“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”
Now, that doesn’t sound like a love story, does it?
There’s some killing. Some strange ingredients in meat pies. Macabre comes to mind.
But love?
Absolutely, says Rebecca Hanson, who is directing the musical for Kauai Community Players that opens tonight at Puhi Theatrical Warehouse.
“As a theater person, we always like the dramatics, and this show has it,” she said.
“But what’s interesting about this play, when you dive into it, it’s really a show about love. You wouldn’t necessarily think it was associated with that.”
Here’s why she says it is.
The main character, Benjamin Barker, seems to have a good life with wife and daughter. But, wrongly accused of a crime, he spends some 15 to 20 years in prison. When he returns home, he hopes to find his wife and child. He doesn’t. He believes his wife is dead and his daughter is now the ward of Judge Turpin, the man who put him away.
“It’s how far are you willing to go for the person you love and we see this man break, we see him mentally break, out of the pure love he has for his wife and his daughter,” Hanson said.
It’s about then we say goodbye to Benjamin Barker and hello to Sweeney Todd (played by Jason Blake), who goes on a bit of a killing spree as he seeks revenge.
But there is more love. Mrs. Lovett (played by Jessika Montoya-Cristobal), who runs a pie shop, loves Sweeney Todd and offers an unusual way to get rid of the bodies. And there is young, love, too, between Anthony (played by Taj Guterrez) and Johanna.
“There is killing and eating of meat pies, but the underbelly of it all is love,” Hanson said. “Love can drive us crazy and we see it happen with Sweeney Todd.”
Sweeney Todd, which runs through May 26, is two acts, about two and a half hours and 29 songs. There is a 21-person cast and a four-person orchestra.
Monica Chung is the music director of the KCP production that is basically an opera. About 95 percent of the show is scored with music, which is rare.
“The music is incredible. It’s haunting, it’s gorgeous,” she said. “It’s so complex, it really just grabs you from the beginning to the end, whether you want it to or not.”
Chung, a classically trained pianist, saw many musicals growing up in New York.
“This was the first one to really grab my attention,” she said.
At age 14, she asked her teacher if she could borrow the Sweeney Todd VHS at school.
“I must have listened to that thing over and over again,” Chung said.
Hanson loved it, too, growing up.
“This particular musical is in the back of the brain of musical theater kids. It’s kind of the holy grail, so to speak,” she said. “So when the opportunity to do Sweeney Todd comes along, we grab at it. It’s always been one of those shows that you just have to do.”
Hanson considers this long, complex musical with a story of twists and turns and close shaves the biggest challenges of her directing career.
“I feel that after the experience I’ve gained here, I was ready to take on something this large,” she said.
Another reason is her cast and crew. She believes she has some of the top vocalists and musicians on board.
“This whole team is the reason why I get to put it on,” she said. “It’s the people that I’m surrounded with. We really have very talented people coming together to make this work.”
Blake and Montoya-Cristobal are both playing what they consider the biggest roles of their acting careers.
Their chemistry and camaraderie comes to light in dialogue and dance. Both are expressive, with fine vocal range.
“We’re having fun,” Blake said, “it’s wonderfully offensive, too,” he added, laughing.
Montoya-Cristobal said there many layers to her character, including that she’s a bit demented.
“She’s being crazy because she’s in love with this person,” she said. “Definitely not my normal self. It’s fun to always do something that’s not yourself.”
Because it’s really an opera, they sing much of their stage time, which isn’t as easy as they make it look.
“It’s a stretch for everybody,” Blake said.
He enjoys the role of Sweeney Todd, who kills those who wronged him — from his barber chair.
“He’s beyond redemption, but you get him,” Blake said.
There’s not exactly a happy ending to Sweeney Todd. The killer is eventually stopped and the people who deserve some kind of justice get their justice.
“You gotta do it to how Stephen Sondheim wrote it,” Montoya-Cristobal said. “But it’s gorgeous. I love it.”
And, love does survive.
Hanson promises no one will go home disappointed.
“They are going to see top-notch performers give it all they have for the love of telling a story we need to tell,” she said.
