For most anyone who’s attended many a tale of “Sweeney Todd,” the new touring production will seem an innovation, a revelation, perhaps even a masterpiece – save for a recurring train whistle that will make anyone within earshot reach for shears.
But for those attending their first tale of “Todd,” this all may be an exercise in futility. Stephen Sondheim’s operatic score makes it difficult to understand his lyrics, which makes the complex back story and present circumstances a bit unknowable. And this staging is all in the music, not the action.
Then there’s me, who’s seen all the various incarnations from its melodramatic origin to this sparse and stylized new concept staging, and left with an enormous appreciation for this production’s artistry and musicianship, but with qualms about its cold compromises and overall effectiveness.
Director John Doyle has shorn the staging to its bare necessities: a cast of 11 virtuoso singers (led by Country Dinner Playhouse alum David Hess in his triumphant return), presenting the demon barber’s tale of revenge in the traditional opera “face-forward” style, with little interaction or even eye contact between actors.
It’s an intentional emotional disconnect that acknowleges musical theater is inherently incongruous, never more so when you set some of the most gorgeous, soothing music ever written against this savage tale. Here, the emotional split is compensated for by a real stroke of genius: Doyle’s actors provide their own musical accompaniment in lieu of a pit orchestra. So what’s lost in interaction is countered by a passionate musical fury we get to see, and hear.
Watching the crazy beggar woman sing “City on Fire” is one thing; it’s another thing entirely to also see the discordant, fiery cello accompaniment as it’s being played by an ingénue who, in the story, has been banished to an asylum.
But jettisoning all pretense of realism in favor of a Brechtian, almost reader’s-theater approach is an all-or-nothing gamble. Doyle later tried the same thing with “Company,” which makes his application of the conceit seem a bit random.
Our nonspecific setting here may evoke anything from an institution to an antique store. Actors line a square, slatted-wood platform that occupies only half the otherwise unused Buell Theatre stage. The primary set piece is a coffin that also cleverly doubles as a table, a judge’s bench, the infamous barber’s chair.
All the while, the actors play along on various percussion, horn and stringed instruments, moving into the flow of the action when they have lyrics to sing, then return to place, stern looks affixed to their faces. They never leave the stage, inferring they may be trapped themselves. Whether this is someone’s fever dream or inmates play-acting together is never definitively established.
At times, this minimalist approach brings maximum effectiveness. In his recent film adaptation, Tim Burton turned his screen into an ocean of brilliant acrylic red. Here, whenever someone’s been sliced, an actor simply pours implied blood from one bucket into another. Turns out, both are chillingly effective for their forms.
But Doyle’s conceit fails him in the opening moments, and that mitigates the impact of everything that follows.
That back story, for the dazed newcomers: Sweeney and his young wife had just become parents when the lascivious Judge Turpin, ogling the beautiful Lucy, sent Sweeney to jail on a trumped-up charge so he could have a clear path to the woman. The tale begins for us when Sweeney returns 15 years later, hoping to reunite with wife and child, only to be told by Mrs. Lovett that Lucy poisoned herself. Now she’ll happily help him turn his victims into meat pies.
But here’s the cut (spoiler alert): The tragedy of “Sweeney Todd” begins long before his first cut; it begins when he first steps off the boat in London. Who’s the first person he encounters but the very person he’s come home to find? But he’s so blinded by anger and revenge he can’t see her, and that’s what raises this tragedy to Shakespearean. But Doyle won’t let us see one actor looking into the other’s eyes. That moment is lost, and all that follows is lessened in impact.
Still, who could leave unimpressed with Hess’ brooding Sweeney or the magnificent Judy Kaye as his callous, buxom baker?
No matter your vantage point, the final 15 minutes are just some kind of awesome, culminating in an inevitable death that manages, despite Doyle’s emotional banishment, to pierce the hearts of anyone watching.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Sweeney Todd” *** (out of four stars)
Slasher musical. National touring production at the Buell Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex. Through June 29. 2 hours, 30 minutes. 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Sundays. $20-$90. 303-893-4100, King Soopers or
This weekend’s theater openings
*Opening Tuesday, through June 29: National touring production of “Sweeney Todd”
National touring production of Stephen Sondheim’s operatic slasher about the vengeful barber who makes beautiful music — and human meat pies — with Mrs. Lovett. In this production, all of the actors provide their own musical accompaniment. Real about it by
Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100 or
*Opening Thursday, through June 29: Shadow’s “The Hands of History”
The world premiere of Shadow Theatre’s original look at the life of legendary Ed Dwight, not only one of America’s most prolific and acclaimed bronze sculptors of the past three decades, but he also was the first black astronaut.
1468 Dayton St., Aurora, 720-857-8000 or
*Opening Thursday, through June 28: Crossroads’ 4 Days in Bed”
Young Denver playwright Jonson Kuhn, who last wrote the futuristic drama “Denver” for the Denver Repertory Company, is back with a short comedy co-written by Ariel Marks and based on a true story. The performance opens with live music by a Boulder band called Cosimo, then the play. During intermission, there will be open-mic performances by Denver Slam Poets. Kuhn calls it a fun evening “for young people who aren’t already into theater.”
