By Laura Kennelly
Enjoy meat pies? Are you sure? Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Sweeney Todd, especially as interpreted by director Victoria Bussert and presented by Great Lakes Theatre, might cause even steadfast meat-eaters to question their choices when they learn what can go into this delicious pastry cooked up in this Victorian Londontown.
As the title character, Tom Ford swaggers and menaces and cuts throats with delightful relish, but it’s Sara M. Bruner’s Mrs. Lovett, the sexy little pie-maker, who mixes up and dishes out the most pure evil. Sweeney Todd may wield the blade, but Lovett pushes it in.
Amazingly (and importantly for the Sondheim score which relies on clever phrases) every word from Bruner rings out clearly, frighteningly, as she shakes her upswept do (she looks a bit like a crazed Marie Antoinette) and bosses her men around (at least the ones she doesn’t grind into sausage). Amazingly, Ford’s “Demon Barber of Fleet Street” simultaneously embodies both Todd’s brute strength and his tenderness. He loves, but rashly–we forgive him more than he forgives himself.
Irony abounds when what is perhaps the show’s sweetest duet, “Not While I’m Around,” the one that promises “nothing’s gonna harm you” is sung by the calculating Lovett and her addled helper, Tobias Ragg (brought to zonked-out lyric life by Chris Cowan).
Cynics don’t completely rule in this hellish world. Johanna (tuneful and lovely Claire Eisentrout) falls for Anthony Hope (dashing Zack Adkins) the handsome, idealistic young hero who (like all heroes) must save her from her dastardly guardian. Their sweet interaction and lovely voices provide a welcome splash of joy.
Credit goes to the whole cast, the hard-drinking and gluttonous patrons of Mrs. Lovett’s pie store, the cops, the victims, the villains, the innocent bystanders, who make most excellent use of Jeff Herrmann’s most excellent set.
The Hanna Theatre itself remains a “destination theatre” because there’s still no bad seat in the place (and besides that one can come early for drinks and chat with friends).
Bottom Line: How many synonyms are there for “I didn’t look at my watch once?” Fabulous show.
Sweeney Todd runs through Sat 11/2 at the Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square. For tickets or information go to http://greatlakestheater.org.
Laura Kennelly is a freelance arts journalist, a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, and an associate editor of BACH, a scholarly journal devoted to J. S. Bach and his circle.Listening to and learning more about music has been a life-long passion. She knows there’s no better place to do that than the Cleveland area.
Cleveland, OH 44115