Sweeney Todd, Signature Theatre, Arlington, VA

 

The cast of Sweeney Todd at Signature Theatre. Photo by Christopher Mueller. 

Arlington’s Signature Theatre is noted for its long association with the works of the late composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. In 1991, the company’s first musical production was Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, which is also Signature’s current production. Sweeney Todd concludes a season dedicated to Sondheim, with productions of Into the Woods and Pacific Overtures earlier in the season.

After Signature’s season was announced, a New York City Center production of Into the Woods opened. An unexpected hit, it transferred to Broadway and ran for several months before sending out many of the original cast in a touring production, whose stops included the Kennedy Center. Similarly, Sweeney Todd has been revived on Broadway this spring, a well-reviewed production starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford. Both productions are nominated for the Tony Award as Best Revival of a Musical; Into the Woods has five additional nominations and Sweeney Todd has seven.

Sweeney Todd’s book is by Hugh Wheeler, based on an adaptation of the story by Christopher Bond. Originally directed by legendary producer/director Harold Prince, it starred Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. My timing was a bit off, as I saw it the week after the original stars had left, but George Hearn and Dorothy Loudon were more than capable replacements. Hearn and Lansbury repeated their performances for a television film in 1982. In 2007, director Tim Burton made a film version starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter. Welsh opera star Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson starred in a 2014 performance in concert with the New York Philharmonic, filmed for PBS’s “Live with Lincoln Center.” (Interesting side note: the Beggar Woman in the Lincoln Center performance was played by Bryonha Marie, who plays Mrs. Lovett at Signature.)

This current production solidifies Signature’s reputation as one of the best and most significant producers of Sondheim’s work. After all, they have produced more Sondheim shows than any other professional theatre company.

Sweeney Todd is a tale of one man’s obsession with revenge. Newly released from an undeserved, years-long imprisonment, barber Benjamin Barker, now calling himself Sweeney Todd, has returned to London to exact revenge on the evil Judge Turpin, who fancied Sweeney’s wife and had him arrested. Sweeney finds no sign of his wife, but learns that his daughter, Johanna, lives as the ward of the Judge.

A Beggar Woman seems to recognize Sweeney, but he pushes her away. Sweeney is then recognized by Mrs. Lovett, the proprietor of a shop where she sells the worst meat pies in London. Seeing an opportunity to ingratiate herself with Sweeney, she offers him a room above her pie shop where he may resume barbering and plan his revenge. Mrs. Lovett happens to have kept Sweeney’s razors. It is a macabre partnership that will benefit each of them.

Sweeney is recognized by the traveling barber/magic elixir salesman Pirelli in a shaving contest. Pirelli had once served as an assistant to Benjamin Barker and recognizes his razor. Pirelli plans to extort Sweeney in exchange for Pirelli’s silence. Trapped, Sweeney slits Pirelli’s throat while giving him a shave.

Sweeney learns that Johanna is confined by the Judge, who now has decided to marry her. Johanna has also met a young sailor, Anthony, who arranges with Sweeney to meet Johanna at the shop. Anthony interrupts, just as Sweeney has managed to get Turpin into the barber chair, ready to exact his revenge. The judge leaps from the chair and escapes. Sweeney is furious.

Meanwhile, there still is the issue of what to do with Pirelli’s body. The ever-enterprising Mrs. Lovett has an idea: here’s a cheap source of meat for her pies. The pies are a tremendous success. Sweeney slits throats while giving shaves to men who are not likely to be missed.

Nathaniel Stampley (Sweeney Todd) and Bryona Marie (Mrs. Lovett) in Sweeney Todd at Signature Theatre. Photo by Christopher Mueller.

Pirelli’s aide, Tobias, a somewhat simple young man, puzzled by Pirelli’s disappearance, attaches himself to Mrs. Lovett. He wants to do more to help, so Mrs. Lovett shows him how to operate the meat grinder. He may be slow, but he eventually puts things together. Meanwhile, having thwarted Johanna’s attempt to elope with Anthony, the Judge has her locked up in a lunatic asylum. Johanna manages to escape the asylum and, disguised as a sailor, hides in Sweeney’s shop. When he discovers her, he attempts to kill her, but she rushes out. Sweeney finally manages to kill the Judge. He catches Mrs. Lovett trying to move the body of the Beggar Woman to the oven and, regarding her closely, Sweeney recognizes her: she is his beloved wife, Lucy.

