"A Little Priest, part one" from Agoura High's Sweeney Todd

[PurpleandBlackPandas]

This is not the... Starkid AJ, right? If it is, I will gladly DIE right now.

[MtDewgirl09]

@PurpleandBlackPandas Yeah it's him! XD this is his personal youtube page lol

[PurpleandBlackPandas]

@MtDewgirl09 I figured.... Lol.

[MtDewgirl09]

@PurpleandBlackPandas Haha, sorry! XD I just saw you posted 3 weeks ago and should have known you'd know by now

[PurpleandBlackPandas]

@MtDewgirl09 No it's fine! If anything, I like being brought back to the video to reply.

[ConnaughtRosComain]

Saw this 4 years ago...and loved it. And now AJ is lead in the national tour of Young Frankenstein...so much has changed! Go AJ!

[happyhearts17]

agoura high's theater program has always been so good. thumbs up if u watch their current drama club channel!

[olgap35]

I didn't know AJ was ever Sweeney Todd! That just made my day!

[Tacoking9291]

Listen to your heart Sweeney!!

[Catmourne]

2:40 made me cringe. I'm sorry. She's off key.

[mcr4lif31229]

if starkid ever did sweeney todd then tyler has to play anthony lol

[iWALKtheLINEx3]

You just made my day! Sweeney Todd is one of my favorite musicals. Awesome performance AJ!

[MusicalChick99]

Wonderful job by Mr. Holmes and Ms. Martone on the harmonies :) And on the characters. Both of them have phenomenal voices.

YOU GO WIZARD GOD.

((BTW, what did you do for an orchestra? I'm possibly going to be music director for a production of this and I'd like to know how other people set up their orchestra, parts, etc.))

[CanadasWifey]

Is it me or does A.J. do it better than JDepp?

[Labyrinth97]

behold... wizard god himself! :0

[theloverofmovies91]

I am officially in love with him now...and i can't believe it took me this long!

[TheFleurDeMer]

Hey question. this was performed at a high school yes?

please tell me how your school approved this? please and thank you! <3

[sarahnicole32]

I can't believe this is a high school production, it's fantastic!

And A.J, make sure those StarKid friends of yours give you more singing roles :)

[FanOfTheMusical]

Wow. This is great. This show is um..a lot to bite into for high school kids (sorry, couldn't resist the pun. Great job!

[paige3406]

How on EARTH did you get your school to let you do this? We would KILL (..haha) to be able to do this.

[retardupforhire]

A.J. is a wonderful Sweeney Todd. Us StarKids never really get to see him sing unless we watch MAMD... Otherwise he's just a musician.

[FleetStreetNightmare]

oh how i wish my school would do Sweeney, we do such stupid shows :P

we would more likely do HSM than Sweeney, stupid school

Mrs Lovett has a nice voice, and Sweeney has an awesome voice as well. very impressive for a high schooL!

[Bethykinz]

A.J. Holmes as Sweeney Todd = Epic Win :D

[omnigeek13]

i have to say, at 2:20, i love mrs lovett's expression. i never thought before that the handhold would have been so impactful, but i love it!

[pinkamaspit]

Good acting. Mrs. Lovett could use a little singing work, but she's still pretty good. And Sweeney is amazing for high school.

[dahuterschuter]

Great set!

[spideygirl2794]

live music!! JEALOUS!1

[spideygirl2794]

my school did this show last summer...my brother was a townman in it...but it was hilarious because our Judge Turpin almost rolled off of the stage because we had a sort of slide contraption when they get razored. lol

[NeoNerdGirl]

Wow. This is such an advanced show, its hard to believe that this is a high school production!

Bravo!

[puckhiggins]

AJ,you make an excellent Sweeney!

[MrActor123456789]

Hey guys, this was great! Mrs. Lovett really grabbed my attention. Her acting was subtle yet appropriate. Sweeney did and equally great job. Got a very nice voice on him and the two work together well. I actually just played Sweeney recently. Lighthouse Youth Theatre's Sweeney Todd. Lemme know what you think ;-)

[bubbly92c]

not the best version....

