CFCArts’ ‘Sweeney Todd’ serves up atmospheric vengeance

For CFCArts Theatre, director Donald Rupe has taken a straightforward, traditional approach to perennial favorite “Sweeney Todd.” That choice pays off with a production that delivers its message crisply and atmospherically, anchored by a superlative performance from David Lowe in the title role.

“Sweeney Todd,” with music by Stephen Sondheim and story by Hugh Wheeler, is subtitled “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” which tells you a lot right there. Falsely accused of a crime and shipped off to a convict colony in Australia, barber Sweeney returns to 19th-century London determined to be revenged on those who did him wrong — costing him his wife and daughter. Mrs. Lovett, a down-on-her-luck purveyor of the “worst pies in London,” becomes his very willing accomplice.

But for all the fun of watching Sweeney exact his revenge on the odious Judge Turpin, CFCArts doesn’t lose sight of the message that a devotion to vengeance destroys the avenger.

That avenger is sharply portrayed by Lowe, whose very face looks soured and etched by the negative emotions his character harbors. The musical doesn’t give the audience much of a look at Sweeney before he became embittered, but the few times it does — as Sweeney sings of his wife — Lowe flashes us a glimpse of the man before he lost his humanity.

Lowe is given a wonderful workspace. The set design, by Jake Teixeira, Jeffrey St. Charles and Brenno de Mota, inventively carves out the barber shop, a pie shop, the bake rooms and other spots. It’s another step forward in the design work at CFCArts’ theater. Teixeira’s lighting design, heavy on reds as you might expect, also adds to the atmosphere.

Music director Jami-Leigh Bartschi hits a new high with crisp diction from her singers and a rich quality from her musicians that makes them sound mightier than a trio; kudos, also, to sound designer Madison Spence — the music and vocals

have never been more balanced.

As a pair of young lovers, Siobhan Gale and Kyle Moffatt have lovely voices and successfully imbue what can be rather drippy ballads with a sense of their characters’ energy and urgency. As urchin Toby, St. Charles has the requisite puppy-dog appeal.

Other supporting players don’t always convey the full shadings of their characters. RJ Silva’s over-the-top rival barber is funny enough but doesn’t have enough menace. Nishaa Johnson’s beggar woman also doesn’t carry enough darkness with her.

Anthony Fryman comes through on the villainous Judge Turpin’s big moments but doesn’t seem as focused on the smaller lines.

Finally, there’s Mrs. Lovett, a little lovesick, a little loony. A last-minute replacement, Kelley Mauro fits into the cast with aplomb. She’s more down-to-earth and less histrionic than many a Mrs. L but rings true whether she’s cackling with murderous glee or fretting about a competing piemaker.

This is the time of year, nearing Halloween, when theaters tend to run with blood. There’s “Macbeth” at Orlando Shakes, “Evil Dead: The Musical” — a spoof of the horror movie — at the Moonlight Players in Clermont, “Deathtrap” at the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden and so on.

But if you need to find forgiveness for someone in your real life, “Sweeney Todd” might be the show that makes your own blood run cold.