#gian matrazzo

[sixty-silver-wishes]

My thoughts on Broadway's "Sweeney Todd"

A few days ago, my friend and I saw Sweeney Todd on Broadway, and I have a lot of thoughts about the production. I've been obsessed with this musical for years and have seen quite a few performances, so here's what I thought of this one.

Right away, it was amazing. The lighting added a lot to this production, and while the way the set was constructed was a bit unconventional (usually, there's a separate area of the stage sectioned off for the pie shop so two scenes can happen at once, but in this one, they had a bridge over the stage that some scenes took place on), I thought it was still effective. The orchestral arrangement was an interesting change (and even sounded like Shostakovich or Weill at times!), although I was disappointed to not hear the iconic factory whistle in the opening.

So, the acting. I'll go through each character/actor and what I thought of their performance, and how it impacted the overall show. "Sweeney Todd" is a play where every single action or bit of dialogue is important and culminates towards the conclusion, and so the way the characters are interpreted often offers a different angle on the play as a whole.

Josh Groban did an excellent job as Sweeney Todd, and I really appreciated that, since his voice is very melodic, he didn't try to replicate Len Cairou or George Hearn. Sweeney is a very complex character, and I've noticed that most actors who play him take on a different angle of his personality to focus on. Cairou focuses on the pensive, methodical side of the character, Hearn's Sweeney emphasizes madness and rage, and while I'm not a huge fan of Johnny Depp's performance in the movie adaptation, his Sweeney Todd focuses more on his melancholy side. Groban's Sweeney, by contrast, is sentimental. We see him express rage and impatience, two core aspects of Sweeney Todd, but where he's most effective are numbers like the "Johanna" reprise and "No Place Like London/The Barber and his Wife." Sentimentality isn't an emotion typically associated with the character of Sweeney Todd, but Groban's performance hammered in how critical it is to his character. After all, Sweeney Todd is haunted and motivated by his past- his love for his wife and daughter, and his hatred of the judge who tore them from him. This even allows for moments of tenderness- for example, during the "Johanna" reprise, Sweeney spares a man who comes into his barber shop, because he came with his wife. While this could be explained by him not wanting any witnesses, Groban's performance made this moment (forgive the pun) surprisingly cutting. Sweeney is hoping to be reunited with his daughter and is reminiscing about Lucy, and so the man who earlier declared that "we all deserve to die" is letting a young couple live. Groban's "Epiphany," probably the moment I examine the most when watching an actor play Sweeney Todd, was stunning. The insanity and anger wasn't as pronounced as Hearn's, perhaps, but with the way Groban played the character, it didn't need to be. His rage is mainly driven by grief more than madness, and it showed through his angular movements, the near-desperation mixed with fury during the "you, sir" sequence where he breaks the fourth wall, and of course, his emotional performance during the "and I'll never see Johanna"/"and my Lucy lies in ashes" sequences, which require a sudden, yet convincing, emotional shift that he pulled off masterfully.

Jeanna De Waal's Lovett was just plain fun. While I was curious to see how Annaleigh Ashford would have played her, De Waal pulled off a youthful Mrs. Lovett in a hilarious, flirty way. Angela Lansbury was perhaps the most iconic Lovett (although LuPone's performance was stunning as well), and was particularly notable for her dark comedy through the juxtaposition of being a matronly pie shop owner and an accomplice to murder and cannibalism. I feel like the "matronly" aspect of Mrs. Lovett is probably one of the most important facets of her character, which is why I tend to prefer performances by older actresses as Lovett to younger ones, but De Waal, like Groban, gave a unique performance, in her case using her youth to her advantage. Her Lovett was constantly flirting with Todd, which created some hilarious juxtaposition between their personalities, and she added a lot of energy to her comedic lines, especially during "A Little Priest," where her chemistry with Groban was a blast to watch. I do wish she had a bit more chemistry with Gaten Matrazzo as Toby, which would have made the ending scene hit harder emotionally, and her sinister side explored further. De Waal focused mostly on the comedy aspect of Mrs. Lovett, who at her core is a ruthless manipulator, so I understand she's an incredibly difficult character to pull off when balancing those two elements. Nonetheless, I thought her acting was really enjoyable to watch, although she was more effective in comedic scenes than dramatic ones.

