A barber, wrongly imprisoned for life, escapes after 15 years and returns to pre-industrial London to exact revenge on his persecutors. In the process he befriends a meat-pie purveyor and in order to augment her supply of pie ingredients exacts revenge on everyone else. In the words of my 14-year-old son, “That’s pretty messed up.”
The show is Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, directed by Todd Starkey, which continues its two-weekend run at Bel Air's Phoenix Festival Theater in residence at Harford Community College Sept 17-19. The theater amusingly subtitles publicity for this show with the statement “Adult Themes”.
What would those be?
Let’s see. Extortion, murder, cannibalism, gang rape, improper relationships with foster children, and unbridled capitalism to name a few. And this is not an exhaustive list. You could be forgiven if, so far, you are not jumping up to buy tickets to see this show.
Don’t make a hasty decision, lest you miss out on one of the best evenings of theatre this season.
The moment Sweeney (Lance Bankerd) sets foot on stage, there is a feeling something spectacular is going to happen. Trust that feeling, because it happens over and over again. Sweeney’s relationship with pie lady Mrs. Lovett (Debbie Desmone), and their tortuous, beautiful Sondheim duets are substantially more than just songs and acting. Desmone similarly has created a compelling, eminently watchable character. Watching them together calls to mind an alternate-universe Archie and Edith.
Kids, Google All in the Family.
A counterpoint to the Todd-Lovett duo is the forbidden, tender love story of Todd’s long-lost daughter Johanna (Erika Bankerd) and idealistic, upstanding sailor Anthony (Brendan Kennedy). That would be your Romeo and Juliet subplot. Kennedy and Bankerd look and sound lovely together, and you just want to eat them up.
You may get the chance, considering the story line.
Great characters abound, and deserve more than just a mention. Corrupt, evil Judge Turpin (Greg Mank) and his beadle henchman (Michael Bareham) make your flesh crawl. Alleged barber to the Pope - Pirelli (James Fitzpatrick), and his young assistant Tobias (Conor Perkins) bring comic (and eventually tragic) relief to the proceedings. Nuisance beggar woman (Jenny Wassom) is ejected multiple times from multiple scenes, and you would be well-advised to keep your eye on her.
She is going to break your heart.
Individuals of the ensemble, when not creeping us out with purposefully cacophonous production numbers, linger, lurk, haunt, and watch nearly every scene.
Excellent. Creepy and excellent.
To further the feeling of foreboding, the ensemble seem to be made up to look deranged, un-dead, or perhaps both deranged and un-dead. Sweeney himself looks like a smoldering Michael Chiklis from The Shield.
Commentary from a bystander at rehearsal: “This looks scary as crap.”
The bottom line is that this Phoenix Festival Theater production of Sweeney Todd is - pardon the pun – a cut above. That’s pretty messed up.
Sweeney Todd, Sept 17 and 18 at 8:00pm, Sept 19 at 3:00pm. Tickets $9 - $18. Call 443-412-2212
See The Aegis (Harford County's oldest and largest newspaper) review here
Comments
This is surely my favorite review that you have composed. I love the humor! I also really wish that I could make it down to MD to see this version! I saw the movie with J. Depp & H. B-Carter, but this play sounds like it's much better!
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