Murder, Mayhem And Meat Pies:

‘Sweeney Todd’ At TheatreWorks

NEW MILFORD — Beginning July 20, vengeance will carry a bloodied razor when TheatreWorks presents Stephen Sondheim’s Tony-award winning musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.

Based on an earlier version of Sweeney Todd by Christopher Bond, this old English folklore, set to music by Sondheim with the aid of Hugh Wheeler’s richly embroidered book, concerns the injustice heaped on a barber named Benjamin Barker, who once had a beautiful wife and a lovely daughter (played by Amy Ehnstrom of Fairfield).

But Barker was sent away to prison by an evil Judge (Michael Brumbaugh of Danbury) who wanted the wife for his own lecherous purposes. Barker returns 15 years later as an escaped convict and with the new identity of Sweeney Todd (Mark Feltch of Newtown) as well as a master plan of vengeance against Judge Turpin and the Beadle (John Stewart II of Fairfield) who had destroyed his life.

The plan includes opening a new barbershop above the pie shop of Mrs Lovett (Susan Pettibone of New Fairfield). There, with a nibble of insane cooperation, the revengeful plan is placed into action with a bonus — feeding the starving of the London slums. A demented beggar woman (Sarah Lee Michaels of Wilton), a wandering sailor (Skip Jennnigs of Brookfield), a magic elixir salesman (Richard Pettibone of New Fairfield) and his young aide (Thomas Marks of New Milford), along with babbling bag ladies, loonies from the asylum and a stage full of creeping humanity invade the story and accelerate the musical thriller masterpiece.

The haunting musical is being produced by the same creative team that developed last year’s sold-out hit, Cabaret. Under the direction of Bradford Blake, with set design by Bill Hughes, lighting by George Meadows, costumes by Lesley Neilson Bowman, and accompaniment by Lesley Merwin, Sweeney Todd promises to be a frighteningly fun and suspenseful production of one of Sondheim’s best.

“Sweeney Todd is Sondheim’s masterwork,” said director Blake. “Its music is exhilarating, fast-paced and driven, though also full of poetic, lyrical passages. Songs such as ‘The Worst Pies in London’ and ‘A Little Priest’ contain some of Sondheim’s wittiest lyric writing, while the heart-wrenching ‘Pretty Women’ and ‘By The Sea’ show the emotional depths of the central characters.”

Sweeney Todd opens in New Milford on July 20 and runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, July 20 through August 25. Curtain is at 8 pm on Friday and Saturday, and 7 on Sunday.

Tickets for all shows are $20 general admission and $18 for students and seniors. Thursday, July 26, at 8 pm is Pay-What-You-Can night.

For reservations call the box office at 860-350-6863. TheatreWorks is a non-profit, professional caliber company located at 5 Brookside Avenue in New Milford.