Sweeney Todd

I have famously said that I find Sondheim’s music, especially from his later work, very difficult to appreciate.  As a consequence I make sure that I have an aficionado with me to guide my thoughts.  For this production it was not actually necessary as the performance was powerful and thought provoking.

All the Principals were excellent, David Phillips played the title role, of Sweeney Todd, with enough menace to make it realistic but still with the pathos that makes you understand why the character behaved in such a degenerate way.  Angela Phillips was excellent as Mrs Lovett, quite a change from the last part that I saw her play and a reaffirmation of her skills as an actress.   Matthew Capp has a fabulous singing voice and he gave a strong performance as Anthony.  Nicola Smith played Johanna with grace and style and I don’t think I have heard such power from a soprano voice before.

Josh Handley was simply outstanding as Tobias Ragg; every minute he was on stage, he was playing the character.   It didn’t slip once and I was fascinated to watch him, even when he was not the feature of the action.  I must also praise Dawn Peat’s portrayal as the beggar woman.  Her characterisation was another outstanding performance in this very strong production.

The other Principals, Reg Wheeler (Judge Turpin) Matt Smith (Beadle Bamford) Gary Sullivan (Adolpho Pirelli) and Harry Doyle (Jonas Fogg) all gave strong characterisations.  The ensemble sang with conviction, although some of the smaller groups were not as powerful as the whole.

If I have to be picky then the main issue for me was that, with the exception of Sweeney (who had to for the dialogue to work) no-one actually ate a pie!   This was such a shame because watching someone pretend to eat a pie for more than a minute (which was the case at least twice) is excruciating for me in the audience and, probably, for the actor as well!

This was the last performance so there is no excuse for people to be ripping off their costumes before they have left the stage (the masked dancers) or for people to walk on the stage at the wrong time.

However these two issues were only a couple of people and I hope that they will take note of my comments as they marred what was otherwise a very strong production.

The scenery was well designed, even if it did create a few blind spots once in place!  Costumes were, as always with Ann Sullivan’s work, outstanding and the lighting was appropriate and served to create the required atmosphere.

TOPS on Stage have produced another strong performance, well done.

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