Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, directed by Irene Lewis, is playing until April 11 at CenterStage Theater on Calvert Street. And you're in for quite a fright with this Stephen Sondheim musical, which boasts "revenge, love, lust, corruption [and] cannibalism, all before intermission," as well as brilliant special effects in bloody murder scenes.
Musical Director Milton Granger aptly pointed out that "someone who does Sondheim well has to be... someone who can master all those intervals and rhythms and be able to internalize it all to make a performance," just as the six-piece orchestra manages to do in CenterStage's production. The ensemble generates a full sound with the help of microphones, despite the awkward acoustics, which result from their placement in a far corner on stage.
As for the rest of the set, there are a few inconsistencies with it and the mood of turn-of-the-century London. While the industrial wrought-iron stairs, exposed lighting and haphazardly painted brick walls evoke an appropriately raw sense of the impending crimes, the set is too modern for the musical as a whole. It seems to lend itself better to the more serious moments in Rent than in any of Sweeney Todd.
The plot introduces a one-time barber and happy husband and father, Benjamin Barker, who falls into ill-favor and is banished from his London home to Australia for fifteen years, only to return -- with the new name, Sweeney Todd -- to find that his wife has poisoned herself and that his daughter is now grown and is a ward of Judge Turpin, the same man who banished him. Determined to get his revenge, Sweeney Todd (Joseph Mahowald) sets up a barbershop with the help of an old friend, pie-maker Mrs. Lovett (Nora Mae Lyng). The partnership proves to be a fruitful one, as they pair up for a few more dastardly deeds later in the play.
Mahowald's performance is outstanding -- in his tattered trousers and ripped shirt, he looks the part of the crazed character he plays. Mahowald's Todd is strong, passionate and wild all at once, though he is the only one of the cast that does not attempt a British accent. Perhaps it is for the best; rogue-like with long whiskers and messy hair, Mahowald spits out Todd's aggressive cynicism a full, deep baritone.
His partner in crime, literally, is the red-haired, rosy-cheeked Mrs. Lovett -- in costume and make-up reminiscent of the prostitutes in Les Mis??rables -- who represents perhaps the only element of lightheartedness in this black comedy of a musical that is heavy on the black and light on the comedy, which some may find too sinister for laughs. Lyng shuffles about the stage and delivers a "Worst Pies in London" to rival those of past Broadway greats.
These two characters' chemistry on stage is evident in their interactions, from her presentation of Sweeney's lost barbershop tools -- which he seizes lustily from her -- to their jokes about economically "disposing' of the bodies that Sweeney cannot seem to stop killing in the number, "A Little Priest."
A secondary plot introduces Sweeney's sailor friend, Anthony Hope (Aaron Ramey), a tall, energetic young man who unwittingly falls in love with Johanna (Maria Crouch), Sweeney's daughter. Vigilant in his love for her, Anthony is determined to "steal" her away from the overly protective house of her guardian, the Judge. And like his love for Johanna, Ramey's strong tenor voice is hopeful and persistent. Matching her complementing character, Crouch flawlessly vaults her sweet, clear soprano into the audience.
The two antagonists -- though one can argue that everyone in this musical is the "bad guy' -- are Judge Turpin (Ed Dixon) and his sidekick The Beadle (Wayne P. Pretlow), both of whom are commanding and casually evil. In Dixon's scene of prostration for his own attraction to Johanna, Turpin grotesquely flagellates himself and brings to mind a guilty King Claudius of Hamlet.
Rebecca Baxter, who plays the Beggar Woman with a surprising past, transforms into a bedraggled hag with the help of realistic costuming and makeup; though her true "selling point,' as it were, is her perfect cockney accent and powerful voice, which is actually beautiful despite her appearance.
The last pair is that of Pirelli, the "defending' barber (Michael Brian Dunn), and his assistant Tobias Ragg (Ron De Stefano), who ends up working for Mrs. Lovett in the pie-shop. Their circus-like entrance is a bit out of place in the dreary set, and Pirelli's flamboyant costume in particular is too much like something Sir Elton John would wear to be taken seriously, but the scene offers much-needed comic relief, and De Stefano emerges at the end with the brilliant performance of a tragic madman.
This CenterStage production is not to be missed if you have a strong stomach and a morbid curiosity for gore and psychologically twisted characters. Ticket prices range from $10 to $60 and are available at the CenterStage Box Office (410 332 0033) or online (http://www.centerstage.org/).
