Theater: “Sweeney Todd” with Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster
Stephen Sondheim conceived the idea of “Sweeney Todd” as a musical after watching Christopher Bond’s play about the 19th-century serial killer. The musical, originally directed by Hal Prince, opened on Broadway in 1979 (when I first saw it). It won eight Tony Awards as well as my heart.
The geniuses behind the latest iteration at the Lunt-Fontaine are to be commended, because they have made it a must-see for a whole new generation of theatergoers, if last night’s largely twenty-something audience was any indication.
Were their whoops and five-minute ovations strictly for Aaron Tveit, the blond hunk from “Moulin Rouge” and “Shmigadoon”? Or for young Joe Locke who plays Charlie in the gay-teen rom-com “Heartstopper?”’
Or were they directed at the indomitable Sutton Foster as Mrs. Lovett whose voice and comic charm slay every production she graces? If you answered yes to all of the above, you win a meat pie.
To be sure, the casting is a factor in what makes this latest production so memorable. The chemistry between Sweeney and the lovesick Mrs. Lovett adds a different, unmistakably sexual dimension to this 50-year-old classic.
Written by Hugh Wheeler, the plot remains as Grand Guignol as ever. Todd, sent to prison for an earlier murder, returns to London seeking revenge on evil Judge Turpin (Jamie Jackson) who sent him away and promptly made Sweeney’s daughter Johanna (Maria Bilbao) his ward. Sweeney sets up a barber shop, all the while thinking up ways to retrieve Johanna from the judge.
Somewhere along the way, however, Todd blows a gasket, vows vengeance on all humanity, and begins slashing the throats of his innocent customers. Mrs. Lovett (Sutton Foster) helps matters by grinding the corpses into filling for her meat pies. What were previously inedible become irresistible.
The score for “Sweeney” contains many Sondheim’s classics, including the title song, as well as “Pretty Woman” sung to a fare-thee-well by Tveit. He’s come a long way since we first saw him as the imaginary teenager in “Next to Normal” (2006). At age 40, Tveit’s become a bona fide star who can do it all—croon, dance and thanks to his matinee-idol looks, play Sweeney Todd as a hunk, a not unwelcome interpretation .
Locke roars out of the gates in his Broadway debut as Toby, the young lad who helps out in Mrs. Lovett’s shop. Daniel Yearwood is also fine as Anthony, the sailor who pines for Johanna (a rather shrill Maria Bilbao), Sweeney’s long-lost daughter.
Think you’ve seen Sweeney Todd and don’t need to see it again? Do a re-think. There’s a reason companies large and small continue to stage it nearly 50 years after it first graced the Broadway stage. And the current production reminds me why. Attend the tale!
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