2590 Washington St., 720-394-6198 or
*Opening Thursday, through July 5: Thunder River’s “The Belle of Amherst”
William Luce’s Tony-winning look at the life and art of Emily Dickinson, who rarely left her father’s house for 56 years. She spent her hours secretly recording her private thoughts in more than 1,700 epigrammatic poems. They were discovered only after her death and have since become some of the most enduring verses in American literature. In The Belle of Amherst, Luce draws heavily on the poems, letters and first-hand accounts to sculpt a one-woman biography about a woman whose only love affair with language.
67 Promenade, Carbondale, 970-963-8200 or
*Opening Thursday, through Saturday: Little Theatre of the Rockies’ “Hairspray”
In Greeley, University of Northern Colorado professor Vance Fulkerson has been selected to direct a national cast and crew of 48 high-school students in the first-ever amateur production of “Hairspray,” the upbeat musical about the chubby little white girl who single-handedly integrates Baltimore in the 1960s. It will have four preview performances in Greeley before bowing at the 2008 International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Neb.
University of Northern Colorado’s Langworthy Theater, 10th Avenue and 18th St., Greeley 970-351-2200 or
*Opening Friday, through Aug. 16: Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Macbeth”
It wasn’t hard for producing artistic director Philip Sneed to land his first choice for the plum role of his 2008 season: He’s playing Macbeth himself. He’ll be playing opposite Karen Slack in Shakespeare’s masterpiece on ambition and meddlesome witches.
Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre, CU-Boulder campus, 303-492-0554 or
*Opening Friday, through Aug. 14: Rocky Mountain Rep’s “Urinetown”
This clever black musical comedy puts us in a drought-ravaged land where water is so scarce, basic bodily functions require a fee. The government is conspiring with big business to create a desperate class of poor on the brink of revolution. If that sounds dour, it’s not. Along the way, it pays silly choreographic homage to musicals like “Les Miserables, “Fiddler on the Roof” and “West Side Story.” It’s freakin’ hysterical – unless you’ve seen “Sicko,” which also argues that our current way of life is unsustainable.
1025 Grand Ave., Grand Lake, 970-627-3421 or
*Opening Friday, through June 29: Performance Now’s “Jekyll & Hyde”
This moody musical tells the classic tale of mirrored good and evil. Dr. Jekyll unwittingly unleashes his own dark side, wreaking havoc in the streets of late 19th century London as the savage, maniacal Edward Hyde. Features a lush pop score that includes “This is the Moment” and “Someone Like You.”
Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway, 303-987-7845 7845 or
*Opening Friday, through Sept. 27: Creede Repertory Theatre’s “Fools”
The Creede Repertory Theatre’s second offering of its 43rd season is the G-rated Neil Simon comedy set in a village cursed with a plague of stupidity, common sense is uncommon and intelligence is unintelligible. To the rescue comes Leon, the new schoolteacher, who must break the curse in one day or become hopelessly stupid himself. But is there even a curse to be broken? Are the villagers really this stupid? Or have they simply believed in the curse for too long? With characteristic wit and imagination, Neil Simon’s farcical fable spins hilarity from stupidity.
124 N. Main St., Creede, 719-658-2540, 1-866-658-2540 or
*Opening Friday, through Aug. 17: National Park Players’ “Forever Plaid”
Nostalgic, family friendly musical about four dead teens whose dreams of musical glory come true when they miraculously return to Earth. Snuffed out during a collision with a school bus on their way to the big break, these nerdy crooners get a chance to perform the show they never got to do in life. The music from the 1950s and ’60s includes “Three Coins in the Fountain”, “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” and “Sixteen Tons.”
Park Village Playhouse, 900 Moraine Ave., Estes Park, 970-577-7469 or
*Opening Friday, through Aug. 23: Grand Theatre Company’s “How I Became a Pirate”
Family musical adapted from the book by Melinda Long. When Braid Beard’s pirate crew invites Jeremy Jacob to join their voyage, he’s in for the time of his life — he throws his food across the table and his manners to the wind.
78415 Park Place No. 203, Winter Park, 970-726-5048 or
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of every currently running production in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page.
This week’s podcasts
Running Lines with . . . Curious New Voices. This week, Denver Post theater critic John Moore reports from the Curious New Voices performances at the National Performing Arts Convention. You’ll hear excerpts from plays written by Luke Slattery and Bailey Williams, followed by conversations with Bailey, actor Mare Trevathan, director Dee Covington and Pulizer Prize-winning program mentor Paula Vogel. Run time: 19 minutes. Listen by
Running Lines with . . . David Hess. In this audio bonus, John Moore catches up with the Country Dinner Playhouse alum now playing the title role in the national touring production of “Sweeney Todd” through June 29 at the Buell Theatre. Running time: 10 minutes. Listen by
