SWEENEY TODD

The original Broadway 1979 production of Sweeney Todd, with its industrial set by Eugene Lee and often operatic score, was famed for its enormity. Since that original outing, however, the material has lent itself to more intimate production with great success, including Broadway revivals in 1989 and in 2005. Intimacy is the concept being followed for the current MusicalFare production directed by Randall Kramer with set design by Chris Schenk. This Sweeney unfolds as if from a magic box, and spins the tale as if it were being told by the fireplace on a rainy night.

Sweeney Todd is the melodramatic, Victorian story of a barber who is sent off to Australia for life by a corrupt judge who lusts for his young wife. As the play begins, Sweeney Todd has returned to London and is bent on revenge. He meets up with Mrs. Lovett, his former landlady, and once again rents the room above her meat pie shop. When a rival barber recognizes Sweeney and threatens him with blackmail, Sweeney begins a reign of murder. With a mind to economy, Mrs. Lovett disposes of the bodies by using them as meat for her pies. Business booms.

The details are bloody, but the treatment of the material by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler breaks suspense in tension with moments that are comical and sentimental in the mode of Victorian melodrama. The able MusicalFare cast navigates this terrain ably, with John Fredo as Sweeney and Lisa Ludwig as Mrs. Lovett especially appealing in roles created by Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury.

I have seen many Sweeneys and Mrs. Lovetts, including Len Cariou and Marge Redmond; George Hearn and Angela Lansbury; Bob Gunton and Beth Fowler; Brian Stokes Mitchell and Christine Baranski; Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone. The roles lend themselves to vastly differing interpretations, and it was great fun to see Fredo and Ludwig take their turn. Each has a distinctive stage personality that might not, initially, seem appropriate to the task, and yet each conquers the material winningly. Fredo’s “hotcha” stage personality lends the demon barber an undercurrent of dangerous unpredictability. Ludwig gives a nicely nuanced performance, using her on-stage drive to give Lovett an overlay of pure ambition on top of giddy libido. The result is irresistibly charming—in a really macabre kind of way.

The supporting roles are filled by a litany of local pros—Loraine O’Donnell as Pirelli; Liza Hayes Maher as Johanna; Kurt Guba as Tobias; Tom Owen as the judge; Debbie Pappas as the Beggar Woman, proving the value of cultivating an ensemble of musical theater talent in Buffalo. They make it look so easy! Nathan R. Matthews provides expert musical direction. Chris Cavanagh provides wonderfully expressive lighting. Olivia Ebsary designed the costumes.

THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS

They say in his lifetime that Carlos Goldoni was controversial, a biting satirist whose wicked wit was always getting him into trouble. You’d never be able to tell from the adaptation of his rollicking farce, The Servant of Two Masters, currently onstage at the Irish Classical Theatre Company’s Andrews Theatre. This is entirely innocuous comedy, designed exclusively to delight—and delightful it is. This is, perhaps, the most satisfying production ever directed by Fortunato Pezzimenti, fueled by powerhouse performances from Brian Mysliwy as Truffaldino and Elizabeth Laidlaw as Beatrice.

The plot is complex and unlikely. In short, mischievous Truffaldino has enlisted himself as the servant to two different patrons, a scheme that promises to be lucrative, but is hilariously impossible to navigate. Adding to the complications, Truffaldino is unaware that one of his master is actually beautiful Beatrice who has come to Venice in disguise—or that this two masters are actually lovers.

The piece has a carnival atmosphere and follows the pretense that a troupe of traveling actors are performing the story in a town square. The evening is brimming with comic antics and physical comedy. Mysliwy, at one point, actually spins a plate on a stick. His performance is unflagging and entirely engaging—as are the performances of the entire crew of zanies. Special mention is due to Sarielys Matos, who is a standout as the voluptuous and irrepressible servant, Smeraldina. Mary Ramsey adds a great deal as the svelte, strolling violinist. Highlights include fight choreography by Steve Vaughn.

I especially admired the set by Ron Schwartz, who has figured out how to turn the doors at the Andrews Theatre into an asset. Mr. Schwartz previously designed Kindertransport for Jewish Repertory Theatre of WNY this season, a similarly excellent design.

AXEMAN’S JAZZ

Matthew LaChiusa’s play, Axeman’s Jazz, a reading of which was one of the happy surprises of this year’s Infringement Festival, is enjoying a more fully realized production at Rust Belt Books. The story of a hoodoo doctor who plays a pivotal role in stopping a New Orleans serial killer in 1913, the tale is based on actual historical incidents.

Whereas the reading had been dominated by the women, this production is dominated by the men, giving the proceedings a rather different, but intriguing spin. Detective Talbot, played by Thomas LaChiusa, emerges as the major character and as the play’s most interesting presence. As Talbot seeks to solve the crime, he also endeavors to resolve the mysteries of his life. This turns out to be a more interesting spine for the play than the dilemma of Doctor Jaquinne, which dominated the first version.

LaChiusa gives a wry and restrained performance of Talbot, a man who is disconnected from his feelings, but deeply connected to his humanity. Willie W. Judson, Jr. plays sinister Joseph Mumfre with an air of mystery and self-assurance. Hugh Davis provides marvelous comic relief as Mr. Jeff, a good-natured guy with a gambling problem—an uncharacteristic role for the actor, who is more typically cast as a leading man. Newcomers Sheron Hardy and Jennifer Arroyo navigate the material capably, and contribute to giving Matthew LaChiusa’s play a strong rendering.