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To Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd at the Royal Festival Hall, London 7^th July 2007

 

(Scroll down to read this review by Benjamin Barker)

 

Bryn Terfel, star of Sweeney Todd in London

 

Audiences at London’s newly refurbished Royal Festival Hall witnessed five performances of Sweeney Todd this week, from Wednesday until Saturday, with Welsh opera star Bryn Terfel appearing as the eponymous anti-hero. I attended the tale on Saturday afternoon, and arrived expecting a primarily concert performance, especially as the orchestra were fully visible on stage, although positioned to one side. However, the show was actually semi-staged, and if director David Freeman’s attempt to create a universal, non-specific time zone led to occasional absurdities (such as Sweeney’s “chair fit for a king” looking like a £19.99 office chair from Staples, and bodies being dispatched to the bakehouse via a tea trolley) it was pleasing that we got to see some impressive acting as well as singing.

It’s been a long time since I last heard Jonathan Tunick’s superb orchestration of Sondheim’s score live, and it was a definite advantage to have the London Philharmonic Orchestra on hand rather than a scratch pit band. Rarely has the score sounded richer, more luminous, and more gorgeously detailed, with every melodic, harmonic and rhythmic nuance painstakingly and lovingly revealed at the command of baton-meister Stephen Barlow.

There was enough stage “business” to make the story clear enough for any Sweeney Todd “virgins” in the audience to follow, and the modest but effective use of crowd movement prevented the chorus from looking as if they should have been performing a Handel oratorio.

Now, to individual performances.

In a podcast last week, Bryn Terfel stated: “I’ve been fighting to repeat the role of Sweeney Todd ever since I performed it in Chicago at the Lyric Theatre”. London audiences have had to wait some considerable time to see Terfel’s interpretation; well, I can say it was worth the wait. His was a deeply troubled and psychologically disturbed Sweeney – menacing and frightening (especially when directly interacting with the audience front row in Epiphany), yet sometimes a disarmingly charming and understated, deadpan Sweeney. Always technically assured, as we would expect from a singer of his calibre, Terfel came as near as dammit to laying bare the emotional inner demons which make Sweeney so much more than a mere “baddie” in a melodrama. Terfel shows us the scary truth that we are all potential Sweeneys, given a lethal combination of wrong circumstances and badly-advised life choices.

Maria Friedman as Mrs Lovett showed that she is back on form after her recent ill-health. Her occasional slip out of time with the orchestra (especially in By The Sea, which visibly gave the conductor a few anxious moments), can be forgiven in the light of a characterisation which, for the most part, trod the prickly path between deliberate comic over-acting and embarrassing clowning with a secure skilfulness. I thought that she succeeded in making Mrs Lovett a more sympathetic character than has been fashionable in the past. Whilst not shying away from the appalling amorality of the character, Friedman’s genuine tenderness whilst performing Not While I’m Around with Toby, showed that Lovett can be more multi-faceted than she is usually portrayed.

Judge Turpin was played by Philip Quast. His performance was technically accurate – notes and rhythms were all in the right place. Quast showed great skill in bringing forward the hypocrisy and sheer slimy ghastliness of the Judge; on the surface so respectable and charitable – but underneath pure evil. It was a pity that his solo, Mea culpa, was cut. This is a controversial song, incorporating sexual imagery and self-flagellation. It’s also technically one of the most difficult songs in the score. However, its inclusion in any performance of Sweeney Todd provides much insight into what makes the Judge tick, and why he acts as he does. I am curious to know why the decision was taken to cut it. 

The choice of Daniel Boys to play Anthony raised a few eyebrows amongst Sondheim enthusiasts who had seen him as one of the eager young contestants on Any Dream Will Do, the televised competition to find Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new Joseph. I had kept an open mind, and was, on the whole, pleasantly surprised. He’s not the best Anthony I’ve ever seen (I’m giving that accolade to Greg Barnett, who played the part in the recent UK touring production – and he plays the cello as well!), but he did a good job. His youthfulness and impetuousness came across well, and suited the character. However, on the negative side, one didn’t get the impression that he had really got very far “under the surface” of the character, and this led to a decidedly two-dimensional, almost cartoon movie, Anthony. That said, Daniel is clearly highly talented, and has a great future waiting for him in musical theatre.