I don't have a ton to say about Jordan Fisher's portrayal of Anthony; I liked his performance overall, but I felt he came across as slightly too mature, although maybe this came down to his voice. Anthony is a very idealistic and naïve character, meant to contrast with the cutthroat, conniving world of "Sweeney Todd." I didn't think I really got this with Fisher as much as with some other performances I've seen, but the maturity he gave to the character did pose an interesting angle in his scenes with Todd, as Groban's sentimentality meant an almost paternal dynamic between Todd and Anthony. This isn't an angle I see a lot, but it was definitely one I thought was really fascinating. His chemistry with Maria Bilbao as Johanna was good, and I felt he provided some grounding to her more neurotic portrayal.

I loved Bilbao's Johanna. Technical skill of singing "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" aside (which she nailed), I feel like a lot of productions miss the point of this number. "Green Finch" is to introduce Johanna and her trapped circumstances, yes, but I see too many productions that simply have it performed as a sad, pretty, virtuosic number, without saying too much about who Johanna is as a character, or the effects the circumstances she sings about have had on her. Betsy Joslyn's was unique in that she attempts to seem somewhat frazzled while singing it, but her purposefully-crossed eyes and overexaggerated vibrato risk coming across more as caricature than a sincere performance. Bilbao, however, is heartbreaking. Her Johanna is fighting to keep her wits together, evidently broken by living with an abusive father figure, and when she sings "teach me to be more adaptive," it almost seems like a prayer. (This also has the effect of making the following number, "Ah, Miss," darkly hilarious, as it implies Anthony was watching this random girl having a mental breakdown and immediately decided he was in love with her.) Her blocking was restricted and tense, almost making her look like a caged bird, and her facial expressions and gestures were cautious and restrained, bringing to mind a scared animal. This really brought home the essence of Johanna's character- while she's often played as a classic ingenue, Johanna is, in fact, a subversion of the archetype- a realistic portrayal of the mental strain a young girl locked away with a man like Turpin and kept from seeing the outside world would actually face. I honestly really like Johanna as a character because there's a lot more depth to her than is often portrayed, so it was really refreshing to see Bilbao apply this level of nuance to her.

Matrazzo's Toby was, of course, excellent. Toby is probably the character with the most variation across productions, as he can be portrayed as anywhere between a child to a young adult. Matrazzo shone particularly in two scenes- "Not While I'm Around" and the final monologue. Like "Green Finch," "Not While I'm Around" is a number that's frequently misinterpreted, with some performances portraying it as simply as an example of Toby's affection for and devotion to Mrs. Lovett. "Not While I'm Around," despite its lyrics, is not a sweet, tender number. In context, it's terrifying, and luckily, Matrazzo portrays this. His Toby is desperate, even frustrated. While it's not particularly dwelled on in the play, Toby has been mistreated by Pirelli, and so latches onto Mrs. Lovett, who he sees as a genuinely nurturing protective figure. However, not only is Lovett turning people into meat pies, she has no real love for Toby and is primarily focused on manipulating Todd, who, in turn, is also trying to use her for his own gain. However, from Toby's perspective, he's been abused, sees signs of abuse in Todd, and wants to prevent Mrs. Lovett, whom he genuinely loves, from meeting the same fate. Matrazzo's desperation puts this context largely into focus, adding to the suspense of the number. And in the final monologue, I got chills from the way he vacillated between a manic sing-songy tone and complete numbness, sometimes even normalcy. I've seen many productions where Toby keeps the "insane" tone throughout the monologue, but Matrazzo doesn't do that. When he says "you know, you shouldn't harm anyone," it's eerily straightforward and calm.

John Rapson (Beadle Bamford), Nicholas Christopher (Pirelli), and Ruthie Ann Miles (Lucy) were all fun to watch; I enjoyed how Rapson kept the character quirk of rolling his "R's," which not all Beadle Bamford actors do. His falsetto range was incredible, and his performance during "Parlor Songs" was both amusing and suspenseful. Christopher's Pirelli was good, but I felt he didn't place as much over-exaggeration in his lines as I would have liked to see, although I really enjoyed his facial expressions. And Miles' Lucy was absolutely haunting; I've seen a few productions where "Poor Thing" is portrayed through interpretive dance, and thought she especially stood out here, as her movements and blocking added a lot to her character.

Finally, Jamie Jackson as Judge Turpin was repulsive in the best possible way. His voice and delivery had me on edge, and I also couldn't get it out of my head that his facial expressions reminded me of Werner Krauss in "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," which added a whole extra layer of creepiness. His Turpin felt incredibly realistic, like that creepy uncle or skeevy politician you always read about in the news, although he was surprisingly effective with comedic lines, especially the way he enthusiastically delivered the line "ah yes, women!" in "Pretty Women." He brought an air of discomfort to the stage every time he was on it, and the suspense in every scene between him and Groban was extremely palpable.