Singing and slashing its way to triumph

Care for one of Mrs. Lovett's famous meat pies, dearie?

On second thought, maybe better not. The filling for those savory morsels is a bit suspect.

Rest assured, however, that the 5th Avenue Theatre has filled its triumphant production of "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" with top-grade ingredients.

In addition to Stephen Sondheim's most elaborately symphonic (and arguably his finest) Broadway score, the 5th Avenue has actors who can sing it, led by Allen Fitzpatrick as Sweeney; musicians who can play it, in the sumptuous original orchestrations of Jonathan Tunick; and splendid Dickensian sets and costumes, devised by designer Eugene Lee and costumer Franne Lee for the show's much-honored 1979 Broadway premiere.

About the only thing missing opening night was an adequate supply of spurting stage blood. And that is easily remedied.

This is Seattle's first fully professional mounting of a full-bore "Sweeney Todd." No wonder it's taken so long. Given the show's epic dimensions and musical demands, this is probably the most ambitious home production in 5th Avenue's history. Under artistic head David Armstrong's assured direction and conductor/musical director Ian Eisendrath's steady baton, it's also one of the best.

Not that "Sweeney Todd" will appeal to all. It's a wickedly amusing, garishly gruesome affair with a bit of cannibalism, a tinge of social relevance and a stab or two of high tragedy. Just imagine the biting, anti-establishment Weill-Brecht musical "The Threepenny Opera," crossed with a morbidly comic slasher film (say, "Friday the 13th").

First immortalized in a "penny dreadful" horror novel, and a Victorian stage melodrama, Sweeney Todd is depicted here as a broken man returning to grim, dockside London after a trumped-up jail stint.

Years earlier, this ex-barber and his wife were viciously wronged by a corrupt judge (Julian Patrick), who has since gotten his creepy mitts on Sweeney's pretty daughter, Johanna (Sarah Anne Lewis).

So egged on by Mrs. Lovett (Carol Swarbrick), a chirpy, widowed baker with the moral code of a fruitcake, Sweeney takes up his old straight razor. And slashes his way to infamy.

Hugh Wheeler's script (from a play by Christopher Bond), artfully follows the barber's grisly devolution from depressive victim to homicidal misanthrope. But Sondheim's brilliantly prolix lyrics, lush instrumentals and vocal numbers, passed seamlessly among the principals and a rag-tag chorus, give the show its operatic richness and fury.

In a tapestry of swirling orchestral motifs, gritty mock-musical hall ditties ("By the Sea"), tenderly ironic ballads ("Johanna," "Pretty Women") and dramatic setpieces ("Epiphany"), the score quotes Rachmaninoff and Berlioz, Gregorian chant and chiller-diller movie music. It never stops surprising and enthralling. Or challenging its interpreters.

There are "Sweeney Todd" repeaters in the 5th Avenue cast, which is all to the good. Fitzpatrick (seen as Sweeney a decade ago, at Goodspeed Opera House) admirably anchors this version with his robust baritone and haunting dramatic presence.

Wielding operatic pipes and comic finesse, Sal Mistretta (as a rival barber) and Roland Rusinek (as the judge's smarmy enforcer) are alums of New York City Opera's "Sweeney Todd."

But those new to their roles also shine: Ivan Hernandez as the male ingenue Anthony, local lights Patrick (as hiss-worthy Judge Turpin) and Leslie Law (as a spooky beggar-woman). And Issaquah native Benjamin Schrader who returns to town in great form as the street urchin Tobias, to poignantly sing "Not While I'm Around."

Lewis has the trilling voice and presence for the semi-spoofy role of Johanna. But she falls victim (as do others, at times) to heavy-handed amplification that must be fixed pronto. Nothing should mar that ravishing Sondheim score.

mberson@seattletimes.com