Attend the Tale

Stephen Sondheim originally conceived Sweeney Todd as an opera, so it’s only fitting that the piece joined the repertoire of the New York City Opera some years ago. And what a fine production it is, from both a musical and dramatic standpoint.

What distinguishes NYCO’s current revival is the performance of Elaine Paige as Mrs. Lovett. Paige is utterly adorable in the role, and that makes her portrait of this amoral businesswoman especially subversive. Taking nothing away from Angela Lansbury or, more recently, Patti LuPone, both of whom were great in the part, Paige’s sprightly performance is so endearing that the dark soul underneath it all seems all the more monstrous. A wonderful characterization.

In vivid relief, Sweeney Todd is played by the frightfully expressive Mark Delavan. Hulking and menacing, Delavan is every inch the “demon barber.” And it looks as if he has his own demon barber; what a devilish haircut he has! Simply put, Delavan has presence to spare. He doesn’t just own the stage, he commands it. The world seems to quake before the thunderous baritone sounds of this Sweeney. Vengeance surely will be his!

The rest of the City Opera cast is impressive, as well. Keith Phares is a very appealing Anthony Hope, a sailor of sweet temperment and even sweeter voice. Walter Charles as Judge Turpin is impeccably evil but also, in a nice touch, tortured by his lechery (to the point of self-flagellation). Roland Rusinek as the Beadle is suitably oily, and Judith Blazer throws herself into the role of the Beggar Woman with a demented glee. It’s a bit diifficult to make out the lyrics when Sarah Coburn as Johanna launches into her operatic soprano, but then we found it difficult to make out almost everyone’s lyrics during the first act — even though we’re familiar with the score. That might have had to do with our ears becoming accustomed to the acoustics at City Opera or it might have been simply a function of bad sound amplification. Happily, the supertitles were a big help.

What stands out, as always, is the brilliance of Hugh Wheeler’s book and Stephen Sondheim’s music and lyrics. Sweeney Todd is among Sondheim’s greatest achievements, and that’s saying something.

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Shakespeare With a Flair

A playful as well as masterful production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is presently ensconced at BAM. This all-male version by Propeller (via Watermill Theatre, UK) is directed by Edward Hall, and it has plenty of panache and style.

These people definitely know how to please an audience. Midsummer is performed with a fast pace, lots of music — provided by the players, themselves, who sometimes have harmonicas that hang around their necks — and a cheeky underscoring of the fact that women’s roles were played by men in Shakespeare’s day.

Particularly impressive is the troupe’s commitment: Not only do they knock themselves out putting on the show, they rush out into the BAM lobby during intermission to perform three songs including the Frankie Lyman hit “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” to stress that Shakespeare’s theme in Midsummer Night applies to modern times.

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Blue Like That

The following anecdote about Melissa Errico’s current cabaret act at the Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room will tell you everything you need to know about this show. Errico was singing what’s probably the show’s most intimate number, Rodgers and Hart’s “He Was Too Good to Me,” with guitar accompaniment. She performed the song with her back to the audience for the entire length of the song, looking only at ther guitarist, who was standing at the back wall of the room. No one in the audience could see her face; in fact, there was no reason for the audience to be there. What in the world could Errico have been thinking?

And what possessed her to bring a five piece band — including drums — into the Oak Room? More often than not, the band overwhelms her. If the idea was to get a younger, rock-oriented audience into the Oak Room, it’s not working. We were there for the late show on Saturday night, when such a crowd might be expected; but it was very much a more traditional, older-money Oak Room audience in attendance, and this was not really their kind of music. Errico offered music by Jeff Franzel, James Taylor, Van Morrison, and several songs by her brother, Mike Errico. When she did perform a musical theater number, such as “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” from Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, it was done in a decidedly non-musical theater style. You could almost feel the shuddering in the room.

Errico is perhaps the prettiest young woman in musical theater and/or cabaret, with a smile that could light up a medium-sized city. But she seems to respond strictly to music, not to lyrics. From line to line, she displays no understanding of what she’s singing. Fundamentally, cabaret is musical theater at its best, an art form in which a singing actor can fully express himself/herself through music. That’s not happening at the Oak Room right now.

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[To contact the Siegels directly, e-mail them at siegelentertainment@msn.com.]