Sweeney Todd Brings Murder and Meat Pies to Pasadena

A Noise Within’s production of “Sweeney Todd” brings all of the gloom and grim of 19th-century London’s Fleet Street to life incorporating a minimalistic style.

There is little scenery, mostly pieces of furniture and tall ladders on wheels that roll in and out, and a three piece orchestra made up of two pianos and a cello.

The terrifying tale remains the same, with butchering barber Sweeney Todd (played with gusto by Geoff Elliott) returning to London after 15 years to seek revenge on the crooked Judge Turpin (Jeremy Rabb) who wrongfully imprisoned him, raped and poisoned his wife and took custody of his daughter Joanna (Joanna A. Jones). Todd teams up with the greedy Mrs. Lovett (Cassandra Marie Murphy) who dispenses Sweeney’s victims by putting them in her pies.

Murphy ends up stealing the show as Mrs. Lovett with standout performances including “The Worst Pies in London,” and “By the Sea.” Under director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and with scenic designs by Francois-Pierre couture and lighting by Ken Booth, the bolts of red lighting, massive white barber cape and grates implying a meat grinder and oven convey the terror of Steve Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s modern classic.

Playing February 14th to March 17 at A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd in Pasadena, tickets start at $29, purchase. At www.anoisewithin.org.