'Sweeney Todd,' at Portland Opera, is stunning and powerful (review)

It's crusty, creepy, brutal, lyrical and high drama to the core.

In "Sweeney Todd,"  stunningly presented by the Portland Opera, Stephen Sondheim's music soars with deadly fury, swoops us up and carries us through the story, which is a dandy.

Against a backdrop of London (which, alas, looks nothing like the city) Sweeney Todd (David Pittsinger), a barber, returns to his home after being wrongly imprisoned. He's out to wreak revenge on the lecherous Judge Turpin (Kevin Burdette)  who stole his wife and daughter, and teams up with daffy pie-maker Mrs. Lovett (Susannah Mars). He kills the customers after a shave, she uses their flesh for pie filling. Waste not, want not.

In a way, "Sweeney," which first opened in 1979, is a hybrid: It can be both musical thriller and opera. Pages of Portland Opera program notes defend it as an opera, with its grandeur, larger-than-life characters, themes of revenge and love, more song than dialogue, and thrilling orchestral passages. There was no need. The production, bubbling with black humor and Sondheim's wonderful witty lyrics, speaks for itself.

There is something more powerful about seeing "Sweeney" as an opera, though.  In this version conducted by George Manahan, the principals and the chorus are trained opera singers, so the voices bring quality up a notch. These folks are also meticulously coached in acting, a requirement today in the opera world.

Highlights:

  • The many scenes between Pittsinger and Mars as Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett. They enhance the evening, particularly their joint delivery of "A Little Priest," as they wryly discuss the virtues of different kinds of flesh defined by occupation. ("Is that a squire on the fire? Mercy, no, sir, look closer. You'll notice it's grocer").
  • "Not While I'm Around," a soaring ballad that Lovett sings with Tobias, her unsteady helper portrayed by Steven Brennfleck. Mars is vocally astute, and she's also wonderful at comedy, portraying Lovett as a screeching songstress accompanying herself on the piano, or an ambitious pie-shop owner, slapping dough so vigorously that flour flies into the air: She's in love with Sweeney although her kittenish advances are lost on him.
  • The orchestra. It is well-paced and creates marvelous textures and colors under Manahan's bright baton.
  • Baritone Alexander Elliott as the young lover Anthony Hope, who provides one of the most compelling voices of the evening. A former Portland Opera resident, he's playing the title role in the company's

Most valuable performer:

A tough call, but bass-baritone Pittsinger provides strong focus as Sweeney. He's physically right for the part, tall, handsome, deadpan, yet highly expressive when the script calls for it. Although he looks like he stepped out of a grand guignol showcase as the villain, we like the guy: He's been through hell, and we're rooting for him, slasher tendencies and all. Pittsinger's vocal skills are dynamite, and they add extra resonance to the show. His last work with the company was in Rake's Progress in 2015.

Line of the night:

"The history of the world, my sweet, is who gets eaten and who gets to eat."

Wrap-up:

A waltz celebrating cannibalism, a love song from a barber to his razors, a charged opening number both praising London and damning it in a disjointed duet. These are some of the trappings of this theatrical feast by Sondheim, a master at creating friction between words and music, balance between horror and humor, that serves opera and musical theater alike. Portland Opera has offered us a production with clarity and power, with quick pacing as smooth as glass. No extraneous fluff here.  You don't even have to be an opera fan to enjoy this show.

***

"Sweeney Todd"

Where: Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.

When: 2 p.m. June 5, 7:30 p.m. June 9, 7:30 p.m. June 11

Tickets: $28-$250; 503-241-1802 or portlandopera.org

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