Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd — if you’ve got the guts, that is.
Actually, the upcoming island revival of the spooky Stephen Sondheim masterwork by Ovation! Performing Arts Northwest will be intentionally light on the gore, while still maintaining all the macabre machinations, vengeful ventures and timeless tunes that have made the show an internationally beloved theater institution for nearly 40 years.
The production is set for a nine-performance run at the Bainbridge High School theater from July 14 through July 30, and tickets — $15 for youth 12 and younger, $19 for seniors (65 and older), students and military members, and $22 for adults — can be purchased now via www.ovation mtb.com or www.brownpapertick ets.com/event/2962415.
The musical, with music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, which debuted in 1979, was based on the 1973 play of the same title by Christopher Bond. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Olivier Award for Best New Musical. According to Timeout London, though, the beloved maniac barber is even older than that.
The character Sweeney Todd reportedly originated in serialized Victorian popular fiction, known as “penny dreadfuls,” specifically, in a story called “The String of Pearls,” which was published in weekly magazine installments during the winter of 1846-47.
Set in 1785, the original story included all the plot elements that were later used by Sondheim, and others since — including Tim Burton, whose 2007 film version starred Johnny Depp.
The psychopathic barber hell-bent on revenge against those who have wronged him proved instantly popular, and the story was turned into a play before the ending had even been revealed in print. An expanded edition appeared in 1850, an American version in 1852, a new play in 1865, and by the 1870s Sweeney Todd was a familiar pop culture character.
The malicious main man will be portrayed in the Ovation! version by returning favorite Matty McCaslin (Daddy Warbucks in the production company’s recent “Annie”).
The drama behind the scenes was nearly as harrowing as the plot for those in the production this time around, as sudden and unexpected health problems laid low Ovation! cofounder and perennial company director Ron Milton, leaving his wife, cofounder Marijane Milton to run the show — in addition to playing one of the lead roles (the murderous Mrs. Lovett).
Ron returned late in the game, on the mend, to act as dramaturge and assistant director, but his absence from the majority of rehearsals had been palpable, Marijane said, and all the more regretful because the show had so long been one they hoped to tackle together.
“It was a huge shock,” she said of her husband’s illness. “We’ve wanted to do the show for so long. It’s been on our short list, really, since we started. We’re 15 years old this coming June.”
Once Ron was on the road to recovery, Marijane said, the full picture of the role she’d taken on began to come into focus. Though he’d already managed to work out the initial blocking for most of the show, there was a long road ahead for her and the rest of the crew.
“This score demands a higher level of attention because it’s so difficult, and it’s very Sondheim-y and it’s changing around constantly,” she said. “We’ve been asked about ‘Sweeney’ a lot, we just felt like we weren’t quite ready.
“It’s extremely difficult,” she added. “If you look at our history you’ll see the ‘Annie’ and the ‘Oliver’ interspersed with something meaty and hard because we’ve always been attracted to that.”
The time and the people involved were (ironically) finally right for “Sweeney Todd,” Marijane said, which became all the more crucial with Ron suddenly removed from the process.
“We only have the stage twice a year, December and July,” she said. “It’s never going to be a Christmas show. It’s not the best summer show, but that’s the window we have for it so we decided to go for it. We have a terrific cast and we have an amazing music director.”
Reece Suave’ returns as the music director, having also been the maestro behind the Ovation! production of “Annie.”
In addition to Marijane and McCaslin, the show’s cast includes Cailin McKenzie, Kyla Roberts, Austin Smith, Terry McAuley, Michelle Abad, Peter Vosshall, Emily Arneson, Kelli McAuley, Ron Mackley, Meghan Smith, Luisa Gildea, Leela Vosshall, Margaret Johnson, Jacob Cole, Sophia Campagna, Austin Smith, Juliette Dashe and Corrie Yadon.
The show also features an orchestra, consisting of Caroline Pierce, Patricia Strange, Arlayne Eseman, Clarice Nash, Patti Beasley, Amy Duer-Day, Tyler Brepanier, Austin Carver, JJ Schnaubel, Joe Alonso, Dan Gottlieb, Meg Tolley, Art Whitson and Bob Nash.
That it was such gruesome source material that inspired the camaraderie necessary to continue the show without Ron did not surprise Marijane a bit, she said. It is, after all, a masterpiece.
“We just decided that we had to keep going and that I was the one person who probably knew what [Ron] wanted to do most with it,” she said. “We made that call and the cast was hugely supportive.”
Regarding the endearing popularity of characters that, objectively, are more than a little unlikeable, Ron said it is the melodrama of the story that allows people to become invested — and perhaps leave their conscience at the door.
“I’d say the characters are interesting,” he said. “It’s about something more than [revenge]. It’s what happens when innocence falls from grace.
“Everybody in the show falls from a form of innocence,” he explained. “It’s a melodrama, so there’s not a lot of [subtext]. You’re not looking for that complex character; anything the characters are is right there in the script.”
It can be easy, Marijane agreed, to attach theme and symbolism to the more famous elements of the story — a murderous blue-collar barber attacking corrupt figures of law and order, the literal cannibalizing of people to renew a struggling economic system — but to do so is to miss Sondheim’s intent: good, spooky fun.
“I think people love the music,” she said. “I also think that whenever I see ‘Romeo and Juliet’ or ‘Madame Butterfly’ or ‘La Bohème,’ even though you know how it’s going to end there’s still a part of you that’s like, ‘She’s not really dead!’
“People know how it’s going to end, most people who come to this, and yet there’s still that thought that maybe it won’t quite end that way.”
