Razor-sharp Sweeney Todd is a cut above the rest
Fancy a shave? It'll be a bloody close one! With those ominous words Sweeney Todd has been unleashed in all its gruesome glory, in a Carrick-on-Suir Musical Society production that is nothing short of spectacular.
Boasting a blood-curdling body count that has set a new record at the Strand Theatre, this high-octane performance held the audience in thrall from overture to frenetic finish at Saturday's opening night.
The Stephen Sondheim classic is so notoriously difficult to stage that few musical societies even make the attempt. The Carrick cast and crew would deserve plaudits if only for having the sheer chutzpah to take it on.
However, they have done far more than merely stage this gargantuan production. They have truly tamed the unruly beast that is Sweeney Todd and whipped it into a shape as rounded and perfect as one of Mrs Lovett's grisly meat pies.
Superb performances by Liam Butler (Sweeney Todd), Emma Jane Reilly (Mrs Lovett) and Derek Ryan (Judge Turpin) in hugely demanding lead roles set a standard of excellence for the rest of the cast to follow. And follow they did with an exuberance that was a joy to watch, as the darkly comic savage tale of the demon barber of Fleet Street relentlessly unfolded to its caustic end.
Sondheim's 1979 stage musical tells the sordid story of middle-class barber Benjamin Barker, married to Lucy with an infant daughter Johanna. The villainous and lecherous Judge Turpin wants Lucy for himself and has Barker arrested on false charges and transported for life to Australia.
They musical begins 15 years later when Barker has escaped and returned to London in the guise of Sweeney Todd, who opens a murderous barber shop above his former neighbour Mrs Lovett's pie store. After Judge Turpin escapes his grasp, he swears revenge upon the world and resolves to kill as many unsuspecting people as he can with a sudden flick of his lethal razor. Mrs Lovett suggests they turn his victims' remains into pies and a barbarous bloodbath ensues.
It is a tribute to Liam Butler's phenomenal skill that he managed to invest the cut-throat Sweeney with a measure of humanity to the extent that, while undoubtedly more sinning than sinned against, he movingly conveyed the magnitude of the loss that sent this macabre character resolutely on the road to hell
It is equally a testament to the magnificent Emma Jane Reilly that she was more than a match for the doomed 'hero', with her glorious combination of beat-perfect comic timing, lavish vocals and powerful stage presence. It was a role she seemed born to play and she revelled in it, to the delight of the opening night audience.
The sparkling interplay betwen the two leads was deliciously showcased in their tongue-in-cheek duet 'A Little Priest', as they gleefully recounted the relative tastiness of the pies' misfortunate human contents. A pie filling made of priest, they concluded, was not as hearty as a bishop but not as bland as a curate. A politician was so oily it had to be served on a doily, while the shepherd's pie had real shepherd on top. Meanwhile, a pie made of fiddle player was, well, just a bit stringy. And as for a piccolo player? Piping hot of course!
Another undisputed if harrowing highlight was Derek Ryan's stunning interpretation of the Judge's Song ('Johanna'), as his lascivious lust for his budding ward was counterpointed by self-flagellation, in a deeply disturbing yet utterly believable downward spiral. It was almost unbearable to watch and yet impossible to turn away. An extraordinary performance.
In fact, the entire frontline was perfectly cast, with Matthew Williams stealing many scenes as Toby in his Carrick stage debut and Triona O'Callaghan a delight with her heart-breakingly glorious soprano. Magnificent also were Greg Porter (Beadle), Ray Collins (Pirelli), Irene Malone (beggar woman), Emmet Donlon (Anthony) and Seamus Power (Fogg).
There was plenty of effervescent light relief too on this superb night of theatre, never more so than in the delightful 'By the Sea' for which the excellent frolicking couple Grace Ryan and Tim Panton should take an extra bow.
The sinister Gothic atmosphere of Dickensian London was perfectly captured, in large part due to superb lighting designed and operated by Gerry Taylor. Special mention must also go to the splendid set designed by John O'Donoghue, in particular the lethal and highly effective barber's chair and trapdoor.
Director Tony Finnegan, musical director Captain Fergal Carroll and chorus mistress Catriona O'Dwyer, together with their dedicated cast and crew, deserve enormous credit for staging what must surely rank among the very best productions ever staged by Carrick-on-Suir Musical Society. Bravissimo!
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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