Sweeney Todd

I was delighted to be invited to the opening night of a production of one of my favourite Sondheim musicals - a notoriously ambitious production for an amateur Operatic Society. LOS did not disappoint!

The production was slick and beautiful. Elizabeth Callow’s choice of colourful Victorian period costumes was stunning. The lighting by Richard Pike enhanced both the silks and dinner jackets of the masked ball and the vibrant multicoloured velvets, tartans and linens of the daytime scenes. It is no easy task to ensure every actor’s face in a large ensemble is evenly lit, when the majority are wearing bonnets and caps! I particularly enjoyed the interesting use of levels in the alternating tableaux of Act 2 in Mrs Lovett’s Pie Shop, with well-timed warm washes then cold washes and mottled stage surface.

Patrick Alford’s stage crew were excellent, maneuvering the spectacular hired set pieces on heavy trucks. Transitions were complex, rotating Sweeney Todd’s shop, trucking a large oven and my favourite moment: pushing off a kissing couple on a chaise longue.

Props were effective and used well - Mrs Lovett kneading and rolling pastry while singing The Worst Pies in London was impressive.

John Harries-Rees and Sam Fisher ensured that the ensemble played as significant a part in the narrative as the lead roles and this was a real strength of the show. Every member performed with energy and complete focus and commitment in all well-choreographed sequences and sounded great! Using musical tracks rather than a band worked well. The trio and then the five part harmony in the Act 2 letter scene were particularly effective.

Siobhan James as Mrs Lovett was a standout performer who drove the energy and emotion of the production both in her acting and singing. She provided great support for those around her, helping them relax into their roles on this opening night performance. Siobhan’s excellent comic timing brought light and shade to every scene and there were many moments of laughter from the very responsive audience in Epsom Playhouse.

Lovett and Todd worked well together. Barry Stevens was vocally strong and played Todd predominantly as a vulnerable, broken man in Act 1 building to the disturbed violence of his first murder. Tom Paine as the Judge was suitably predatory and the duet Pretty Women was a highlight for me. Matt Cullane as Beadle was excellent in his Parlor Song. However, it might have been nice to see slightly more malice in the conspirators Judge and Beadle and, to some extent, Todd in Act 2. Matt Howes as Pirelli conveyed both Irish and the exaggerated Italian accents convincingly, with good comic timing.

Rebecca Walker as Beggar Woman and Rachel Kitchen as Johanna were both vocally strong. Rachel worked very well with David Harries-Rees as Anthony. David was suffering from a heavy cold affecting his performance unfortunately, but Stuart Vaughan’s Sound crew boosted his microphone so that all speech and vocals could be heard well. Jess Brown as Tobias gave a strong performance and brought real energy to every scene she was in.

Leatherhead Operatic Society gave an impressive, polished performance of a demanding piece of Musical Theatre; and one which will be most memorable.

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