[NEohioPAL] Preview of LCC's "Sweeney Todd"

[Bob Abelman]

Friedman finally gets his Demon Barber

Although delayed a year, Lakeland director produces Sweeney Todd

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the News-Herald 2/6/09

 

Stephen Sondheim's morose musical Sweeney Todd is all about the body count.  One by one, the population of 19th century London is reduced at the hands of a homicidal barber out to revenge his wrongful imprisonment and the destruction of his family.  Each assault with a straight-edge razor is accompanied by Sondheim's sophisticated lyrics and operatic score that haunt like a recurring nightmare.  

 

In quite a different way, the Lakeland Community College production of Sweeney Todd, which premieres on February 6, is also all about the body count.

 

The show was originally scheduled to open February of last year.  Shortly after assembling an ensemble of some of the area's most sought-after performers and production personnel, director Martin Friedman entered the hospital for emergency open heart surgery.  Rehearsals were cancelled, the show was put on indefinite hiatus, and it was recommended that the cast and crew find work elsewhere.  

 

One year later, Friedman is back doing Sweeney Todd and nearly everybody from the original cast and crew has signed on for another stab at this intriguing show.

 

Actor Dan Folino, who takes on the title role, offers an explanation for his return that also serves to define this upcoming production: "Martin is one of those directors who truly hate predictable and drab theatre.  He lets me play around with my character so that Sweeney doesn't become the sociopathic cold blooded killer that he is usually made out to be." 

 

Being encouraged to develop complex characters, such as a sympathetic Sweeney, is one explanation for these actors' devotion to this production.  Another is Friedman's belief that music is central to the storytelling in a musical.  In the recent Tim Burton film version of Sweeney Todd, and in some stage productions, only a portion of the original 27 musical numbers are included.  Not so in the LCC production.  For Friedman, "what is said and sung in a musical is paramount. more than sets, more than scenery."

 

This would also serve to explain why Friedman -- unlike Burton -- cast actors who can actually sing.  In fact, they sing wonderfully and include Alison Garrigan as Sweeney's sadistic sidekick Mrs. Lovette, Connor O'Brien as the young sailor Anthony Hope, and Lakeland alumnus Lindsey Sandham as Sweeney's daughter Johanna.  The 13-member ensemble is stacked with vocal talent.

 

Also unlike the movie, which graphically embellishes each and every act of aggression, Friedman has chosen the cobblestone road less travelled by minimizing the gore and exploring the ramifications of the violence for the characters.  "Sure, there's blood," he admits.  "After all, Sweeney kills seven people on stage, which needs to be visually compelling and explicit.  But the blood should complement the story, not be the story."

 

Friedman's own explanation for why he decided to return to Sweeney Todd after a year-long interruption and his own brush with mortality is surprisingly simple:  "It is the one Stephen Sondheim musical I had not yet tackled and always wanted to do.  It's his greatest play.  I had to do this show."

 

Details

 

What:    Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

When:    February 6 through February 22 (Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m., 

   Sunday Matinees, 2 p.m.).

Where:   Lakeland Theatre, 7700 Clocktower Drive, Kirtland. 

Tickets:  $13 for adults, $11 for seniors and $5 for students

Info:        (440) 525-7526 or email martinfriedman98 at yahoo.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20090206/769334cc/attachment-0003.htm>