[bnightwing]

This is a high school and they have the band playing? That is amazing :D!

[skepticmouse]

Whoa. I think I just fell in love with you A.J. You have an amazing voice.

[AVPMisTotallyAwesome]

that chick was annoying...

[xxIdinaxx]

Sweeney's singing gave me goosebumps, and Lovett's acting and character voice were dead on. Lovely.

[CrazyAboutSims2]

My high school better wait for me before they do this. xD

[mcrlaws]

aaa!!!

[dahuterschuter]

Sweeney looks absolutely horrid! (Not a bad thing!)

[livingthemomentx]

i do alot of theatre and they both have good stage and character presence but their voices mixed dont work

[LoveLiial]

they both have wonder theatre voices..like i dnt think ppl understand tht theatre is so differnt..and hard to do..i did how to succeed in my skool this year..good work :D

[MCRmyINO]

sweeney has a good voice

just not a good character work

and lovett..

could use some work on singing

and has very good character work

its a win lose situation

[haskelo]

The Mrs. Lovett did a spectacular job. She was the character that I invisioned most. The male, didn't look or act like Sweeney Todd.

Sounded good though ;)

[noahsdad61]

very nice job; this sweeney does seem too decent, though--not menacing enough! but I quite enjoyed it!

[ruwadanielle]

sweeny todd just doesnt sound right without the cockney accent to be honest!!!!!!!!

[ieatglue44]

Well, that's how actors have done it since the 70s...without, that is...so there must be somethin to it.

[ruwadanielle]

Yeah well we are all all entitled to our own opinions and I dont think it sounds right and other comments agree. Sorry if you think it sounds wonderful in their acccents!

[saintrichie]

It's not an opinion. You've probably just heard the Johnny Depp version and automatically consider that the definitive one. In practically every other performance of the play other than the movie no one has a Cockney accent.

[ruwadanielle]

Oh for godness sake, I havent just heard the Johnny Depp version, how patronizing of you to say that!

[ruwadanielle]

Oh and what your the director are you?

[xxhunnyxxbeexx]

i have to agree. I know the original musical was written without the accents but the cockney accent just makes it work so much better.

[robbie946]

singin voices r amazin but dont like the accents ur songs from a new world are AMAZING :D

[futurevet13]

my school are doing sweeny todd... 1st Show Is On Monday... Can't Wait

[RCRBOBAFETT]

my school just did sweeney todd i think we did great we had about the same set

it was relly fun

great play

[imsweeneytodd]

thats awesome! great voices. i want my school to do Sweeney Todd

[dudemanguyperson76]

Wow! That's a great set. And I thought the actors were great =)But at 2:33, I think him grabbing the air is a bit weird..

[PVHSArts]

I don't know what everyone's talking about, I think your Lovett has a great voice. Very mature for high school.

Great job.

[TedBelton]

sweeney was fantastic in terms of voice, but i think there's a bit too much george hern in him to be original. but otherwise, he had some great moments.

[ieatglue44]

In my opinion, better to copy Hearn than Depp.  Not that I don't love Depp, but it wouldn't work on stage....

[AaronRutherford]

In my opinion, better not to copy but to act on your own. You can take ideas from others. But you don't copy.

[ieatglue44]

Well, from experience, it is incredibly difficult when you are familiar with a particular interpretation, to act your own. It's a High School production, so I don't view it as nearly as big a deal. If this were a pro production, I'd be right there with you.

[starlite450]

i agree george hearn was definately meant for the stage while depp was meant to stay on screen.

[DashingWizardHowl]

This is really good! I enjoyed it. Sweeney is especially good. Nice meaty baritone voice!

[01ChristineDaae01]

hmmmm....they probaly wanted a old lady voice. she sounds older than high school. But, I think she dosn't sound that bad. I've heard worse.

[kelly3kins]

mrs lovett is a good actress but she can't sing to save her life.

[Filipeeno]

I love to see high school performances that don't copy the professional ones! Original and unique what you brought to the characters! Great! :-)

[move2themusic]

This is such a good version of this song! ^_^ Allison martone was also absolutely hilarious in Bubble Boy.

[prrrrecious]

Not bad. Better than the latest rendition.

[klstrong2011]

Wow...I wish my school would do Sweeney Todd!!! They put on a very good performance!!!

[lmaoroflzomg1337]

boo.

ms lovett in this video couldnt sing to save her life.

sweeney wasnt bad.

[mollypie10]

wow she is great,,I would love to play Mrs. Lovett :]

[siriuslyamazing]

Sweeney has a GREAT voice :0

[mmmusic14]

This is really good! You guys sound great! I wish MY high school would let us put this on... Its my favourite musical.

[peace5682]

great job!

Me and my friend are in our HS drama club but our director is too busy wanting to do westside story. but no1 wants to do WST. so alot of us probably wont be in it. our club is very budgeted and WST has alot of dancing which our club lacks poorly. Unfortunatly our director is to oblivious to this musical bc we actually have a cast that is capible of fitting every role. it has to be what she wants. it sux so bad and it is our senior year.

[CorkerDoggy2214]

Mrs. Lovett in this video is actually a very pretty girl.

[demonbaby09]

We're doing Sweeney at my school as well. I'm thrilled, did ya'll do the high school edition or the full edition?

[jimviet]

They probably did the full version. The school version is fairly new. Released after the movie, I believe.

[sdrhead]

You're doing Sweeney Todd at your school?!?! Lucky bastard! LOL! Our school would never approve something like that! I'm pretty P.O'd!

[EidahageFeroe]

I really like this. I love the singers. Although the makeup looks really bad on Sweeny

[jimviet]

I dislike that kind of makeup, too. It's to make him look older, but I personally think that the wig would've been good enough.

[pokemonfangirl3]

i wish my school did sweeney todd but instead we did adladdin maybe because to much singing and they need to use blood

[oohcool]

They probably also wanted more family friendly material.

[OrangeMania3]

pretty good my school did sweeney todd this year. I was pirelli. Not bad though not bad

[michellethehawtie]

my stupid ass catholic high school wont let us do anything slightly interesting

they wont even do grease, because theres premarital 'relations' in it

so we did high school musical.

and next year we're doing into the woods or beauty and the beast

[oohcool]

Into the woods has some Premarital relations too. it's implied that the Prince and wife have sex in the middle of the woods.

I get what you mean about the school. Ours wouldn't even do Alice in Wonderland because it is supposedly based on a drug trip.

[LarCarmen]

They're brilliant! Amazing for high school students.

[miep8675]

How did you get the sets? They're like the broadway ones.

[charleskelso]

These kids are great.

[triplethreathoney]

Wow! This is a high school production? This is good for high school. Nice job. Hard show for such young people too!!! Awesome.

[partyboy3458]

There is an appropraite one, though it's not a musical. Which my school is doing. I threatened not to do the play if they don't do it.

:D

[SirCoughsalot]

Is that the George Dibden Pitt version or the Christopher Bond play?

[partyboy3458]

I love this Mrs. Lovett. I agree with LostMind about the first sentence, only because that's the biggest punchline in the song. She was great though.

[LostMind1989]

she did the "good[space]you got it" horrible around 1:48... and very unprofessional of the orchestra to look back at the actors at the beginning of the play. o well i wish my school would organize something like this it would b awesome.

[lunarchik]

I disagree. The girl has wonderful motivation and a clear connection. You can actually see the character's thought process. Extremely impressive! Now the boy on the other hand...

[CynicalSavior]

The singing was pretty decent but the acting is horrible.

[ThornNorris]

I Love Mrs.Lovetts laugh

[Oblivimark]

Awesome stage... Love the backdrop.

[TJisRad]

The kid playing Todd's a fantastic singer. Not such a strong actor though, but it all evens out.

He looks like Rufio, from Hook, as well.

[PotterPirateFan]

@TJisRad That is the amazing Wizard God himself, A.J. Holmes. He is a part of Starkid Potter's A Very Potter Musical (he plays the piano) and their 2nd musical, Me and My D!ck (He plays Joey's Heart, and totally steals the show, tbw) Go check them out! :D

[bbguy425]

the movie didnt depict mrs lovett quite as annoying as she is in the stage show.

[ROCKINGIRLY]

omg!!!! i am in love with his voice!!!

[beatboxingrules]

not bad:)

[fffra]

my god his voice is damn good

[CuriositysCat]

Agreed.

[sdrhead]

You guys are SO LUCKY! Our school would NEVER approve this kind of show! Great performances from both of you!

[CuriositysCat]

Our school wouldn't approve of it either. How did you manage to do the whole "There's a whole in the world like a great black pit, and it's filled with people who are filled with shit" part? Schools tend not to approve of that bit.

[firebrat01]

My school did little shop of horrors and it says words like slut. And this song is cut up. They might of cut it out

[CuriositysCat]

Hm. Alright then. I don't know how they would be able to cut it out, but ok.

[miep8675]

Odd, because they don't cut out the words they use in the high school edition of Les Miserables in the prostitue scene.

[firebrat01]

My school did little shop of horrors and it says words like slut. And this song is cut up. They might of cut it out

[pengallow]

My high school did this last year. As my teacher says, we say swear words like it's part of our normal language, not being immature and forcing the swear words. He says there's a certain way to get those words under the radar. It's quite funny.

[CuriositysCat]

Still though, my school would go "ARGH, SWEARS, BAAAAAAD!" and say no.

[ElFuzzyFilms]

i go to a Christian school, so even swears in the theatre are "satan" lol XD

[CuriositysCat]

OoOoOoOo... That must suck.

[CuriositysCat]

OoOoOoOo... That must suck.

[CuriositysCat]

OoOoOoOo... That must suck.

[ElFuzzyFilms]

yeah i know, i wanna do sweeny todd for the play next year.... do they have an "appropriate" version? (ugh i much prefer the original though....)

[CuriositysCat]

God, I hope they don't. I hate when they change shows. My old school once actually fit all of Grease into half an hour, it was aweful.

[oohcool]

I go to a school that is too hung up on "morals" they won't even do a real show, they do generic stuff, so it's a fruitless wish of doing Sweeney next year (though we could very easily do it.) Stupid morality. lol

[ElFuzzyFilms]

lol nice

[oohcool]

maybe their school realized that its just a show and just because a student says it while ACTING doesnt mean that he will become a serial killer. Sorry, i'm just mad that my school won't even allow the word "whore" in a show (WHich was once the proper word back in the day)

[CuriositysCat]

God, that must suck.

[SirCoughsalot]

Yeah, I'm gonna try to convince the folks in charge of our plays to do Sweeney Todd. We tried to get them to do it this year, but instead they're doing The Music Man. O, what fun! (The last bit is sarcasm.)

[LarCarmen]

My school did The Music Man this year, and I tried to get them to Sweeney Todd next year. It didn't really happen. I got scolded just for requesting it!

[oohcool]

People just don't realize that there is SO much more to the story than murdering and eat humans.

It's beautiful story, but people shut it out b/c they are too lazy to see for themselves.

[nitemareshadows]

They let you do this at school?

HOLY SHIT, MAAN.

[Shindle07]

i'm sorry i have to say that mr todd is really poorly played hear , he needs to be more sly and have a cockney accent. sorry. and he looks a bit gomeless lol.

nm , least u tried.

[oohcool]

Johnny depp is the only actor to my knowledge that played sweeney using a cockney accent.

[karloffornia13]

Holy Crap! This is a high school? Bravo you guys!

[Danteswrath]

Is voice is perfect... And Not to insult you but i did'nt expect you to have such a deep voice by your really scrawny look

[HLK94]

wow, that was better then some of the ones I've seen with adults, I'm jealous now, i wanna do this play soooooo bad! Our principal won't let us!

[JOHNNYxxDEPPxxROX]

the movie's better

[TheMLE215]

nice job guys!

i wish our school would do Sweeney...

this year for us is beauty and the beast unfortunantly lol

[DaniloMith]

Hey, it's also a nice play! =)

[mmmwhataprettyspider]

i'm impressed.

[lefevbre]

MAN! i wish MY highschool did the musical sweeney todd! my choir teacher wont let us!

[lmille07]

I performed as sweeney in my highschool's version...this one had a much better set...I have to say I did a better job...our makeup was better too...

[Chizpurfle52595]

O NOES, YOUR HUGE EGO HAS EATEN YOUR BRAINS.

If you can prove you did a better job by posting a video of yourself, then do it. But don't go insulting his performance if you can't.

[darkpirategirl]

Better than the movie, a thousand times over.

[Chizpurfle52595]

Hey now chilluns, that's just her opinion.

Frankly I love pretty much every rendition of Sweeney out there, from the big Broadway productions to the geeky Youtube videos. AJ is a much better singer than Depp, but Depp's emotional performance was acting genius, it's frankly the first time I really felt like I understood the character and felt for him because his performance was more understated and natural on a human level. On the stage you have to play it broad so people in the back can see.

[hardr0ck]

the guy playing sweeney todd has a really good stage voice.

[marioman7788]

wow! Do you guys have the whole play?? If so I'd love to see it please?!

[456Josh]

wow that set is really good!

[Vynisa]

Wow impressive for a high school. I wish my school would do this show I want to be Mrs. Lovett so much

[DotDotDotofDeath]

AWESOME!! THESE KIDS ARE GREAT!!!

[ThornNorris]

i love Mrs.Lovetts laugh its very cool. brava

[superheathurrr]

Holy crap, I'm impressed! :)

[notfifi]

the music is a bit off in parts, but this is pretty awesome. :)

[CHSBand2003]

nice...so lucky you have a live orchestra!

[winkydobby4x4]

that's a wounderful play. Thanks for the video. Where's this school? I like to go there someday.

[oohcool]

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOEEEEEE! It's nice to see a high school that can pull of a GOOD show for a change!

[fbandit007]

gah! our principal would NEVER go for this...lmao. maybe it's the cannibalism.

[CaptainCrane]

Is this a performing arts school, or a regular high school? Sweeney's amazing. Mrs. Lovett's a bit shouty, but otherwise good.

[alicatt214]

just a normal high school with a really talented theater department haha

[CaptainCrane]

And a BIG ASS budget!

[i4snickers]

aaah amazing...allie's awesome

[flyingwind66]

ooh wow, high school production eh?

[KnowKnot]

second comment... i have to say that his timing is amazing for high school as well. impressive.

[KnowKnot]

her delivery of the final "has" in beginning is amazing...

[yumenotenshi07]

Wow... they're amazing!

[lacy19912009]

Wow. This is excellent for a High School production.

Sweeney is excellent. Mrs. Lovett tries to hard to me, but she pulls it off decently.

But where are the british accents??

[emolina93]

woah. that guy is awesomeee. reminds me of george hearn.

[Zozolight]

great actors... i suppose thats all you need. and that's good cause that set and dem custom's... oh my.

[yumichan89]

When that Allie Martone projects, she sounds very rough at points. The two aren't bad, though.

They won't allow any high schools to perform Sweeney Todd here in Utah since it's too violent, but it seems like this is one of the better productions.

[GuacamoleKun]

Oooooh, this guy is great! They both are! Thanks for uploading. :D :D :D

[revolutionary14]

Holy Crap his voice is so amazing!! I think Mrs. Lovett is trying to hard....that's just me.

[GinaMarie1982]

mrs lovett is fabulous -- muuuuuuch better than patti lupone, she has lots of hint of angela lansbury, but her own character too love it!!

[sdrhead]

Sweeney has a great voice and Mrs. Lovett is really funny!

[broadwaydude]

wow that was great

He really doesn't fit the role...