Theatre Review: SWEENEY TODD

Last night, I spent more money than I should have on a ticket to Sweeney Todd, and it was worth every penny.
Let me set the scene for you. This production has only ten performers, who act all the parts and play all the instruments too. The set is a wide open space, with a few chairs around the edges, and on the back wall, shelves extending very high up with all manner of Victorian knick knacks. Center stage is a large black coffin. The concept is that the play takes place in a mental institution, and the performers are patients there, acting out a story being told by a new patient, Toby.
I had my doubts about this concept. I was very resistant to the idea of having the actors be the musicians as well. I thought it was just a gimmick they had picked up from Cabaret and it shouldn't be applied to every show, especially a show as musically vital as Sweeney Todd. I also didn't really like the idea of the mental institution. Sweeney Todd has the built in convention of being a dark, Victorian melodrama; I didn't think it needed anything else. I still don't think it needs anything else, but this production was really great and everything they did really worked.
*THE FOLLOWING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
By having the actors play the score, you do lose the really lush Sondheim score, but what you gain was so beautiful and unexpected. I was very quickly drawn to all of the performers, even before some of them did their main parts, because they were so involved in the story they were telling and it felt so personal and intimate between them and me. It was really lovely. They did a great job of making playing their instruments very organic and part of what they were doing. For instance, the two young lovers, Joanna and Anthony, both played cello, so they had a couple of what seemed like musical duets during their vocal duets (even though everyone else was still playing of course) and I found that a very effective connection between the two of them. You of course know that Patti plays the tuba which I also took to be a gimmick, but it actually worked. For one thing, she also played other percussion instruments during some songs, so she was just as vital a musician as the others, and when she played the tuba it was mostly during the boisterous numbers, and it really fit in.
As far as the mental institution stuff went, I actually really liked it. It wasn't too overbearing, but it also never really disappeared either. With Michael (Cerveris) and Patti, the craziness pretty much faded away into their characters during the bulk of the play, and came back at the end, but with everyone else, I felt like I could see the crazy layer over top of their character as well (especially with Joanna and Toby). Actually, I take that back for Patti, she did have scenes in the middle where whe was not "on stage" but was wandering around as a crazy lady, moving set pieces, etc.

Okay, as far as performances go, Patti and Michael were absolutely magnificent, as I expected. Other than that the entire cast was really wonderful. The only weak link was Anthony. I just didn't really like him, and when he had unsung dialogue, forget about it, he sounded a little like a robot. Luckily, Anthony's a boring part anyway, so I mostly just ignored him. The unexpected stand out for me was Manoel Felciano who played Toby. I was totally in love with him from the beginning, and he played the violin, clarinet, and keyboard really well. He was really great, and I also liked Lauren Molina as Joanna much more than I expected. I don't usually like Joanna very much, but I'm telling you, the crazy really works for that character.
The set looked great, and every scene moved really well into the next. The main set piece was the coffin that had two "feet" pieces. With those three wodden boxes, the cast constantly moved them into new configurations for each scene. For instance, the coffin was a table, a bed, a tall desk, a boat, Joanna's balcony, etc. Other than the coffin, they only used one ladder, and the several chairs for each scene. It was very intricately blocked, almost like the dance as actors traded places at different instruments, and being in different scenes. It was quite beautiful. The only set piece I didn't really like was a smaller white coffin they brought in during the second act as Sweeney's new barber's chair. The used it for a couple of other things besides his chair, but I just didn't really like it. Part of it was that was the only thing that I noticed that they brought on from offstage. All of their other props and set pieces were on stage the whole time, and they just kind of picked them up incidently as they went along.
Oh, the best props were the buckets. They had two white tin buckets, and every time someone dies, somebody would pour blood from one bucket to the other. I was sitting very close, and got a good look at the blood which I'm pretty sure was red corn syrup. I was a little worried about some spilling onto stage and somebody slipping because sometimes they lifted the bucket very high, but they all look pretty practices at pouring it. But by the end it was all around the rims of the buckets, and it looked great. They also had an effect towards the end where it looked like Toby was actually lit from within the bucket when he's discovering that they hold human remains, but I have no idea how they did that.
I don't want to end on a negative note, but I do have to tell you that the one thing I did not like was Patti's costume. Everyone was dressed in very neutral outfits of black, white, and grey which was fine, but Patti had very weird high heeled platforms that I really don't know how she walked in, knee high fish-nets and a very short skirt, for no reason that I could imagine. I'm not opposed to short skirts, but it was just an ugly combo. It was almost made worse by the long apron she wears over it in the first act which, as you can see, goes down to her knees, but it only wraps halfway around in the back, and it made me feel like a peeping tom to see her thighs every time she turned around. I also suspect her bottom was padded, but it wasn't outrageous enough for me to be sure.
At any rate, I'm so glad I was able to see this wonderful production (don't worry Laura, this is one playbill I will keep), and I would recommend it to all of you. TOFT is taping it, so if you miss it, there's still hope.
Side note, I was sitting in the fourth row, and during intermission I was staring at the curtain, just waiting for the show to start again. The curtain had lots of slashmarks in it, and for a few seconds towards the end of intermission, I thought I saw Patti peering through one of the slashmarks. Sure enough, her face appeared again. I don't know who she was looking for, but I thought it very funny that even Patti Lupone is guilty of such a basic no-no as peeking at the audience through the curtain.