Sweeney Todd – Play Review

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” opened at Theatreworks, Saturday night, and received a standing ovation from the full house.  The story, based on the book by Hugh Wheeler, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, is about the power of evil to infect everything and everyone, in its wake.  And in the words of Theatreworks’ Artistic Director, Robert Kelley, Sweeney Todd is “about our ways of dealing with evil: countering it with virtue, disarming it with humor, crushing it with force, or transforming it into art”.  And what a fine work of art it is in this theatreworks production.

The story of Sweeney Todd is set in London in 1940s, during the time when London was blasted by German bombs. Fifteen years prior, a barber was unjustly convicted and sent to Australian prison and has now returned to extract his revenge from the system.  Specifically, he wants to extract revenge from the evil Judge Turpin (Lee Strawn), and his lackey, a portly, greasy, evil man, Beadle Bamford (Martin Rojas Dietrich).

David Studwell, in the role of Sweeney Todd, is devilishly magnificent and the first person he charms and snares into his evil scheme, is Mrs. Lovett (Tory Ross, who is equally magnificent).  While Sweeney Todd has been deeply wronged by the system, is motivated by vengeance, and does the disturbingly gory work with his bare hands, Mrs. Lovett, a pie seller, trying to run a challenging business at a difficult time, is entrepreneurial, charming, and is purely driven by profit motive.  She works with her hands, tenderizing the meat (if we forget for a minute the source of that meat) and baking it into artful, tasty pies.  The force of evil is so powerful, it sucks you right in.  When Mrs. Lovett declares, “we got a nice respectable business now”, it almost makes you want to root for her to rescue Sweeney from his obsession with vengeance and escape with her to a cottage by the ocean.  When smug judge Turpin comes for a shave, to get ready to seduce his ward, Joanna (gorgeous Mindy Lym), who is Sweeney’s daughter, whom he has kidnapped and raised, you almost root again for Sweeney to complete his task and give the judge his due.

When the judge escapes, instead of heaving a sigh of relief, you almost want to tell Sweeney, “what made you wait, you had him”!!  This timeless tale is as much about the demon barber, as it is about the evil lurking in all of us.  If it is not consciously checked, the evil will suck you right in, if not by doing, than by thinking.  Special kudos to fantastic musical direction by William Liberatore and superb staging by Marcy Victoria Reed and Emily Anderson Wolf.  Don’t miss this incredible production by theatreworks.  For tickets, go to www.theatreworks.org .

I had him!
His throat was there beneath my hand.
I had him!

His throat was there beneath my hand.
No, I had him!
His throat was there and now he’ll never come again.
Mrs. Lovett: Easy now, hush love hush
I keep telling you, Whats your rush?
Todd: When? Why did I wait?
You told me to wait –
Now he’ll never come again.
There’s a hole in the world like a great black pit
And it’s filled with people who are filled with sh*t
And the vermin of the world inhabit it.

But not for long…
They all deserve to die.
Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why.
Because in all of the whole human race
Mrs. Lovett, there are two kinds of men and only two
There’s the one staying put in his proper place
And the one with his foot in the other one’s face
Look at me, Mrs Lovett, look at you.

Don’t we all deserve to die?
Even you, Mrs. Lovett, even I.
Because the lives of the wicked should be made brief
For the rest of us death will be a relief
We all deserve to die.

“Being Earnest” Musical – Based on Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”

The new musical, “Being Earnest”, based on Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”,  perhaps one of the wittiest plays in the English language, is presented by Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon and Emmy nominee Jay Gruska, at the nationally acclaimed TheatreWorks.  Musical direction is by William Liberatore.  It is TheatreWorks artistic director, Robert Kelley’s stagings and scenic designer Joe Ragey’s sets, that help transport the story to London’s Carnaby Street and the country estate of Mr. Worthing, and steal the show.   If, “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing”, this play is both sincere to Wilde’s clever critique of the hypocrisies of the society in which Wilde lived and stylish in its presentation.    “Being Earnest” has costumes designed by Fumiko Bielefeldt, lighting by Steven B. Mannshardt and sound design Jeffrey Mockus.  The play is reset to 1965.

The play opens with Algernon Moncrieff receiving his friend, Jack Worthing, superbly (played by Euan Morton and Hayden Tee respectively), at Moncrieff’s London home.  Gordon and Gruska have done a fantastic job in muscalizing the classic, with superb lyrics.  Jack has created an alter-ego, Ernest, to escape the drudgery of his conservative lifestyle, in the country.  He has fun in London, as Ernest, and explains away his frequent absences, to his ward in the country, by saying that he has to visit his wayward brother, Ernest.  In London, Jack falls in love with Algernon’s cousin Gwendolen (played by Mindy Lym) who readily accepts him, claiming, “my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence.”  Upon hearing of the secret engagement of her daughter to Jack Worthing, Lady Bracknell (superbly played by Maureen McVerry) interviews Jack and finds him unsuitable when he reveals that he is an orphan and was found in a handbag by a charitable gentleman, who raised him.  Lady Bracknell says, “To be born, or at any rate bred, in a handbag, whether it have handles or not, seems to me to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life”.

At Jack Worthing’s country home, Ms. Prism (played by Diana Torres Koss) is in charge of Jack’s ward Cecily Cardew (played by Riley Krull).  Algernon wishing to pursue Jack’s “beautiful” ward, unbeknownst to Jack, arrives his country home, claiming to be his younger brother, Ernest.  Cecily has always been intrigued by the wickedness of “Ernest”, and when Algernon tries to explain that he is not wicked, she says, “If you are not, then you have certainly been deceiving us all in a very inexcusable manner. I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy”.  Algernon professes his love for her and inquires whether she would still love him, if his name were not Ernest.  She says, “I might respect you, Ernest, I might admire your character, but I fear that I should not be able to give you my undivided attention.”  While the script has been pared down to include the songs, it retains some of the most witty original dialogues.  Now there are two love stricken men looking to get rechristened by the rector, Dr. Chasuble (played by Brian Herndon).  Meanwhile, Lady Bracknell considers the social possibilities of two pending marriages. To Algernon, unconcerned about society, she says, “Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.”

This is a beautiful, must-see rendition of Wilde’s lampooning of the shallow social mores of Victorian society.  It is full of superb lyrics and famous dialogues, gorgeous scenes and amazing acting.  The young lovers, beautifully play the roles of flippant characters, lacking depth, and deliver Wilde’s witty and sparkling lines, with aplomb.  In the end, ironically, Lady Bracknell, most shallow character of all, and keeper of traditions, reflects upon Mr. Worthing’s obsession with the name Ernest, for the sake of his love “My nephew, you seem to be displaying signs of triviality.” “On the contrary, Aunt Augusta,” he replies, “I’ve now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of being Earnest.”

If I were to watch only one play this season, I would select this one.  “Being Earnest” is currently playing at TheatreWorks www.theatreworks.org in Mountain View.