Jeremy Secomb and Siobhan McCarthy in The Tooting Arts Club production of Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Photo by Sara Krulwich.

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A friend recently said to me “Oh, God! Not another SWEENEY TODD!” And I understand. I couldn’t sit thru another GYPSY. But aren’t we all waiting for that one SWEENEY that really terrifies us?

This SWEENEY may be teeny with only 8 Actors and 3 Musicians, but it is the first one that truly creeped me out. I found myself looking all around so I wouldn’t be startled at Mr. Todd’s final entrance. Not that this production is gruesome. There is actually less blood than most, but Jeremy Secomb and Siobhan McCarthy are such a lethal pair, I found myself wondering which one was responsible for “breaking down” the corpses.

This production was site specific in London, but we have to settle for “immersive” at the Barrow Street Theatre, which is gutted to create a pie shop. Pies are available pre-show and the dinner tables double as playing space. There are no mics, which is both irksome and exciting.

So this SWEENEY delivers on meat pies and mayhem, and when Norm Lewis and Carolee Carmello take over on April 11th, I may need to sit thru yet another performance of SWEENEY TODD. ; )

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Video about the production