The longtime board member finds the piece stimulating. "It's such a great privilege to be able to play her. She really stretches me."
Singing Sondheim stretches her as well. "He is so challenging. It's very difficult…but it's fun."
Fun? In a musical about a mad barber who slits the throats of his customers and then sends the bodies downstairs to his neighbour, Mrs. Lovett, who bakes them into tasty meat pies?
There were some who thought Stephen Sondheim had gone quite mad when he obtained the rights to do the show. For the composer, it was simple.
"We just wanted to see if we could give the audience a good old-fashioned scare."
And they did. The sound of a shrill shrieking factory whistle plunged the opening night audience at Broadway's Uris theatre into total darkness. The orchestra began playing and on the dimly lit stage a costumed chorus — looking like something out of Dickens – appeared and began to sing:
Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd
His skin was pale and his eye was odd
He shaved the faces of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard of
again…
A few moments later, the ghostly figure of the titular character rose out of an onstage grave and joined the chorus in daring the audience to watch the story that was about to unfold. No one in the audience quite knew what to make of this "musical thriller," but by the final curtain they were enthralled.
Since then, the show has been constantly revived in large-scale productions by leading opera companies to intimate stagings with small casts doubling as musicians. The show always works because the story is so strong, and Sondheim's near-operatic score is nothing short of a masterpiece.
The reputation brought out hundreds to audition when Clarkson announced it was staging the show.
"It was amazing how many people came out for auditions," recalls McMahon. "The show has a huge following."
As for her contribution, McMahon notes that "the beggar woman is probably the greatest victim, and when it is disclosed at the end what her identity really is, it is very sad."
McMahon relishes playing the role, adding, "She is crazy. She is demented, but she is also the voice of reason amidst all that is going on."
So prepare yourself to attend the tale of Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber
of Fleet Street, opening tonight at Meadowvale Theatre and playing until Nov. 29. For performance times and tickets, call 905-615-4720.
mississauganews@live.com
