Stephen Sondheim said of Sweeney Todd, “If you do it in a theatre, it’s a musical. If you do it in an opera house, it’s an opera.” Presented Sept. 26 at the Harrison Opera House as Virginia Opera’s 40th season opener, Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, was not only an opera but one not to be missed, even if you have to go to Richmond to catch it.
Baritone Stephen Powell, outstanding in last season’s Falstaff, commands the stage with a superb voice and passionate acting in the title role. Fifteen years before, an unjust and powerful judge had Sweeney transported to Australia so he could corrupt Sweeney’s innocent, beautiful wife Lucy. Rescued at sea, Sweeney’s obsessed with revenge on the judge—and, for that matter, on everyone. Powell gives him both flawed humanity and a psychopath’s grim tunnel vision.
Returning to his old Fleet Street digs, Sweeney encounters Mrs. Lovett, maker of the “worst pies in London,” who tells him his wife is dead and offers him his old lodgings upstairs. Mezzo Phyllis Pancella makes Mrs. Lovett a wily, quick-witted survivor with a cheery outlook and eyes for Sweeney; her clear voice carries Sondheim’s quick, complex lyrics easily, with an unerring ear for Cockney glottal stops, and, not least, brilliant acting. Towards the end of the first act, a new source for the meat in her pies dawns on her—without a word, Pancella makes that epiphany a revelation simultaneously macabre and funny.
Baritone Andre Chiang’s big, ardent voice and honest simplicity are perfect for the role of Anthony Hope, the sailor who rescued Todd at sea and falls in love with his daughter Johanna, now the evil judge’s ward. Soprano Amanda Opuszynski, who’s getting to be a welcome regular with Virginia Opera, sings Johanna with innocent sweetness.
Bass-baritone Jake Gardner is a standout as Judge Turpin, once obsessed with the barber’s wife and now obsessed with the barber’s daughter, whom he has raised as his own daughter—and intends to marry. In a shocking self-flagellation scene, he vainly tries to control his sexual thoughts for Joanna.
Soprano Diana DiMarzio is the demented Beggar Woman, who veers in and out of screechy insanity, accosting men in the street for sex, suggestively asking, “Don’t I know you?” and crying piteously, “Alms, alms.” (I’m not going to give you the spoiler, but it’s pretty clear.)
Where are the tenors, you might ask? Scott Ramsay is the massive Beadle, Judge Turpin’s henchman, displaying impressive vocal and physical agility. Javier Abreu is a jaunty Pirelli, the snake oil mountebank and barber who loses Sweeney Todd’s challenge—and becomes his first victim. And as the naive Toby—Pirelli’s assistant and later Mrs. Lovett’s—David Blalock has an open, happy demeanor and a voice to match.
Director Ron Daniels, who co-wrote the original play, keeps the action humming along, although Riccardo Hernandez’s set doesn’t exactly help. The audience’s suspension of disbelief is stretched to the max as Todd tips his victims backward out of the infamous barber chair, but their bodies fall out of a chute at house right—visually at the same level. And one wonders why cutting the throats of the first two victims produced a visible bloody spray—but not in subsequent victims. Had the Demon Barber just gotten . . . neater?
The costumes, by Emily Rebholz, had some odd lapses but mostly worked well; and James McGough’s period wigs were appropriately messy. Maruti Evans’s lighting design was very murky in places, but the Emerald City green of the barbering contest and the ominous blood red of later scenes were weirdly effective.
Kudos to dialect coach Ellen O’Brien—few things are worse than a fake English accent, and Cockney is hard to get right, but the well-prepared cast had wonderful, effortlessly crisp diction.
Thankfully, Bryan Delaney’s sound design worked well, except for one horribly unbalanced moment in the prologue. It was all quite loud, but at least it was very clear, which made resorting to the error-ridden Supertitles mostly unnecessary.
Virginia Symphony musicians (who got a roar of applause when introduced) gave a rousing performance under the direction of Adam Turner, now Principal Conductor for Virginia Opera. We hope it won’t be their last production, since they hadn’t yet signed a season contract.
From the Other Side of the Footlights, I’m M.D. Ridge.