Now on its final show, Atlantis Theatrical brings to life a bone-chilling rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Walk into the esteemed Solaire Theater to discover a transformative decay and grime of 18th century London play.
First staged in 1979, Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is Sondheim’s musical adaptation of the earlier play by British playwright, Christopher Bond. Both these renditions give the character of Sweeney Todd a more sympathetic storyline, as opposed to the bloodthirsty villain that he had become in earlier retellings.
Sweeney Todd is a barber who was framed and imprisoned in Australia for a crime he did not commit. Years later, he returns home to London filled with vengeance, only to find that his wife had been raped by the scheming Judge Turpin—who was behind his imprisonment—and his child as the Judge’s ward.
With the help of his former landlady, piemaker Mrs. Lovett, who has long since harbored affections for the barber, Sweeney Todd executes vengeance on London itself by brutally murdering his customers and then handing their fresh carcasses off to Mrs. Lovett to be made into the most scrumptious pies. Ultimately, Sweeney Todd continues to yearn for his revenge; brutally victimizing other people throughout the musical.
Led by the show-stopping duo of The Dawn frontman and renowned singer-actor, Jett Pangan, for the role of Sweeney Todd, and globally acclaimed theater veteran Lea Salonga as his accomplice, the ever-resourceful Mrs. Lovett, the Victorian classic Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street was directed by Bobby Garcia and Tony award-winning production designer David Gallo.
Other characters include: Andrew Fernando as the sinister Judge Tupin; Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante as the beautiful Johanna Barker; Nyoy Volante as the comical Adolfo Pirelli; Gerald Santos as Anthony Hope; popstar-turned-actress Ima Castro as the beggar woman, and lastly, rising theater star Luigi Quesada as Tobias Ragg.
With these array of powerful voices and acting prowesses, the audience was engulfed by a gut-wrenching and sinister tale show. Salonga and Pangan alone instilled fear on its theatrical scenes; totally donning the characters’ personalities.
Set costumes made by Rajo Laurel have a modern approach that complements the characters in dark-hued blazers and scarves. Through the prominent use of shadows and a strong selection of monochromatic light variations, cars were perilously strung up onstage to create the bleak environment of the abandoned Fogg’s Asylum—Garcia and Gallo’s take on Fleet Street, together with the musical direction of Gerard Salonga of thrilling experience.
Witness Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street’s cast and crew take its final bow at its 8:00 p.m. show tonight at The Theater, Solaire Hotel Resort & Casino, Parañaque City.
