The musical, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” now playing at the Wimberley Playhouse, could be, without exaggeration, performed on any major stage in the U. S. and beyond. It’s that good.
Perhaps the play’s director, Todd Martin, had an inkling of what was in store for him when an astonishing 100 actors showed up for auditions, possibly the largest turnout in Players’ history.
A remarkably talented cast, anchored by Connor Clark and Charlize Cosmas in the lead roles of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett gave performances so polished that conversations during intermission went something like this, “I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” “This is the best thing I’ve ever seen,” or “Is this a professional production?”
The moment Clark began to sing, I could hear surprise ripple through the audience. Clark’s powerful voice boomed with virility, outrage and madness at the injustices that had befallen his Sweeney Todd. Mrs. Lovett, played with incredible charm by Cosmas, provided an equally powerful teeter to Clark’s totter, providing superbly rendered comedic relief that never once faltered. I can’t ever recall two actors who inhabited their roles more completely than Cosmas and Clark. But then again so did every other actor on stage, including Rebecca Woods in the role of Beggar Woman, and the entire ensemble. Ensembles can be uneven, its individual actors can perhaps deliver the voice, but not the reactions, or serve up the choreography without fully dwelling in the universe imagined by the playwright.
Creating the physical universe of Victorian England fell to Kevin Rigdon, an award-winning scenic, lighting and costume designer with international theatre awards and credits a mile long. For the set, he settled on brick, worn down by the era’s soot and rain, to convey the dismal atmosphere of Fleet Street in the 1890s.
“The show required numerous settings,” Kevin said in an exchange of emails. “Docks and streets, a grave, rooms in a residence, a tonsorial parlor, a pie shop, its back parlor, a bakehouse, a courtroom, a street market, a madhouse and points in between were indicated by the script.”
As if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, the action of the musical required four actors to disappear down a chute and one to be roasted in an oven. During the performance, the audience gasped more than once at set pieces that skillfully transformed the stage to reveal another dimension of the Sweeney Todd tale.
“And,” Kevin continued, “there were scenes that had to accommodate all 19 actors as well as the scenery on the extremely limited Players stage that has no wing space, no traps below the stage and less than 11 feet of height above it.” And yet, he created an ingenious, sophisticated set that could do all of those things, much to the delight of the audience.
WP’s resident dramaturge, Rodger Marion, prepared the actors well with notes on the play’s genesis from Edward Lloyd’s Penny Dreadful serials published in the mid-1840s, to coins and barber instruments of the era, to the use of the word “bedlam” after the so-nicknamed Bethlehem Royal, England’s first mental hospital. His notes are fascinating to read.
A musical with excellent direction, talented performers, and a well-imagined script with equally powerful music, can fall incredibly flat if there is no budget or talent in place for costuming. Here again, the production excelled.
Costume Designer Trish Rigdon, a professional member of United Scenic Artists 829, with impressive international theatre credits and academic achievements, took on the task of designing the costumes for the Sweeney Todd cast.
“In theatre we say ‘build’ costumes instead of ‘make’ them,” said Trish, after I asked her what were the challenges she faced. “Finding fabric was challenging. There are no fabric stores in the Hill Country and the only way to get fabric these days is by ordering it online. Without access to the fabric to feel the hand and drape, you have to rely on your memory and hope for the best,” she said. “It also doesn’t matter whether the production is for community theatre or a national commercial tour, there is never enough money to fully realize and build every costume. Much of what we have that we did not build is rented or borrowed.”
And finally Trish shared, “I suggested to Director Martin that members of the ensemble have different professions. He agreed, and drawn from vintage illustrations and photos, we have grave diggers, a postman, a chimney sweep, a flower seller, match maker and typist. Each actor has a professional look and prop that allows them to build a unique character and to give a richer performance.” She was right, the audience noticed.
There are many key people who deserve accolades for this rendition of Sweeney Todd. Music Director Carole Hofstad is one of them. Since the new Wimberley Playhouse opened in 2006, Hofstad has been involved in many of its musicals as an actor, accompanist and music director. By all accounts, Sondheim’s music and vocal parts for Sweeney Todd are complicated and challenging. Ever up to the task, Hofstad mastered the music and helped the cast master theirs. After attending an opening weekend performance, the Wimberley Players bid a very fond farewell to this exceptional talent who relocated to her native Minnesota.
By the first weekend, nearly all seats for the run were sold out, but there are “no shows” for every performance. I suggest to anyone interested in attending this exceptional production to arrive at a performance ahead of time, tell the box office that you’d like to buy no-show tickets, and cross your fingers for luck. It’s rare to see this level of live theatre in our own backyard.
Sweeney Todd continues through August 3. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, go to WimberleyPlayers. org.