Sweeney accuses Mrs. Lovett of lying to him about his wife. He pretends to forgive her and they dance, giving him the perfect opportunity to push Mrs. Lovett into the oven. Tobias appears, quite mad. As Sweeney embraces his dead wife, Tobias picks up Sweeney’s razor and slits his throat, just as Anthony and Johanna return.

Bryonha Marie (Mrs. Lovett) and the cast of Sweeney Todd at Signature Theatre. Photo by Christopher Mueller.

The original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd was at the Uris Theatre (now known as the Gershwin), an almost 2000-seat theatre which was (and still is) one of the largest on Broadway. The production was huge, outsized to fit the stage. The remains of an iron foundry were brought in and reassembled on stage, emphasizing the impact of the industrial revolution and the rise of the factory. Everything about the production was outsized and multi-leveled, as I recall. Therefore, I was especially curious to see how Signature would produce this in its much more intimate space. 

As was the case with the recent Passing Strange, Signature makes its space an advantage, not a problem. In a thrust configuration, there were Dickensian touches in the scenery and costumes, with the lighting appearing at times to come from lamps or lanterns. The floor provided space for hiding things as well as for occasional bursts of steam coming from underground, punctuating the performance. There were appropriate industrial lights and whistles incorporated in the show. Several opportunities were provided for flying things in and out, including birdcages and bodies.

I have mentioned throat-slitting, and I wondered how that would be handled. Shakespeare Theatre Company’s King Lear was very realistic in its depiction of such matters, but in Sweeney Todd, as each throat was slit the person doing the slitting pulled a red ribbon with the razor’s movement, an ingenious way of getting the point across. Whoever had the idea, it was brilliant.

But with any Sweeney Todd, it will be judged (by most) and remembered by how it is acted and sung. The cast’s credits include many more operatic performances than a usual musical, not surprising since Sweeney Todd is one of few musicals that have entered the operatic repertoire.

Nathan Stampley is stunning as the single-minded Sweeney Todd. His voice is rich and powerful and his presence is commanding. When he is reunited with his razors and lifts one into the air, his “At last my arm is complete” had a tone that I could feel in my bones. I hope he will be back for more DC area roles in the future.

Nathaniel Stampley as the title character in Sweeney Todd at Signature Theatre. Photo by Christopher Mueller.

His foil, Mrs. Lovett, is played by Bryonha Marie. Mrs. Lovett is written as a shrewd, somewhat bawdy woman in an almost over-the-top music hall style, and Marie milks every laugh she can. Her interactions with Stampley, especially in the moments when they are singing together, are in excellent counterpoint.

The “prettiest” songs are given to the young would-be lovers, Anthony and Johanna, played by Signature veterans Paul Scanlan and Katie Mariko Murray. Their voices blend beautifully. Ian McEuen’s opera experience serves him well as Pirelli. John Leslie Wolfe is sinister but in good voice as the evil Judge Turpin. Christopher Michael Richardson is just a bit less sinister as the Beadle, a lesser ranking associate of the Judge.

A true gem of a performance is turned in by Rayanne Gonzales as the Beggar Woman. I have seen Gonzales in several productions, most recently the National Tour of Into the Woods (as Jack’s Mother) and in the title role of Signature’s Daphne’s Dive. Each time her commitment to the role has been keen and complete. I look forward to what she will do next.

I bow to director Sarna Lapine and choreographer Alison Solomon for moving a cast of 22 on a stage with limited space, without making it appear that the space is crowded. Jon Kalbfleisch deserves kudos for managing an orchestra of 15, whose presence is always in the background and who sound like a much larger group. Under his musical direction, the cast and orchestra fill the theatre with what may be Sondheim’s best score, thrillingly, especially during the full company numbers.

Sweeney Todd is very dense, lyrically. Being quite familiar with the score, I followed the lyrics throughout, but I am not certain that an audience member unfamiliar with the songs would have, particularly in moments when multiple songs are being sung at the same time. In such instances, of course, it is not possible to follow all of the words, but, as with all of Sondheim’s dense lyrics (for example, the Witch’s recitation of garden vegetables in Into the Woods) the cast must take extra care in the enunciation of the words to try to ensure that the unfamiliar audience understands.

At almost two hours and 40 minutes, Sweeney Todd is long, but this production never feels that way, thanks to its pacing and the almost seamless scene changes. Performances continue through July 9.

Signature has announced its season for 2023-2024 and, alas, it appears that the price we pay for having had three Sondheim musicals this year is a season with none. Not to worry; the season will still pack a musical punch. And perhaps we will be rewarded with another Sondheim show the season after.