Review: Moonbox Productions presents a splendid SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET

There may be secret ingredients in Mrs. Lovett’s infamous meat pies, but it is no secret that “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is best when it serves up two strong leads in the roles of Mr. Todd, a vengeful barber, and Mrs. Lovett, a morally bankrupt baker.

Think Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury in the original 1979 Broadway production, Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone in the 2005 revival, Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford in the still-running 2023 revival – and now Davron S. Monroe and Joy Clark in the current Moonbox Productions presentation of the Stephen Sondheim musical, with book by Hugh Wheeler, at the just-opened Arrow Street Arts in Cambridge through November 5.

Set in Victorian London in 1846, Wheeler’s book is a stirring tale of heartache blended with torture and torrents of blood, a revenge play in which the title character, mercilessly wronged many times in his life, pursues those responsible for taking his wife and daughter from him. And when he starts slitting his victims throats’ – a close shave, indeed – he is joined in his macabre machinations by the amoral Mrs. Lovett, a batty, bawdy, just plain crazy creature who is only too happy to turn the deceased into meat pies.

Monroe and Clark pair perfectly on the many songs they share in Sondheim’s mostly sung-through score, which turns the tale of obsession and revenge into something akin to grand-scale opera. From the first commanding refrain of the powerful all-company opener, “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd,” to the twisted but still sweet love ode “My Friends” and the devilishly mirthful “A Little Priest,” which has Mrs. Lovett rhapsodizing about the special ingredients in her meat pies, Monroe and Clark are riveting.

In his Moonbox Productions debut, director and co-producer Ryan Mardesich too often takes a muddy approach to the material, resulting in a production that, while fully mounted, can seem like a concert staging. And his tamping down of the gore – this is a horror story where shock value has its place, after all – weakens the impact of what’s transpiring amidst all the great music.

Conductor and music director Dan Ryan – clearly very familiar with longtime Sondheim collaborator and EGOT winner Jonathan Tunick’s iconic orchestrations – makes certain, however, that the excellent eight-piece orchestra misses not a single resplendent note while backing a gifted company of performers who are full-out in their vocal embrace of the challenging but rewarding score.

Dallas Austin Jimmar is affecting as Anthony Hope, the naïve young sailor smitten with Johanna (Eva Akina Huertas Colliou). He delivers a haunting “Johanna,” with his voice at its most gorgeous on the soft notes, in act one that sets up the struggle to save Johanna from the grip of the sinister Judge Turpin (Todd Yard). From the outset, Yard’s Turpin exudes evil, as he has the young girl, whom he plans to marry, first sequestered in his mansion and then imprisoned in an asylum.

Solid supporting work is provided by Meghan Lewis Michelson as the parasitic Beadle Bamford glommed on to Judge Turpin. Ethan Dupuy adds flash to the proceedings as an Irishman, a former employee of Todd’s when he was Benjamin Barker, masquerading as the spotlight-seeking Italian barber Adolfo Pirelli, and the captivating Caitlin Zerra Rose, as the mysterious Beggar Woman, comes alive in the London mist.

As Mrs. Lovett’s ever-loyal young friend Tobias, Eli Douglas pledges his devotion to her with a tender, well delivered “Not While I’m Around,” a concert staple for Bernadette Peters and others. In other moments, however, Douglas’s Tobias sometimes evokes a waifish Peter Pan when a more grounded performance would better serve the story.

What does serve this production – the first in the still-being-repurposed Arrow Street Arts, most recently home to Oberon – is Clark, who does double duty as the show’s choreographer and, at times, has the entire company moving flawlessly as one.

Photo caption: Davron S. Monroe and Joy Clark in a scene from Moonbox Productions’ presentation of ”Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” Photo credit: Chelsea Marie Photography.

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