Winston Peacock and Jocelyn A. Brown (Photo by Doug Catiller)
Reviewed by Socks Whitmore
Chance Theater
Through Aug 11
In the midst of a SoCal summer heatwave, spooky season has come early to Chance Theater with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street — Sondheim & Wheeler’s three-hour murderous masterpiece about a mad barber bent on revenge.
Based on a Christopher Bond play about the popular villain from Victorian penny dreadfuls, Sweeney Todd finds its titular character freshly escaped from a life sentence in Botany Bay and hoping to reunite with his family in London. When Todd learns that his wife was raped and driven to madness by Judge Turpin, the very judge who convicted him on false charges — and who now serves as lustful warden to Todd’s daughter Johanna — he sets his barber’s razor to a new purpose. Soon, he and the widow piemaker Mrs. Lovett have a dastardly and delicious plot in place — one that includes haircuts, homicide, and meat pies. Meanwhile, Anthony Hope, the sailor who rescued Todd at sea, has fallen in love with Johanna from outside her window and plans to rescue her from Turpin before she is forced to marry him.
The show begins with an ominous overture and a haunting organ solo, setting the tone of spooky chaos with whispers, laughs, and screams. The operatic score appears uncut and features even the most unsettling scenes of tooth-pulling and self-flagellation, though the elements of the Judge’s assault on Lucy and his pedophilic desires for Johanna are somewhat watered down.
This staging features a tight cast of nine, so each character outside of Todd and Lovett additionally serves in the ensemble of versatile Victorian spirits. Despite its smaller size, the Chance production competes well with the production at A Noise Within earlier this spring. Winston Peacock is a superior Sweeney, although his vocals are occasionally plagued by nasality and slightly rocky breath support. Jocelyn A. Brown’s Mrs. Lovett presents a standout cockney accent and skillful octave displacement. Abel Miramontes’ Beadle Bamford is slightly mad and quite enjoyable. Emmanuel Madera as Adolfo Pirelli and Adam Leiva as Tobias offer unexpected vocal highlights.
One curious choice is to adorn Naya Ramsey-Clarke’s Johanna with a headband of thin blonde locks instead of utilizing a wig or substituting “raven for “yellow” in the lyric “buried sweetly in your yellow hair.” (This was how ANW did it.) Also, because the principle actors double as the ensemble, the production would benefit greatly if their changes in costume contrasted more sharply.
Horror fans and theater kids alike will appreciate the work of the design team to immerse audiences in a demented 19th century London. The steampunk-style set is vaguely reminiscent of Wicked, studded with bolts, gears, ropes, and an eerie green light; in the rafters, lit birdcages with colorful handkerchiefs wait to be suspended. Scene changes are facilitated by hazy projections, intense flashing lights, and the ensemble proffering props as ghostly extensions of the set. The cast makes ample use of the floor and stairs, at times gathering into a strange and twisted cluster. Most actors sport heavy dark make-up around their eyes and a few wear costume pieces reminiscent of skeletons. James Michael McHale’s direction makes creative use of the theatrical suspension of disbelief, staging Anthony’s boat as a hand-pulled cart and using Mrs. Lovett’s rolling pin on a rope “table.” Each death in Todd’s barbershop is marked by specters wringing rags into buckets of “blood,” a body bag sliding across the bakehouse rope, and a (loud!) bloodcurdling scream. Hats off to sound designer Lia Weed for a ghastly set of sound effects and the tactful use of reverb to create spatial shifts. Despite its lack of squibs and gore, the design and staging of this Sweeney offers an interesting take on the classic grim parable.
Chance Theater, 5552 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim. Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 3 pm, Thurs., 7:30 pm; thru August 11. www.chancetheater.com. Running time: two hours and 45 minutes with one intermission.
