Review: Christopher Chew Is Razor Sharp in Lyric's SWEENEY TODD

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; book by Hugh Wheeler; from an adaptation by Christopher Bond; originally directed on Broadway by Harold Prince; orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick; directed and staged by Spiro Veloudos; music director, Jonathan Goldberg; scenic design, Janie E. Howland; costume design, Rafael Jaen; lighting design, Franklin Meissner, Jr.; sound design, Andrew Duncan Will; dialect coach, Bryn Austin; action choreography, Omar Robinson; production stage manager, Nerys Powell

Cast:

Sweeney Todd, Christopher Chew; Mrs. Lovett, Amelia Broome; Anthony Hope, Sam Simahk; Johanna, Meghan LaFlam; Tobias Ragg, Phil Tayler; Judge Turpin, Paul C. Soper; The Beadle, Remo Airaldi; Beggar Woman, Lisa Yuen; Adolpho Pirelli, Davron S. Monroe; Jonas Fogg, Rishi Basu; ensemble, Rishi Basu, Teresa Winner Blume, Shonna Cirone, Serge Clivio, Christina English, Sarah Kornfeld, Aaron Michael Ray, Matt Spano

Performances and Tickets:

Now through October 11, Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston; tickets from $25-$70, available online at www.lyricstage.com or by calling the Box Office at 617-585-5678

No matter how many times one may see Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, there's always something new to be gleaned from the experience. Such is the case with the compelling, often gut-wrenching production currently at Boston's Lyric Stage now through October 11.

Here the chief reasons to revisit this oft told tale of the serial killer whose victims end up as hash in Mrs. Lovett's meat pies are director Spiro Veloudos' unflinching emphasis on the anguish, anger and despair of Victorian London's downtrodden "99 percent" and the magnificent performance at the center by Christopher Chew. Chew's Sweeney is both maniacally driven and epically tragic as he relentlessly pursues bloody vengeance against the insufferable Judge Turpin (Paul C. Soper) and lascivious Beadle Bamford (Remo Airaldi), partners in unconscionable crime who first wrongly imprisoned Sweeney and then violated his wife Lucy while he was locked away. When Chew spits out the lyrics, "There's a hole in the world like a great black pit, and it's filled with people who are filled with s**t, and the vermin of the world inhabit it..." there's no doubt that Sweeney numbers himself among those he claims "all deserve to die."

Just about everything in Veloudos' penetrating production takes its cue from this gruesome outlook that apparently festered in Sweeney during his incarceration. From the hauntingly insistent Greek chorus of customers, lunatics, and street people to Janie E. Howland's massive soot-tinged iron furnace that looms menacingly center stage, this SWEENEY TODD demonstrates in no uncertain terms that violent retribution is a dark obsession. Revenge makes victims out of everyone and is anything but sweet.

That's not to say there aren't lighter moments, though. The irrepressible Mrs. Lovett (an uncharacteristically refined Amelia Broome) has fun with "The Worst Pies in London" and again with "A Little Priest," the endlessly clever cannibal song in which the butcher and the baker banter deliciously about their preferred sweet meats. Broome also shows Lovett's long-buried sentimentality as she wistfully dreams of a summer spent with Sweeney romancing "By the Sea." There's a tentative, even delicate, quality to her performance and her singing, however, which prevents her from truly connecting with Lovett's more disturbingly perverse side.

Chew and Paul C. Soper have no such difficulty mining the ironic depths of their material. "Pretty Women," for example, is a stunning multi-layered duet that is at once beautiful and foreboding. As Sweeney lathers the Judge's neck in preparation for the closest shave he'll ever have, the two form a macabre bond all the while lovingly singing the praises of the fairer sex. Earlier Soper uses his spectacular baritone to unleash a twisted, achingly lecherous act of contrition toward "Johanna," the nubile teenaged ward (and Sweeney's daughter) he has sequestered so that the only lustful leers she must endure are his own.

The heroic sailor Anthony Hope (Sam Simahk), also sings of "Johanna" but his song is a delicate, soaring declaration of his love and respect for her. Simahk's flawless tenor, together with Johanna's (Meghan LaFlam's) gorgeous soprano, project an unwavering love and innocence that offer the promise of humanity and hope amidst the greed, hypocrisy, and degradation that surround them.

Tobias Ragg (Phil Tayler) is a different kind of innocent, an uneducated street urchin taken in by Mrs. Lovett when his disreputable snake oil salesman of a boss Pirelli (Davron S. Monroe) mysteriously disappears. As a result, Tobias is fiercely loyal to and protective of Mrs. Lovett and sings of his determination to keep the woman he considers his adopted mum safe in "Not While I'm Around." Tayler sings this heartfelt promise simply and exquisitely, making his descent into madness at the horrors he later sees that much more devastating. Broome is not quite as heartbreaking, making her struggle to choose between Tobias and Sweeney too subtle and reserved.

Music director Jonathan Goldberg leads a tight seven-piece band in ably delivering Sondheim's near-operatic score. Alternating between romantic, playful, sinister, gothic and venomous, the small orchestra sounds deceivingly full. At times, however, there seemed to be a disconnect between musicians and singers. Timing was off a bit and occasionally a few vocalists were struggling to find pitch.

All in all, this SWEENEY TODD is a laudable, if short of revelatory, production. It's a promising start to the Lyric Stage Company's 41st season.

On Friday, September 26 at 9 p.m., local PBS station WGBH 2 will broadcast the recent New York Philharmonic Live from Lincoln Center concert version of SWEENEY TODD starring Bryn Terfel as Sweeney and Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett. For those who just can't get their fill of what many consider Stephen Sondheim's greatest achievement, why not tune in and take it in either before or after you've seen it live at the Lyric?

"God, That's Good."

PHOTOS BY Mark S. Howard: Christopher Chew as Sweeney Todd and Amelia Broome as Mrs. Lovett; Amelia Broome and Christopher Chew; Christopher Chew and Paul C. Soper as Judge Turpin; Phil Tayler as Tobias Ragg and Amelia Broome

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