Review: Revenge Tastes Amazing with Ignite's SWEENY TODD

You'll want to attend the tale of Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street School Edition, a dark and delicious musical thriller, presented by Ignite Theatre Company's capable young cast now through Sunday at The Marcelle.

The performance I saw opened in The Marcelle's black box to a full house. J. Keller Ryan's modest set incorporates a riser with steps that highlights an ominous-looking trunk and a menacing barber's chair, with several café tables downstairs and downstage, suggesting that we are present in Mrs. Lovett's Pie Shop. Mrs. Lovett (Tori Ray) greets the audience before the show warning us, among other things, "No cheeky texts."

The company then fills the stage, not only physically but also with an enormous, cohesive voice. They welcome us by looking us right in the eyes, with a foreboding sense of peculiarity, a powerful 3-piece band arranged at the wing.

"Times is hard," Lovett tells us with a commanding belting voice. It is nineteenth century London, and business is on the decline. Unjustly exiled barber Sweeny Todd (Nathanael Pezzo) returns home seeking revenge on Judge Turpin (Zachary Thompson), who is responsible for ripping Todd's family apart. The opportunistic Lovett takes Todd in, allowing him to set up shop above her pie shop. Their partnership satiates Todd's thirst for blood, as many unfortunate customers fall under Todd's blade, but also results in a dynamic new "meat pie" recipe that resuscitates Lovett's failing business. Yeah. You know what's in those delicious meat pies. Meanwhile, Todd's daughter Johanna (Abby Moehlman), who is now the ward of Turpin, is in danger and seeks escape with Anthony Hope (Sam Mueller) to avoid her impending marriage to Turpin.

Pezzo and Ray are marvelous in this show. Ray's singing voice is mature, loud, and articulate, and Pezzo, whose bass voice is dark and deep on its own, performs the brooding madman well, with methodical laser focus and believable coldhearted revenge in his eyes.

Highlights are Moehlman and Mueller's "Kiss Me (Part I)" duet, wherein Moelman's high soprano is showcased nicely, and the well-mastered quartet with overlapping lyrics during "Ladies in Their Sensitivities" (Thompson and Rachel Bohn as Beadle) and "Kiss me (Part II)." Also, the entirety of "A Little Priest" was a hit, but especially when Lovett and Todd break the fourth wall to playfully invite gentlemen in the audience to come up and get a shave, assessing each man individually for general tastiness before they decide to just stick to Priest. It's funny and punny, flirty and fun, and it leaves everyone smiling as we head into intermission.

Speaking of intermission, this is when Mrs. Lovett's VIP hostesses cheerfully greet us offering up piping fresh meat pies. I'll attest to the fact that they are warm and tasty with delectable flaky crusts . . . whatever the ingredients happen to be . . ..

In Act 2, the company returns for drinks and pies, singing and dancing in a party atmosphere. Business is booming! Again, they fill the stage effectively, and the audience, who is all-in now, laughs every time a man shoots out of Todd's barber chair into Lovett's meat-packing basement facility. This act is filled with blood(!), blood(!), and more blood(!), which admittedly inspires both horror and glee. Highlights in Act 2 include the beggar woman and lunatics' musical number, "City on Fire," which is performed with each actor both clearly isolated and yet smartly synchronized in harmonies and in movement. One also realizes in this act just how fantastic Pezzo is at being a despondent madman, and how wonderfully balanced his despair is by Ray's joyful merriment.

Technically speaking, the mics were a bit loud in this presentation - there's almost an uncomfortable saturation of sound in this small space at times, and occasionally there was movement backstage that was visible due to backlighting. There were also a couple of pointe shoe dance breaks that showcased the individual dancers beautifully but didn't seem to gel with the sinister theme of the show. Stacey Drake's costumes were pretty - with ruffles and corsets and crushed velvet designs in rich, wonderful palettes, all appropriate and stunningly tailored.

Overall, this is a quality company of youth performers that fares very well with difficult material and a complicated score. This is a highly theatrical presentation for all ages, and you will walk away feeling alarmed, disgusted, thrilled and delighted!

Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street School Edition is directed by Libby Pederson with music direction by Carrie Benton Smith. Technical direction and lighting and set design are by J. Keller Ryan, and Kimberly Kavanagh is the Production Manager. Music and lyrics are by Stephen Sondheim and the book is by Hugh Wheeler. This production plays through this Sunday, July 29, at The Marcelle. For tickets and information, visit www.ignitewithus.org.

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