by Nate Lee
As with many other South Bay institutions in the arts and otherwise, it seemed like the South Bay Conservatory would never recover from the COVID pandemic. Having properly narrowed their focus to musical theater, the educational performing arts organization, founded in 1964, last tread the boards in 2019 with “Mary Poppins.”
Good news: they are back.
This past weekend (November 16, 17-19), the Conservatory presented a lively, thoroughly professional, and entertaining production of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” an appropriately post-pandemic choice, helmed by long-time Conservatory member Kayla Steffanson and music director Anthony Moreno. The music is by Steven Sondheim and the book by Hugh Wheeler.
The young cast, mostly college students and graduates, mastered the notoriously difficult Sondheim score like Broadway pros, especially the charismatic leads.
Steffanson, also starring as the lovelorn pie-making Mrs. Lovett, provided ample quirky energy and professional pipes. She was delightful connecting with the moody Todd in her brainstorm about how to “dispose” of his victims in the number “A Little Priest.” Ryan Kann’s sturdy physicality and bold voice, meanwhile, gave his Sweeney Todd a true presence and the necessary – if temporary – empathy.
Quirkiness and empathy are just the right recipe for presenting “Sweeney Todd.” The genre – Grand Guignol, Beggars Opera, Penny Dreadfuls, which the play capitalizes on needs that to succeed. This is class warfare, after all. Todd is striking a blow – or, rather, taking a slice – on behalf of the poor and downtrodden. When he gets revenge on those who have done him wrong, mostly Judge Turpin, the audience needs to feel he is getting even for the injustices done to us all.
So, it is vital that Todd and Lovett aren’t so crazy or villainous that the audience can’t enjoy their vengeance. After all, we are asked to side with a serial killer over a rapist, not just a barber over an unjust judge. Then, when Mrs. Lovett amplifies the crimes by adding cannibalism, we must chime in, enjoying her play on the idea of the rich “serving” the poor, while she is literally serving the rich to the poor — in the form of meat pies.
With backlighting, sidelighting, and minimal lights and sets, Steffanson ably moved her “chorus” of London’s downtrodden out of a seeming dark alley to tell her story. They were literally shady, delightfully creepy and powerful singers — street people with an awful truth to tell.
Of the many grand supporting performances, Jonathan Cuesta as Beadle Bamford and Dean Castro as Tobias were particularly noteworthy. His fascinating and practiced voice brought the sycophantic Beadle along from the evil Turpin’s annoying sidekick to an obsessed, crazy harmonium player. Right or wrong, we were sorry to see him meet his fate in the barber’s chair. Castro’s Tobias progressed from a sweet assistant conman to the unwitting, devoted “son” of Mrs. Lovett. Castro brought out a steadily increasing innocence and goodness – no mean feat in these parts. His downstairs dance was one of the play’s highlights.
Unlike Todd’s victims, perhaps, the South Bay Conservatory’s production showed what it takes to come back to life. Passion. Dedication. Love of the medium. And, of course, a crazy amount of talent. It is a joy that they will be around to celebrate their sixtieth year. The community is certainly the better for it.
