it. Somehow it grew in a huge production. An epic, giant show in a 3,000 seat the- atre. But the seeds of the show remain a chamber piece. There is a Greek Chorus there to comment on the action, or I call it a Sondheim Chorus—observers with a wry perspective. When done as a smaller scale production like ours, people are surprised it works so well. In it is the nugget of an intimate show. We don’t have that full chorus so we were very strict with the rules about who can do what and what line they sing.
Rage: Sweeney is a meaty character, but you have a list of meaty characters you’ve played. Do you have a favorite?
SM: Frank N. Furter [in Rocky Horror Show] was the most fun show I’ve ever done,
at the San Diego Repertory Theatre. I also loved playing Henry Higgins in My Fair
Lady.
Rage: What do you do on your off-time?
SM: Honestly, my partner and I don’t have any off time. We really are thinking
about the theatre every day. It’s a big company and it requires our attention all the time. We live in North County. On the weekends we’re off we try to make it out to the mountains for some quiet. Just for a day or two is great. We try to keep a balance.
Rage: What’s in your car CD player or on your iPod right now?
SM: Ha! Honestly. Sweeney Todd. I’ve been listening to various recordings for the
past eight months.
Rage: So you live, eat and sleep your plays and characters?
SM: With Sweeney that would be scary. It is a bit of tunnel vision. When the
whole package started in your brain, it helps to be obsessive. To start by making as many details as full and vivid as you can make them. By the time you get through rehearsals, 60 percent of your vision makes it to the stage. In rehearsals you in- troduce new people to your world. It becomes collaborative. The show morphs, changes, grows and becomes the sum of everybody’s energies and attentions. We had to be strong visionaries. Here’s the big picture, now everyone bring your tools to it. It’s very exciting.
Rage: Speaking of exciting, Deborah Gilmour Smyth is an impressive Mrs. Lovett. Have you played opposite of her before?
SM: Deborah is the Associate Artistic Director from Lamb’s Players Theatre and
has been with them for 30 years. I have admired her on stage for many years and always had a desire to work with her. Finally, the planets aligned on this one. I treasure my time working with her.
Rage: Do you have a favorite moment in Sweeney Todd?
SM: As a director I love the last scene, the way it is built. As an actor, the last song
product of the environment. And he is obsessed; first with his lovely wife, then with getting back to London to find her. When he learns she took poison, he becomes obsessed with revenge. By then he has gone so far deep into obsession that he takes his revenge out on the rest of the world. It’s a love story really—everyone in this play has an obsession. They are in
love with something: power, money, another person. Every scene is motivated by obsession and love. We used that word all the time in rehearsals. What is your character’s obsession? