To kick off the Halloween season, this October we had the pleasure of working with Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center during their run of the musical Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. A small group of our blood technicians used three of our SquibFX Kurasawa rigs, which worked great for the sustained continuous spray of blood that is all too infamous with the story of Sweeney Todd. We also used five gallons of our signature stage blood during the course of the show. We reset and rotated our rigs between six actors who performed, and then slid down the trap door under Sweeney Todd’s barber chair, all while effortlessly wearing their squib rigs. As Sweeney Todd took his razor (don’t worry, just a prop) to each actor’s neck, the blood sprayed like crimson waterfalls. The actors would coordinate the moment they triggered their squib, with the motion of Sweeney Todd’s razor. During the musical’s final scene, as Sweeney Todd met his demise each night, we made sure the audience could see the blood spray from the back row (…and maybe feel it in the front row). Sweeney Todd’s squib was triggered wireless off stage using our Remote Control Firing Unit, so the actor could have his hands free to perform. We learned a lot while working on this musical, like every gig that we do, like costuming and lighting play a huge role in the success of our SquibFX rigs. Also, always make sure you know where the trigger is before you accidentally step on it back stage. We always say there is no way the next SquibFX gig will be as crazy as the last one, but we all know that isn’t true. So as one bloody door closes, the next one opens, and we can’t wait to see what’s inside.