There will be blood all month in Costa Mesa as South Coast Repertory debuts its scaled-down but still powerful, sensationally performed 40th-anniversary revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Weaver’s musical thriller Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street..

 Few are those who haven’t at least once “attended” the tale of Benjamin Barker (David St. Louis), the London barber convicted of a crime he did not commit and shipped off to Australia by a lecherous judge with designs on Barker’s wife Lucy.

Now, fifteen years later, Lucy is out of the picture and evil Judge Turpin (Robert Mammana) has set his sights on Sweeney’s beautiful blonde teenage daughter Johanna (Juliana Hansen).

Meanwhile, there’s a new man in London town, one who bears a striking resemblance to Barker but goes by the name of Sweeney Todd.

When Sweeney stops in at the pie shop located downstairs from his onetime tonsorial parlor, the down-on-her-luck proprietress Mrs. Lovett (Jamey Hood) isn’t fooled by the new name, recognizing at once returning ex-con, for whom she has kept his shaving instruments intact, polished, and sharpened to a killing edge.

His razors restored to him, Sweeney now begins a murder spree with Judge Turpin as his ultimate goal, and when confronted with the question of where to put the bodies, he and Mrs. Lovett come up with a tasty solution to both their problems.

Meanwhile, Sweeney and Anthony Hope (Devin Archer), the sailor he met on his ocean journey back from Australia, attempt to free the barber’s now grown daughter from the clutches (and matrimonial plans) of the evil Judge Turpin and his accomplice in crime Beadle Bamford (Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper).

 Also figuring in The Tale Of Sweeney Todd are Italian-accented con-artist Adolfo Pirelli (Roland Rusinek), whose “Miracle Elixir” promises astonishing hair growth and more; Tobias Ragg (Conlan Ledwith), Pirelli’s sweet but simple-minded (and now unemployed) assistant; and a nameless, demented Beggar Woman (Erica Hanrahan-Ball), in whom Sweeney’s face sparks some distant glimmer of recognition.

 Sondheim is in his darkest mode here, his melodies and rhythms among the most complex he has written, though there are several simply beautiful (and beautifully simple) songs, most notably “Johanna” and “Not While I’m Around.” There are also comic relief numbers like “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir,” “A Little Priest,” and “By The Sea” to brighten the gloom, at least temporarily. Still, it’s the murky darkness of “The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd” and “City On Fire!” that most epitomize the demon barber’s black, black heart.

Director Kent Nicholson has trimmed down Sweeney’s original Broadway cast twenty-seven to a mere eleven, all but two of whom assume ensemble tracks in major production numbers, and though more could be done in some cases to physically distinguish main characters from “the populace,” the approach allows SCR to produce a smallish-cast show while maintaining a “full-cast” feel.

Most significantly, Nicholson has made inspired casting choices, meaning that even for those like this reviewer who’ve seen the show in a dozen previous incarnations, Sweeney 13.0 will have surprises in store.

 No one plays menacing more formidably than St. Louis, and no Sondheim hero is more menacing than Sweeney, but the Broadway vet adds to the mix the most resonant baritone in town, along with dangerous sex-appeal and dashes of sly humor, and in the wonderfully wacky Hood, he has found a Mrs. Lovett who can not only steal scenes a la Lucy or Gilda or Carol Burnett while singing up a storm but ignite abundant romantic, sexual sparks with her smoldering leading man.

 Supporting performances are equally splendid, beginning with Archer’s swoon-worthy Anthony, the rising SoCal star revealing legit vocals to match his proven pop chops, and the beauteous Hansen shows off her exquisite soprano as the delicate blonde object of Anthony’s affection and Judge Turpin’s (a perfect pervy Mammana) lust.

Newcomer Ledwith makes a stunning South Coast Rep debut as Tobias, vulnerable, endearing, and heartbreaking, displaying a Broadway-caliber tenor to boot.

 Mongiardo-Cooper adds a fresh, younger take on Turpin henchman Beadle Bamford, Rusinek steals scenes right and left as a deliciously over-the-top Pirelli, and a spellbinding Hanrahan-Ball vanishes inside Beggarwoman’s haggardly skin, with Brent Schindele (a dastardly Jonas Fogg) and Katy Tang filling out multiple roles to dynamic effect including executing engaging dance moves choreographed by Kelly Todd (presumably no relation to Sweeney).

 Scenic designer John Iacovelli gives this Sweeney Todd a nifty musical-hall look, Dickensian black-and-white illustrations setting scene after scene, his set and Melanie Watnick’s vibrant Victorian-era costumes dramatically lit by Lap Chi Chu.

Cricket S. Myers’ sound design mixes horrific effects with expertly amped vocals and musical director David O’s pitch-perfect live orchestra.

 Charlie Marie McGrath is assistant director. Jamie A. Tucker is stage manager and Kathryn Davies is assistant stage manager. Joshua Marchesi is production manager. Philip D. Thompson scores points as accent coach. Casting is by Joanne DeNaut, CSA.

Even those like this reviewer who’ve seen more than enough Sweeney Todds to last them a lifetime will find much to appreciate in its latest incarnation, a bloody good show if there ever was one.

South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.
www.scr.org

–Steven Stanley
January 27, 2019
Photos: Jordan Kubat/SCR

Tags: Hugh Wheeler, Orange County Theater Review, South Coast Repertory, Stephen Sondheim