Sweeney Todd : a Review

Every time I go to London, I make sure I watch a play or musicale at West End. But instead of sticking to the old classics like Phantom of the Opera or Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, I ventured into the works of the new talents of West End this time around. I was initially doubtful if I'm going to watch Sweeney Todd. In my mind, a horror drama hardly entertains the audience when the set is predominantly dark, actors are scowling and music is chilling. One only needs to be reminded of "The Woman in Black" to stay away from musicals with horror themes. But Sweeney Todd is a revelation. Michael Ball plays as the title role and he not only possesses a great voice but he is an excellent actor as well. His transformation from a man mourning the loss of his wife and child to a lunatic who brings out his revenge to the innocent bystanders is gradual and subtle. Mrs. Lovett, played by Imelda Staunton, provides a great comic relief with her disgusting pies and yet she delivers more than that. There are scenes when she has to sing horribly and she did without sounding really off. The musicale showed off her versality as an actress with the range of emotions required for the role. She was a friendly comic at the start advising everyone of her disgusting pies and "to better just spit it out". Then she transformed into a desperate woman lusting over Sweeney Todd She slowly slipped into moral degradation when at the start she gasped loudly upon seeing the dead body in the trunk changed into delight in the killings afterwards to succumb to her greedy antics by gaining profit for her store. Her clever portrayal of Mrs. Lovett leaves one to guess if she is not right in the head or merely a woman desperately in love with a man. The music was fantastic. It has the right mix of gloom and bloom. This musicale has brilliantly executed an old piece into something still relevant to us. It has the Victorian echoes of the old era but still maintains the recurring issues of the working class woes. It was a showcase of excellence in the first act that transcends into brilliance in the second act. How the director was able to maintain such perfection throughtout the play is truly a remarkable feat. I simply applaud to his genius. If there is something I would apologize for, it is my limited vocabulary on the superlatives I can shower for this great musicale.