Margie and I, and Rey and Jules, went to Sweeney Todd down at Boetcher Concert Hall this afternoon, a production of Opera Colorado. Much fun. Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd is a fascinating tale of evil, and just as fascinating in making evil … well, fascinating, not to mention entertaining.
The production was good, if not great. Sweeney’s (Alan Ewing) upper range was a bit weak, and I didn’t care for some of his on-stage business and comportment; he came across occasionally as flip. Mrs. Lovett (Phyllis Pancella, who made the role her own, in competition with Angela Lansbury) and Beadle Bamford (Matthew Lord, who reminded us both of Odd Job) were the best parts of the show, and the other players were all pretty solid. The staging was interestingly done (lacking an “upstairs” barber shop, the lower level of the stage had to serve for Sweeney’s emporium, Lovett’s restaurant, and the bakehouse), but the lighting occasionally lacked focus. There were some problems early on with the sound system, too, muffling some of the voices, and sometimes the balance between singer and orchestra was off, too.
An entertaining game is deciding who, from a moral perspective, is the most awful character. Sweeney’s a psychopath, driven mad with grief and outrage, and willing to kill anyone who gets in the way of his revenge. Nellie Lovett’s a sociopath, utterly amoral, interested only her prosperity and romance, no matter whose bodies fall where. Judge Turpin has the decency to feel occasionally guilty, but he clearly lets his power and his passions go to his head — he’s certainly a corrupt man, and the most obvious villain.
There’s Beadle Bamford, of course, who’s a fine thug; Pirelli, who’s a mountebank and blackmailer … heck, Anthony’s a murderer, as (eventually) is Toby. Even Lucy, mythical paragon of virtue, has been turned into a madwoman; a fate that nearly afflicts her daughter (and who knows how she’ll turn out after all this).
Jeez, isn’t that depressing?
Still, paradoxically, it’s a lot of fun, and I’m glad we went.
Sweeny Todd is a particular favorite of mine… Dark and disturbing, with only minimal signs of hope, it still manages to be “fun” in all the vital ways.
Of course, it probably would be better if I wasn’t frequently singing along with Sweeny’s Epiphany (“They all deserve to die!”) while stuck in Boston traffic, but it still stays one of my favorite CDs and thus has a permanent home in the CD case/armrest.
Anyone who knows me knows my connections with Sweeny Todd. Still, I always ask, “How was Toby?” One of the first musical theatre teachers I had pushed the idea that Toby is actually the character around whom the events of the play occur.
I read some fanfic once on how Joanna turned out. [smirks, shakes head]
Toby was okay. He hit the notes fine, and played professional victim with the gusto the role demands.
I can see how your teacher might advance that theory, but I think it’s kind of goofy. You could make the same argument for Turpin.
As for Johanna — my guess is that Anthony will get very tired of her, very quickly.