Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street A Musical Thriller, TEG Life Like Company, Her Majesty's Theatre, Sunday June 23rd 2019
"Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" A Musical Thriller" was presented by TEG Life Like Company, at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne on Sunday June 23rd 2019For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights. Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases. I write for my memories of what I have seen, and is more of a stream of consciousness.
"Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" A Musical Thriller" was presented by TEG Life Like Company, at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne on Sunday June 23rd 2019
I will outline the good things before I discuss what I did not like about the show.
I have seen about six versions of this show. Some multiple times, so I have seen a version of "Sweeney Todd" at least ten times in total.
Vocally - the choral harmonies were fabulous. Nearly, the best I have heard of this score.
The orchestra led by Vanessa Scammell was sensational.
I loved Anthony Warlow in the titular role of Sweeney Todd. With better direction he would have been brilliant.
Gina Riley as Mrs Lovett gave an adequate or fair job with her in-your-face performance. She lacked the finesse and pernicious natures of the role by every other actress I have seen do this role. She was not menacing and conniving enough. Part of this I put down to the lack of rehearsals and lack of solid direction.
Tobias Ragg played sensitively by Jonathon Hickey. Though with better direction, staging, and relationship development with Pirelli and Mrs Lovett, he has the potential to be the best Tobias I have seen. Sadly, the direction let him down.
Anthony Hope was played well by statuesque Owen McCredie. His rich tone was heavenly, though he did hit a few bung notes.
Daniel Sumegi played Judge Turpin with vocal authority but needed more physical commanding presence. His acting was very wooden. We were fortunate to witness Daniel Sumegi sing when he won the Sun Aria. It was so good to see how much he has developed.
Anton Berezin as Beadle Bamford gave a solid performance, but was hampered with inadequate and clumsy staging and direction.
Jonas Fogg, I am sorry to say played by Matt Heyward was nearly forgettable as the direction let him down. Matt Heyward was a great ensemble cast member who assisted in creating different atmospheres for various scenes.
The bass voice in the ensemble was magnificent, pure and rich in tone and diction.
I did not like Joanna as she was played with distance by Genevieve Kingsford. She had a pinched and shrill tone that lacked any warmth. I did not care for Joanna to be saved. Every other version I have seen, I felt desperate for her safety. This time, I wanted Anthony Hope to run! (Now, I loved her in "The Light In The Piazza" and have seen three versions of that show.)
The Beggar Woman/Lucy role played by Debra Byrne required clearer diction. Her entrances and exits lacked purpose and direction. Sorry, she was awful and I like Debra Byrne usually.
Set Design by Charlotte Lane had good points but was very clunky in the execution by the cast in the staging of many numbers. The set with walkways around the orchestra on stage left reminded me of the walkway from the original "Pacific Overtures". The use of the mirror, window and portraits reminded me of Anthony Warlow in "The Secret Garden".
Lighting Design by Tom Willis was reasonable to create different atmospheres and locations, though the execution at times was a bit clunky.
Costume Design by Kim Bishop was generally serviceable but the brocade looked as if there were dusty patches on many of the costumes. The gentlemen at the seance looked resplendent in their tails.
I liked the idea of the seance concept by director Theresa Borg, but it became piece-meal by ensuring the head of the seance - madam was returned to the table. The concept needs work to be fully realised as it highlighted how under-rehearsed and under-developed (under-cooked - excuse the pun!).
The staging with the round table distracted our attention from other action. I realised I had missed a few important moments happening elsewhere as the table turning and positioning up-staged the other action.
The staging with the red curtains was used for Pirelli's entrance, the dividing curtain to Mrs Lovett's parlour and also the gate to the asylum. I can cope with a set piece being used for multiple purposes, but it became very confusing with the asylum scene.
I could cope with the concept of the zombie-like exits after each character had their throat slit. What I did not like was the difference in execution - as some would stand in the doorway a moment and wander off, another would rush off, while another would walk with a zombie like gait. Maybe have arms out to keep some consistency. Plus a lighting effect may have added to the moment.
The chute being wheeled on was very amateurish. This took away from the drama of the reveals of bodies in the chute. Sadly, the worst version I have ever seen of this scene.
Choreography by Jo-Anne Robinson was wasted as it appeared that time had been spent rehearsing the opening number to create a dance of gestures. Oh yes there was the Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett waltz to the oven. Oh yes and a girl danced on the table!
The timing of some interactions was totally off beat. The relationships between characters at times were incongruent and lacked the sensitivity to honour the score and the subtle humour.
Miming occurred one moment, then not another, which was totally bizarre. They mimed the oven door in one scene, and then another time they used the gates of the oven door. Miming pies in another moment and then have pie (props) was totally ludicrous. The worst bit was when there was not even a stuffed bird in the bird cage, and was mimed having its head twisted. You can buy these stuffed birds at $2.00 shops.
The duet "A Little Priest" lacked so much humour. The funniest moment was when Anthony Warlow walked towards the violin section of the orchestra for the "stringy" line.
The "God, That's Good" and "more pies" scene that opened act two was absolutely a mess. The scene screamed "ridiculous" as the singers were singing "more pies" while a plate full of pies was centre on the table. Some of the performers were trying to make something of this and you could see the futility and resignation on their faces.
There was an in-joke where the chandelier rose and fell that paid homage to "The Phantom of the Opera" that Anthony Warlow had starred in during the late 1980's.
I was disappointed that I missed Sweeney Todd's final entrance onto the table, as other action distracted my focus. I knew his entrance was coming and was thrown momentarily.
I have seen at least two amateur productions that had better timing and staging than this production. I was certainly had spine tingling reactions at every other performance. Sadly, I did not have these reactions at this production.
At $163 a ticket - it was worth seeing Anthony Warlow perform this role.
Overall - messy! It was like a work in progress.
"Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street - A Musical Thriller" only obtained a 7/10.
