“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

Noel Anthony

The Stage takes the Sondheim favorite, Sweeney Todd, that has graced Broadway three times, the West End four, and grand opera stages in at least ten countries worldwide and strips the musical down to a bare minimum of cast, set, and orchestra, putting it in a time that could be now, fifty years ago, or fifty years from now.  The result is to over-expose the musical’s bloody, raw, and troubling tale where inherent humor found by other productions is minimized and where the clanging of metal, the slamming of coffin-like boxes, and the discordant screeching of chorus voices become notes as important in conveying the story as any sung beautifully and artfully by the individual actors.

For my full review, please continue to Talkin’ Broadway: https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/regional/sanjose/sj115.html.