by Stan Jenson

 Performing Stephen Sondheim’s music is like baking a soufflé; don’t try it unless you’re damned good.  I’m pleased to report that Palm Canyon Theatre’s (PCT’s) production of Sweeney Todd is damned good indeed! 

The musical starts with 20 actors singing “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” with a strength that would fill a room twice the size of PCT’s 200 seats. We immediately know that this is going to be something special.  It’s our introduction to the intricacies of Sondheim’s music, and combining that with the visual image of these people in stark, dim lighting and Victorian costumes is impactful. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, the show is described as “A musical thriller,” and it very much lives up to that moniker.

Then we meet the brooding Sweeney (Paul Grant) and a young sailor named Anthony (Christian Quevedo) who rescued him from a sinking raft.  They sing “No Place Like London,” setting the scene for us by focusing on the worst, most bleak aspects of the city. 

Next, we meet Mrs. Lovett (Se Layne), the zany owner of a meat pie shop who proclaims her products to be “The Worst Pies in London.”  Because of her beautiful operatic soprano voice, it’s easy to categorize Ms. Layne as a prima donna, but here her characterization of Mrs. Lovett is earthy, funny, and the humor she brings is a very necessary counterbalance to the gruesome activities that are to follow.  She gleefully bellows her comedic songs.

The show primarily rests on the shoulders of Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett, and Mr. Grant and Ms. Layne deftly carry the load, both with singing and acting.  My favorite moment in the show is a song called “A Little Priest” when they first concoct the idea of Sweeney, now a barber upstairs above the pie shop, slitting the throats of his customers and Mrs. Lovett cooking their bodies into meat pies.  Sondheim softened the gore of this concept with a very funny song about killing men of different occupations with lines such as, “The trouble with poet is how do you know it’s deceased, stick to priest.”  (That lyric also displays Sondheim’s facility with words when he rhymes “Poet” with “Know it.”)  This song finishes the first act and the audience gladly rides along as Grant and Layne find themselves giggling at the images they create.  I think that structurally, the humor of the song helps retain audience members during the intermission which follows.

Along the line, we meet Judge Turpin (Donald Kelly), the magistrate that previously sentenced Sweeney to a lifetime of hard labor so that he could have his way with Sweeney’s wife. By the time that we join the story some 17 years after sentencing, he has declared himself to be the ward of Sweeney’s daughter, Johanna (Nicole Kennedy).  We are introduced to her as she sings “Green Finch and Linnet Bird,” a song which I believe Sondheim wrote mostly to challenge the soprano who has to sing it.  I’m glad to report that Kennedy more than meets the challenge. The young sailor, Anthony, hears her singing and sees her on her balcony.  He finds that her name is Johanna.  He is smitten by her and sings the most beautiful ballad in the show, simply called “Johanna.”

Midway through the first act we meet a traveling “snake oil” salesman, Adolfo Pirelli (Raul Valenzuela) who is assisted by a young lad named Tobias (Joshua Rach) in selling a hair growth tonic to the locals.  Sweeney beats him in a shaving competition which establishes him to the public as an outstanding barber. Unfortunately we don’t see much of the incredibly talented Valenzuela again.  However, Mrs. Lovett ends up caring for young Tobias and he becomes more and more involved in the plot.  The program states that Rach “burst onto the Palm Canyon stage,” and while that might sound like hyperbole, it actually correctly sums up his impact.  He’s funny, confident, and has a heavenly voice.  This is evidently his first job out of college, and we hope to see him again frequently.

The evil Judge Turpin is frequently joined by Beadle Banford (Marcello Tulipano), a minor magistrate in the neighborhood, and Tulipano is solid in the role, demonstrating a very capable singing voice.  Kelly, as The Judge, is also very strong.  Another continuing character is a crazed beggar woman (Linda Mack Berven) who drifts in and out of the neighborhood, alternately begging for alms and then trying to earn money with sexual favors which Berven makes grotesque with her age makeup and frumpy clothes.  She figures into the plot later.

The opening song gives a bit of exposition, then says “What happens then, well that’s the play, and he wouldn’t want us to give it away” and I agree, so no more plot points.  Just a firm salute to Derik Shopinski who directed, designed costumes, manned the box office and gave the opening welcome speech.  The maddening thing is that he does each of these full-time duties so well! 

J. W. Layne’s set involved a large cube about 12’ X 12’ and 4’ tall.  Each of its four sides were painted differently so that by turning the unit, we are in different locations.  The set also features a high bridge that wraps around three sides of the stage.  Shopinski used each of these elements to their best advantage, sometimes putting the ensemble up on the bridge as they comment on activities below. And if I had a nickel for every time I have reported that his costume designs are spectacular, well you know…  Once again, they are perfectly amazing!

And lastly, as soon as I saw Maestro Steven Smith at the piano, I knew we were in solid hands.  This score is incredibly tricky, but he truly got the company in shape, and the power of the ensemble was thrilling.  He is joined by Larry Holloway on bass and Bob Forte on percussion (including tubular bells!).

I must say that I can watch gory things onstage and be totally separated from them, but some folks can’t. Mind you, this isn’t Grand Guignol, the historic French Theatre of Torture.  There is no blood or severed body parts, and only a few glances of bodies, but the bottom line is that this is extremely effective theatre and a well-told tale.  And everyone gets their due at the end.

Bravo to Palm Canyon Theatre for such an amazing, impactful presentation of this Stephen Sondheim classic.  It’s a show that will linger with me for a long time.

Sweeney Todd will run through Sunday, March 24th, with performances on Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Friday, March 15th is sold out. Ticket prices are $38 for adults, $34 for seniors, and $17 for students and children, plus a $3 fee. For tickets, call 760-323-5123 or visit www.palmcanyontheatre.net. The theater is located at 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262, between N. Palm Canyon Drive and Indian Canyon Drive, on the north side of E. Alejo Road.

The rest of the 2023-24 season consists of:

THE BOYS IN THE BAND (April 12 – 21, 2024)

THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA (May 10 -19, 2024)

BYE BYE BIRDIE (July 5-14, 2024)

Photos by Carlos Mendoza