Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, September 17, 2023)

The performance of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre last Sunday was the first Stephen Sondheim show to leave me underwhelmed. But I'm struggling to posit reasons why. Maybe I remain too in awe of the first Sweeney Todd I saw, the 1982 TV movie with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn as Mrs. Lovett and Todd, respectively. Maybe the leads were miscast. Annaleigh Ashford and Nicholas Christopher (filling in for Josh Groban which was why our tickets were cheaper than usual) possess gargantuan talent, especially Christopher who was dripping with sweat for many minutes after a fiery "Epiphany." But both seemed too young for the roles (as I suspect Groban is too) and neither were as rotted or scary as Lansbury and Hearn. And maybe, just maybe, Sweeney Todd pales in comparison to Company, Into the Woods, Assassins, etc. For once, a Sondheim musical bore the two negative hallmarks of a Broadway show - too long and too many ballads. Still, nothing could detract from the power of the best number - "The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd" which opens and closes the show and is reprised throughout. That's because, as always, it's an ensemble number, Broadway's greatest gift to humankind. With queerly high tenors and screeching sopranos building to near glossolalia, Sondheim skirts the edge of chaos. To quote Salieri in Amadeus, it was both terrifying and wonderful to watch.  

Grade: B