A CUT ABOVE THE REST
Asbury Park Press

By CARLTON WILKINSON • CORRESPONDENT • July 26, 2009

A barber becomes a serial killer and hands the bodies over to a baker woman who makes them into meat pies and sells them to unwitting customers. Not exactly a traditional story for a musical. But such is the wonder of "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,'' the Broadway hit by legendary composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim now being staged by the New Jersey Youth Theatre (NJYT) at the New Jersey Performing Arts Centre.
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This week, the production, involving Kevin Melendez in the title role and a host of talented young people from 15 to 25 as both actors and musicians, moves to Algonquin Arts Theater in Manasquan. The musical recounts an old English legend, dating back to Shakespeare's day, of a murderous barber and his entrepreneurial accomplice. And it does so in music both charming and daring, music that has captivated generations of Broadway fans.

"People have the wrong impression of 'Sweeney Todd,'‚'' Cynthia Meryl said. "They all think it's going to be bloody, but it really is a melodrama.''

Meryl is the director of New Jersey Youth Theatre. In a phone interview hours prior to the show's opening at Newark's New Jersey Performing Arts Cente, she warned that the recent hit movie version of "Sweeney Todd'' starring Johnny Depp gives the wrong impression.

"Don't come to see it because of the movie,'' she said, noting that film was a much more gory interpretation. "Come to see it because it's a beautiful show with a beautiful score and it can be very funny and very touching.

"The kids and the talent are incredible,'' she added. "They are so talented that you would never know the difference between this and a professional Broadway show.''

The joint presentation with New Jersey Youth Theater is one of many education-oriented programs Algonquin Arts sponsors. Bill Whitefield has been the education director for Algonquin Arts and recently was appointed its arts director as well.

"We're really collaborators with NJYT'' on the project, Whitefield said. "We missed working with them last year. It was important for us to re-establish our relationship with them.''

For 18 years, NJYT has offered students theater experience in professional productions. For 12 of those years, excluding a hiatus in 2008, the group has collaborated with Algonquin to bring those productions to Shore audiences.

The program is a perfect fit for Algonquin in that it "really showcases a lot of locals … the participants are all 25 and younger,'' Whitefield said.

Lori Tishfield of Freehold, who plays the role of the Beggar Woman in the NJYT production, is one of the local talents spotlighted by the program this season. Currently a student at Boston Conservatory, she also is an award-winning young actress, having garnered four Count Basie Awards and a Monmouth Civic Chorus Soloist Scholarship for classical voice.

"I probably learned, like, way more than in this program than in any other situation,'' Tishfield said. "Whatever my awards and stuff, this program has nothing on them. Awards you can't really learn from.''

Tishfield has been a fan of this musical for years and traveled from Boston to audition for the NJYT production.

" 'Sweeney Todd' is my favorite show ever,'' she said. "Being in it and seeing it is very different. In this show you have to be so focused. Even moving a set piece, it's like a choreography of its own.''

Matthew Robertson of Manchester, a student at Ocean County College who plays Fogg in the musical, agreed.

"The show itself is magnificent,'' Robertson said. "Sondheim's music and the story itself is breathtaking.''

"Being a part of New Jersey Youth Theater is absolutely a wonderful organization,'' he added. "It's given us a lot of opportunity to feel like an actual Equity production. To look at the cast out of costume, its age range is from 15 to 22. But when we're on that stage, it doesn't look like a youth production. It's really mind-boggling. It's great to be involved in it.''

In addition to "Sweeney Todd,' Sondheim has written more than a dozen hit musicals … including "Sunday in the Park With George'' and "Company'' … and was the lyricist for Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story.''

As a composer, his music is always inventive and challenging for the performers. But even in this respect, "Sweeney Todd'' is unusual.
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Ilene Greenbaum, musical director for the NJYT production and an 11-year veteran of NJYT, noted that the professional musicians in the orchestra were challenged by the score.

"One of them said to me that this was one of the most demanding books that he ever had to learn,'' Greenbaum said. "Short of conductingTchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker,' which I do every year, this is the greatest challenge I've had this season.''

In addition to the young people in the onstage cast, the orchestra consists of about one-third college conservatory students and one-third talented high-school students, with professionals making up the balance. Both onstage and in the pit, the level of energy and talent are high, Greenbaum said.

"I sometimes think they work harder at learning their music than adults do,'' Greenbaum said. "They put in an incredible amount of hours.

"The kids really rose to quite a level,'' she added. "They've exceeded my expectations.''

While ticket sales at NJPAC performances have been brisk, at Algonquin Arts seating is still wide open and producers at NJYT and Algonquin are hoping the film version doesn't dampen enthusiasm, particularly for families with younger children.

On the other hand, musicals in general tend to attract older ticket buyers and very young students, Whitefield said. " 'Sweeney Todd's' more macabre reputation will hopefully allow them to introduce college age and young professionals to Algonquin's offerings.

"We want the in-between set,'' Whitefield said.

Likewise the venue of Algonquin Arts helps spread the word about NJYT and opens its performers up to an entirely different audience, Greenbaum said.

"We missed that last year,'' she said. "It's wonderful to be coming back to that community.''

While this "Sweeney'' does include some violence ("a couple throats get slashed,'' Whitefield admits) it differs markedly from the movie version.

"The musical focuses on the humor of such dysfunctional people,'' Whitefield said. "The movie took a black comedy and made it into a horror film. The stage production is much funnier than the movie and much less gruesome. Stephen Sondheim is just brilliant in the way he handles ever situation with humor … that is what makes him the brilliant lyricist that he is, as well as a brilliant composer.''
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"Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' continues performances at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 26, at NJPAC in Newark. The Manasquan performances of "Sweeney Todd'' begin Friday, July 31, and run through Sunday, Aug. 9, for seven shows total. Sunday performances start at 2 p.m. All others start at 8 p.m. The Algonquin Arts Theatre is at 173 Main St., Manasquan.

Tickets are available through the box office at 732-528-9211 or by e-mail at
[email protected]. For more information, visit the theater's Web site at
www.algonquinarts.org.

Carlton Wilkinson is a composer, teacher and Ph.D. in music and the author of the blog ""The And Of One.'' Contact him at [email protected] or c/o Entertainment, Asbury Park Press, Asbury Park Press, 3601 Highway 66, Neptune, N.J. 07754-1551.