Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/)

When LTN dropped their 98^th season schedule, I think everyone immediately circled the October opening of “Sweeney Todd” as a must-see (that was clear when we walked into opening night on Friday to a completely packed house).  And – we knew that “Sweeney” is not a small production.  This was a BIG swing on the part of one of our local community theatres – and we were so excited.  When LTN tabbed two time HRACT Award nominee Amy Harbin to direct and choreograph, our anticipation only heightened.  And she did not disappoint, pulling together an all-star cast and crew, getting each of them to fully buy in on taking every big swing they could for this production.

The curtain is open as you enter the theatre such that you can immediately admire the set designed and created by Kerri Crosby and Chris Hodl.  The multi-level standing set is impressive, backed with a large mural of London – which, by the way, is basically an optical illusion, with different colors popping from the mural depending on the lighting used on the stage, giving different feels to each scene, all from one backdrop (credit also to lighting designer Alicia Wolters for making that happen).  But the biggest swings on the set design don’t become clear until the show starts, when they pull out huge rolling platforms onto the stage and push them around (a la Hamilton right before the intermission, if you are familiar), and then a really cool and fun way of delivering the (spoiler alert) forthcoming dead bodies off the stage.  This big swing – success.

Next, Amy Harbin brought in an eight member orchestra to accompany her singers, led by conductor/music director (and fellow ACT-y nominee) Andre Magalhaes.  The orchestra sound was excellent and mixed with the singers really well (shout out to HRACT Award winner Serenity Jones and sound engineer/operator Loretta Schipul for pulling off that trick).  The biggest swings on sound are the ensemble numbers – and they were phenomenal.  The large and very vocally talented cast really blew us away, especially in the final ensemble number, where the audience ends the show with harmony-induced goosebumps.  This big swing – success.

But of course, none of these elements could work without an awesome cast, and Amy Harbin successfully got them all together, got them all to really lean into their characters, and got them all to perfectly over-act in this very dramatic show where nothing is subtle.  Jonathan McCormick as the titular Sweeney Todd pulled off the creepiness well, while also bringing an element of humanity to the role, making the audience root for him as he kills off patron after patron.  And – he somehow toed a line as he sung to his inanimate object “friends”, making the audience not sure if they should laugh out loud or squirm with discomfort.  McCormick’s singing was very strong, especially when he let go and really went for it on big notes. 

Meanwhile, Sarah Schweit felt just right in the role of Mrs. Lovett.  Her acting really stood out to us, as she stayed in character beautifully even when she wasn’t the center of attention.  When she was the center of attention, she was excellent, and played to all the beats of the show perfectly.  The impressive acting/singing combination pulled off by the two leads comes to a head when Schweit and McCormick together sing “A Little Priest” late in the first act, and you’ll be humming that song all the way through the intermission.

The rest of the cast filled out wonderfully.  Maya Bargher as Adolfo Pirelli was super entertaining, and also a great singer.  She pulled off the hilarious drama of being “The Great Pirelli” with a flourish, and was really fun to watch as she controlled the stage every time she was on it.  Job Jones-Noel as Tobias Ragg was top-notch.  When his voice rose to the forefront, he more than had the singing chops to lead the sound.  And his acting was very good, as he slowly (and unexpectedly) became the emotional center of the play.  Elijah Tubbs skillfully showed the optimistic naivety of Anthony Hope, and ACT-y nominee Sophia Stopyra again impressed us with her far-reaching range as a top tier soprano, which really helped to fill out the sound of the ensemble.  Anna Super filled in for Tessa Hoppenfeld as the Beggar Woman at our performance, and was consistently funny while showing off strong vocals in the role.  And (again, spoiler alert) if the people killing people and baking them into pies weren’t big enough villains for you, Dave Hobbs, Joe White, and Bryce Collins do an excellent job of filling the (somehow more evil?) roles of Judge Turpin, The Beadle, and Jonas Fogg, respectively.  And the cast is outfitted and made-up by Chelsie Cartledge-Rose and the ACT-y nominated Kobie Smith, giving them period-appropriate looks, a couple different costumes for each character, and honestly some of the best wig-work we have seen in community theatre.  So, the big swings on cast and costuming – again, success.

Amy Harbin and the Little Theatre of Norfolk were bold in taking on the challenge of a big production like “Sweeney Todd”.  We were thrilled that, rather than trying to downsize it, or make it fit into a “community theatre” size show, they went full-tilt, taking on the bigger challenge at each decision point.  And the show came together so, so well, with each element of the show (the set, the lighting, the sound, the cast, the orchestra) building on each other to become something more than the sum of the parts.  The comedy of certain situations came through, but also the spookiness came through, and that can be a hard trick to turn.  Harbin got her entire team to take big swings – and together, they hit a home run.