From March 6 through 9, Meadows Lyric Theater served up “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” While still teeming with the same brooding bloodlust offered by other iterations of the musical, this staging’s new setting and emphasis on the operatic roots of the score had audiences on the edge of their seats.
Based on a mid-19th century penny dreadful series, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” premiered on Broadway in 1979 with music written by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler. The show went on to win eight of the nine Tony awards it was nominated for including Best Musical and Best Original Score. The stars originating the roles for Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett, Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury, also won awards for their performances. Since 1979, productions have appeared all over the world, including opera houses. Recently, Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford appeared in the 2023 Broadway revival of “Sweeney Todd.”
This performance, however, differed greatly from its predecessors. Michael Scarola, the interim director of Meadows Lyric Theatre and a visiting professor of practice, noted he didn’t want this performance to feel like a carbon copy of previous “Sweeney Todd” iterations. He’s a “Sweeney Todd” aficionado, a purist even, having seen the original staging four times, including the closing show for Cariou and Lansbury.
Instead of opting for the Victorian finery of the original staging, Scarola set the show in London during World War II, using June 13, 1944, the date the Nazis first used the V-1 bomb on London, as the final crescendo for this production.
“It [choosing a new setting] basically came from the fact that I have so much respect for the original production that I didn’t want to imitate it. I felt that I needed to tell the story clearly but find a different way to show the story and to tell the story,” Scarola said. “I’ve always been a bit of a World War II buff and London was hit so hard during the Second World War that I felt it would be a good time period in which to tell the ‘Sweeney Todd’ story.”
The setting shift instantly bombards audience members in the best, most immersive way, as ensemble members gradually make their way to the stage in 1940s period dress. Behind them, a background of an abandoned tube station where the ensemble huddles to sing the opening number.
Sondheim’s chilling composition and the talented ensemble helps familiarize audience members with the dark, twisted tale of “Sweeney Todd.” The number is led by a captivating ensemble whose harmonies sent chills down my spine.
This show split the cast, with different performers appearing in roles based on the day of attendance. Sunday’s show, the final performance, had J’Von Brown and Eliza Schumacher slated in the roles of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett, respectively. This pairing served up a stellar performance with strong vocal displays worthy of a cast album recording. I absolutely enjoyed the nuances of Brown’s theatrical performance as Todd and Schumacher’s Mrs. Lovett was a comedic delight.
Other standout performances include “Green Finch and Linnet Bird” performed by Emily Hansen as Joanna, “Pretty Women” performed by Brown as Todd and Lwazi Dlamini as Judge Turpin and the “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir” sequence culminating in a shaving battle between Todd and Pirelli.
Audience members, like Edwin Lora, enjoyed the engaging set design and performance, and hope to see more Meadows performances in the future.
“I don’t come to these often, but I like what I saw. I wish I could come back again to see something else, “ Lora said. “I was surprised about the rotating-spinning theater. That caught my eye.”
Sarah Bachman and Sophia El Hajj Moussa supported their fellow Chi Omega sorority sister, Eliza Schumacher. For them, it was exciting to see Schumacher perform after hearing all about the audition and rehearsal process.
”It was kind of cool to see the whole process because I remember at the beginning of the school year, she was talking about auditioning. When she got her audition back, we went to lunch and she was so nervous but she loved that role so much that she really wanted to be a part of it,” El Hajj Moussa said. “Ever since then she’s like, “Oh, I’m in rehearsal,” but I didn’t know that this was what she was doing.”
This show did so much more than entertain audiences who entered the Bob Hope Theater this past weekend—it also ushered in a new era for Meadows as the school looks to welcome a new musical theater program in 2026. Overall, I’m asking for an encore, but definitely not one of Mrs. Lovett’s meat pies.
Additional reporting by Edgar Palacios.
