Review: TheatreLAB's Cunning SWEENEY TODD Stands at Throat-Slashing Distance!

*Please note that this review is based on the final preview performance.

It's hard to imagine the lush and haunting score of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET performed by eight actors accompanied by two musicians. But that's exactly what audiences of TheatreLAB's edge-of-your-seat, chamber-styled production of the musical massacre will be treated to for a delightfully dark two and a half hours.

With every production, TheatreLAB flips The Basement on its side to reinvent the space. For Sweeney Todd, Director and Scenic Designer, Deejay Gray, cleverly shrouds the walls of the Fleet Street barbershop with plastic, functional for the sociopath himself and, no doubt a nod to Dexter's recognized kill room. Gray's snappy production keeps things simple, making use of a couple ladders, a table, a few chairs and some inventive shadow play. In the era of the "Me, Too" movement, his production lifts the darker fragments of Wheeler's book without changing a single word.

Under the brilliant musical direction of JS Fauquet, the ensemble numbers are performed with razor precision. The most devoted fans of Sweeney will soon forget the entire orchestra is one violinist (Marissa Resmini) and Mr. Fauquet, himself, on piano. Audiences can hang on to every word and grip the eccentricities of timing and phrasing in Sondheim's score.

Michael Jarrett's sprawling and ingenious lighting design, including numerous floor fixtures, gives Sweeney moments to lurk in the shadows before his "friends," aided by tinted luminosities, "drip precious rubies." Joey Luck's sound design is pitch perfect. Ruth Hedberg's costumes blend period and BDSM fashion.

While the inclusive casting, including a female Beadle Bamford and Signor Pirelli, works for the most part; a couple performers are singing, or screlting, outside their vocal ranges, which briefly impairs the production. Draped in an Italian flag, Audra Honaker's Pirelli prances around and draws lots of laughs, while her miserable Beggar Woman is spot on. Honaker's turn in "The Contest" is loads of fun. Matt Shofner perfectly balances the showy and tragic qualities of the simple-minded Toby. Matt Polson is in great voice as Anthony.

The chemistry between Alexander Sapp and Bianca Bryan is playful and palpable. Bianca Bryan's more sexualized Mrs. Lovett licks about the stage with heedless amorousness for Sapp's Mr. Todd. "The Worst Pies in London" is an audience favorite.

In the title role, Alexander Sapp is relentlessly convincing as the menacing barber, but he's not a raving lunatic. His Sweeney, colored with complexity, is as sensitive and conflicted as he his vengeful. "Epiphany" is a real showstopper. At the very top of his game, the entire production is elevated by Sapp's presence.

TheatreLAB's immersive Sweeney Todd is must-see theatre, one of the best since its critically-acclaimed Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

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