing. So, of course you have to hear about it, too. Anyways, go see Sweeney and see for yourself. You’ll love it, whether or not you liked/saw the movie. I promise. And so do all of the reviews.

I’m signing off for now. KidsAct! starts Monday in Great Barrington! Call ASAP if you still want a spot!