Naturally, all of this makes Sweeney obsessed with revenge. When Mrs. Lovett gives Sweeney his old barber tools, he goes to work with the aim of getting Turpin up to his shop for the closest shave the judge has ever had. As luck would have it, the judge ends up paying him a visit within a couple days. But just as the shave is about to get bloody, Sweeney’s young friend Anthony bursts in with the news that he is going to elope with Joanna. The angry judge leaves, Sweeney is furious, but Mrs. Lovett has an idea to turn that rage into profit. Sweeney has slit the throat of a blackmailer and has to dispose of a body. Mrs. Lovett needs meat to fill her pies. Sounds like a match made in…somewhere or another.

The show has a great cast of characters that allow the talented students at Las Vegas Academy to shine both dramatically and vocally. Philip Cerza has the look and hair of Sweeney Todd, a deep voice, and a strong, sad, melancholy, slightly crazed demeanor that makes you think he could really do the things he does. Rebecca Stewart is a hoot as the lovably sick Mrs. Lovett who adores Sweeney and is excited about the life they might have together By the Sea, her eyes gleaming as she shakes her little pigtails back and forth, trying her best to get the Turpin-obsessed Sweeney to be as excited as she is. She does succeed in getting him to brighten a little when she explains her business plan of converting various professional people into pies during their first-act ending number A Little Priest.

Tia Konsur is marvelous as Sweeney’s half-crazed daughter Joanna, singing with a gorgeous voice to her caged Green Finch and Linnet Bird while resembling a caged bird herself with nervous, fidgety, bird-like movements. We know she’s really losing it when she gets stuffed in an asylum and we see her profile bobbing up and down like the classic wooden bird bobbing its beak up and down into a cup of water. The young sailor Anthony who falls in love with her is played by Jeff Zicker who lends his great voice and comedy to their duet Kiss Me as he tries to woo the flighty, bird-like girl. Jayce Johnson is a rip as Pirelli, a humbug elixir salesperson and barber with an outrageous French accent and a thick Irish one when he reveals his true name. He had a shaving accident opening night, but fortunately no one was killed. Elsewhere, Anna Morris is appropriately nuts as the lunatic Beggar Woman who keeps pestering the other cast members, Cody Canyon is the boyish Tobias who Lovett takes under her wing, and who promises tenderly but with dark overtones that nothing’s going harm Mrs. Lovett, Not While I’m Around. Dakota Rakes makes for a coolly arrogant and in control Beadle, the assistant to Judge Turpin played by Julian Crider with smug self-righteousness who does not like to be crossed.

And then there’s the captivating ensemble that acts as dark narrators of the tale, as townsfolk, as stagehands moving sets and curtains around. And they are used expertly by the director even when not actively involved, always watching the action and setting the mood in various ways whether it be peacefully relaxing and lying their heads in each other’s lap while Tobias sings his lullaby to Mrs. Lovett, being eagerly transfixed as Sweeney gives the judge a shave, being disappointed when the judge gets away, and cringing in fear when Sweeney explodes into a rage.

The school edition has few changes to it, most of which will likely go unnoticed. There’s no blood spurting, and there’s no big barber chair with a chute. The victims of Sweeney’s razor walk in a sad daze down the stairs of the barbershop to put on a red coat, the preceding victim holding it for the new victim and helping to put it on. The Beggar Woman is a little subtler regarding what she’ll do for money, but still gets the point across.

Performs November 1 - 10, 2007.

Rob Hopper
National Youth Theatre

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