The Ti-Ahwaga Community Players will present Stephen Sondheim’s acclaimed musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street this June, bringing the darkly comic tale of revenge, romance, and murder to audiences in Owego.
Music Director Chris VanDerwerker describes the musical as the story of a man returning to London after being wrongfully imprisoned and transported to Australia years earlier. Seeking justice and hoping to reunite with his family, Sweeney Todd becomes entangled with Mrs. Lovett, the proprietor of a struggling pie shop on Fleet Street.
“The show is full of a bunch of messy, dark characters,” VanDerwerker said. “Anthony and Johanna are the two lovers in the story that kind of give us some reprieve from the dark vengeance that the rest of the show is about.”
That romantic counterbalance is embodied by Anthony Hope, portrayed by Samuel Katzman. Katzman said Anthony provides an essential source of optimism amid the musical’s violence and moral darkness.
“Despite all of that dark in London, and despite all of the violence surrounding this story, he still has that hopefulness,” Katzman said. “He’s still telling Johanna to keep our hopes high, and I think that’s really special. It makes the show not all doom and gloom.”
Although Sweeney Todd is often remembered for its grisly plot, both performers emphasized that the musical contains a surprising amount of humor. VanDerwerker credits much of that to Sondheim’s celebrated lyrics and his ability to create outrageous comic situations.
“It scares you, but there’s also a lot of silly moments that just kind of come up out of the blue because the characters are so larger than life,” he said. “You can laugh at it while you’re also being scared and spooked.”
The production also presents significant musical challenges. VanDerwerker, a longtime admirer of the score, called it one of Sondheim’s most ambitious achievements.
“It’s just a behemoth of a score,” he said. “People refer to it sometimes as his magnum opus. Every little piece of it is some of the most intricate music you’ve ever heard. It’s almost entirely scored through, with underscoring almost everything. It’s basically an operetta.”
Katzman praised director Anna Rizzotti’s staging of the large-scale work in the intimate Ti-Ahwaga Playhouse. He noted that the production’s ensemble scenes maintain clarity and energy despite the venue’s limited space.
“Even though the stage isn’t huge and we have an 18-person cast, it still looks like things are flowing pretty seamlessly,” Katzman said. “During some of those big, crazy numbers, especially near the end, it still has an order to it, and it’s really effective at conveying that.”
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will be performed June 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21 at the Ti-Ahwaga Playhouse, 42 Delphine Street in Owego. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Additional information and tickets are available from the Ti-Ahwaga Performing Arts Center.