THEATRE REVIEW: Despite fruitless tweaks to the storytelling, TexARTS's Sweeney Todd still has bite.
Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's angry, savage, and deeply cynicalIn it, a despondent barber is out to avenge his wrongful imprisonment and the senseless destruction of his fledgling family. Living in seedy 19th century London, Todd whittles away at his clientele with a straight-edge razor as the fruits of his labor are processed into meat pies and sold in the shop below by Todd's delightfully demented landlady, Mrs. Lovett.
The show's eccentricities don't stop with a homicidal hero or the tendency to gravitate toward the macabre. Most characters are similarly impervious to goodness and redemption. Its songs are often void of melody and lack that hummable quality found desirable in conventional show tunes. And, with its blatant disregard for anything resembling choreography and 85% of its melodramatic story being sung, the musical is damn near an opera.
This musical has accommodated many creative choices since its Broadway premiere in 1979, including a staging in London's oldest pie and mash shop and a revival that gave all actors instruments. But none of this production's innovations inform the story or enhance the storytelling.
Fortunately, these actors are pros and have no trouble holding our attention in a vise grip throughout the production, which is facilitated by Lucinda Culver's dramatic lighting design and spotlight operator Shelby Foshay's pinpoint accuracy. Matt Wade as Sweeney smolders as his pathological obsession with revenge lies in wait and is never far from the surface.
Other featured performers – Alex Rudd and Sarah Zeringue as innocent romantic leads Anthony and Johanna, respectively; Daniel Winkler as Mrs. Lovett's sweet and simple assistant, Tobias; Ray DeJohn as the deeply disturbed Judge Turpin; and Christian Erben as both his henchman, Beadle Bamford, and asylum operator, Jonas Fogg – are similarly superb in voice and presentation.
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