Sweeney Todd

Some of Stephen Sondheim’s musicals are both an acquired taste for audiences and a challenge for amateur casts but for societies bold enough to take on the titles, they can provide a very satisfying production to enjoy. For Maidenhead Operatic Society Sweeney Todd provided a very different title from last year’s HMS Pinafore and it is interesting that seven of the nine Principals were performing their first show for the society. It was also pleasing to note that two cast members were post covid individual NODA District 14 winners,  one Principal had featured in another District winner production and the MD had led the band in last year’s NODA District winning production of G & S. It promised a very good show!

The magnificent Sondheim score is complex with counterpoint harmonies and discordant changes and in this production the music at times felt slightly slower than in other versions but there was a great rich sound from the nine-piece band in the pit. There was a less operatic feel to the singing giving it more the feel of melodramatic musical theatre reinforced by a large Ensemble covering most scenes changes with the wonderful “Ballad of Sweeney Todd”, the demon barber of Fleet Street with the emphasis on both T’s.

The multi-location setting of 19th century London’s most unattractive places was simply set with a permanent raised Barber shop filling the upstage area requiring all the other scenes to be played on a tight forestage. This created a fluid staging, The overall effect was to create a very enjoyable telling of the tender tale with good characterisations, wonderfully executed throat slitting’s, and some very strong musical performances with good comic touches that did justice to Sondheim’s masterpiece.

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