I loved Emma Williams as Johanna. She effortlessly managed to bring out the naivety of the character, and her solo, Green Finch and Linnet Bird was one of the highlights of the show. This song is so often almost dismissed as an unimportant bit of fluffiness, but Williams revealed in it a depth which emphasised Johanna’s condition of being a trapped creature, leading us to be convinced by the unlikelihood of her falling instantly in love with and agreeing to marry the first young man who shows an interest in her.

Rosemary Ashe played the Beggar Woman. For me, she was one of the strongest of the supporting cast, and easily the best Beggar Woman I have heard. I have never heard the Beggar Woman’s Lullaby performed before (though I’ve seen it in the score), and it was lovely to hear this. Of course, even those who have never seen Sweeney Todd before will realise from her first appearance that the role of the Beggar Woman is a very significant one for the story. The Lullaby gives an extra dimension to this significance, and Rosemary Ashe’s performance was beautifully judged; tender and poignant and in stark contrast to her earlier crazed lewdness.

I have to say that, for me, Toby (Daniel Evans) was a little disappointing. Within such a strong cast as this it takes something special to really stand out, and Evans, though competent, seemed to lack that spark. Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir is notoriously difficult from the point of view of clarity of diction. There are just so many words to enunciate, and, with some of Sondheim’s wittiest rhymes, it’s important that these come over clearly to the listener. However, Daniel Evans was at his weakest here, and I will be charitable and say that perhaps he was not helped by an amplification system which at times did not appear to be working as clearly as one would have liked. Toby’s best moments are in the song Not While I’m Around, and in the final scene with Sweeney in the bakehouse. Fortunately, Evans did not disappoint here. Not While I’m Around (probably the one song from Sweeney which the general public might have heard) was beautifully performed, with Evans’ high tenor soaring effectively in its upper register without sounding strained in any way.

In the light of the casting for Tim Burton’s film version of Sweeney Todd, it is difficult to imagine anyone so far apart from Sacha Baron Cohen (Burton’s choice for Pirelli) than Adrian Thompson. Thompson is a respected opera singer, having performed in all the major opera houses of the world, and is also a professor at the Guildhall School of Music, the leading conservatoire in London. Adrian brought out the wonderful comedy in the role, as well as managing skilfully the fast patter singing in the shaving contest.

Last but not least, I will mention Steve Elias as the Beadle. I heard Steve a while ago in the Chichester Festival production of Styles and Drewe’s Just So, and felt he had a great comic personality coupled with a distinctive singing voice. His portrayal of the Beadle is very different to the traditional interpretation, his voice having a less “refined” accent to it, but none the less, it was an extremely impressive reading. I felt it was a shame that the Parlour Songs were drastically cut, as I would have enjoyed hearing Steve’s performance of them.

My seat was in the balcony, and quite a long way from the stage. It was maybe because of this that the solo singing sounded generally clearer than the ensemble singing, which at times was a little indistinct. The intricate counterpoint of God That's Good and the Quartet were the chief victims here, and sadly the result was something of a mish-mash of sound. It is possible that those seated in the front to mid stalls will have not had this problem.

To sum up, a thoroughly worthwhile version of Sweeney Todd. The dark side and the comedy were always in perfect balance, the audience taken on that journey through the psyches of men and women who are like us. That is why audiences respond to Sweeney Todd – they know that there by the grace of God go they. When the chorus point directly at the audience in the finale and shout “There! There! There!” in answer to the question “Isn’t that Sweeney there beside you”, it is one of the most chilling, yet most exhilarating, moments in all musical theatre. Those of us present at the Royal Festival Hall this week were privileged to be led through a modern masterpiece in a quite extraordinary way.  

 

Benjamin Barker, 7th July, 2007