Okay, y'all. Sweeney Todd was, indeed, the most dominant play ever. Almost everyone I spoke to who saw it simply loved it. Some people have been impressed enough to say it was the best production they've ever seen on the Hanes Theatre stage. Now, I've seen a whole lot of really impressive shows on that stage, so I'm not going to be quite that loose with my own praise for the show. But it was probably the best thing that I've had anything to do with on that stage. And I've been involved in every show that has been produced since Children of Eden, in the fall of my freshman year.

For the most part, I was pleased with my spot operators' collective works. I, of course, was up in the control booth, calling the shots. "Warning for a spot on Tobias at center," and so forth. Eventually they got polished enough that on the last night, when a headset went cold, the spot operator on the other end of it was able to pick up almost all of her cues flawlessly without me. I was proud.

The cast did a phenomenal job. From the first time I came to a rehearsal, I was impressed with how frightening they were. By the time the performances rolled around, they were able to scare the living daylights out of our audiences. Which is always, always a good thing. To affect someone on that level is the entire goal of the live theatre. I feel now like I've been a part of something very big and cool, and not all shows give me a feeling like that. And even though there were problems, the united whole was spectacular.

The only consistent complaint I heard from audience members was in reference to the audio reinforcement. I'd like to take a moment now to address those concerns. The simple answer: yes, we know it was bad. There are several complex reasons for that. One is the nature of body microphones. Let me describe. A condenser microphone (like those employed as body mics in our theatre) is very sensitive to sound, because it works by detecting the vibrations in a minute electronic field, which is much easier to disturb than the physical diaphragm within a dynamic microphone. However, there are some downsides to using condenser mics. First, they are more expensive. Second, they require a power source, either a small battery pack or phantom power through the mixing board. Third, and the reason that our play had audio difficulties, they are much less durable and more susceptible to damage than dynamic microphones. This means that when you put one on somebody's body, they sweat into it. This produces popping noises. Also, body mics are always wireless. This means that if they're close to any metal or to electrical equipment (such as lighting equipment) there is considerable radio interference. There are also issues with range. The microphones have about a 1000-foot line-of-sight range. Which is reduced by things like brick walls and even to an extent by human bodies. Finally, microphones in general, and body mics in particular, are voodoo. If you don't have the touch, you can't be an audio technician. I only know two people at our school who have demonstrated the touch on the Hanes Theatre sound equipment. Neither of them was our audio technician for Sweeney Todd. So, if you're me you're asking the following: "If body mics are so Satan, why did you use them?" And the answer to that is: GOOD QUESTION! We shouldn't have to use body mics. It would be much better for the actors simply to project. It made a little bit of sense for Jesus Christ Superstar to use body mics to balance with the highly electonic, overamped pit band, but it made no sense for Sweeney Todd, in my opinion. I figure if we don't have the talent to sing it cold, then why the hell are we trying to do it in the first place?

Now, don't misinterpret that. I actually think we do have the talent to sing Sweeney Todd without body mics. But when you give a person a body mic, then they automatically don't try as hard. Even if it's purely psychological, singers take it down a notch when they know that they will be reinforced. It's the way it will always be. As an audio technician, your most difficult job is to convince the performers that there actually are no microphones. Unfortunate, but true. It's all psychology. And that's the complex reason why the audio sucked. It would have been far better if we'd covered it all without putting a body mic on any of the actors.

Back to how awesome it was. I must give individual props to a few people for being particularly awesome.

• First of all, Katherine Castleman made an absolutely perfect Mrs. Lovett. For some reason, I was absolutely sure she was a senior until told (rather forcefully, actually) that she is actually a sophomore. So that's cool, because she will be in plays for the next two years.
• Second, as much as I really hate Jesse Darden, I have to say that he did an awesome job in the title role. Not only could he sing the hell out of that part, he also convinced me he was a crazed lunatic so bent upon revenge that he is willing to murder innocent customers. He was awesome. Very, very nice.
• My friend Katie did an awesome job with props. Her job was huge. It involved loading razors with blood every night and trying to keep dozens of edible props out of actor stomachs until necessary for them to eat them.
• The whole Tech Theatre class kicked some scenic butt with that set. The pieshop was spectacular. The barber chair and chute were strokes of pure genius.
• Paul Piracci. This kid is so awesome, I made a page about him. I sure will miss him when he's gone. He was by far every single techie's favorite actor. It's really unfortunate that he only got to do one show here. He rocks hardcore, and he would have been awesome in other shows.
• Travismith. What a creepy dude.

All of these people were special highlights. However, as I said before, the play couldn't have been as effective missing any of its personnel. Everyone was freaking awesome. I'm very, very proud of our work here. If you missed the show, you missed a classic. As was said in Tech Theatre this morning, Hanes Theatre's production of Sweeney Todd will be remembered for years to come.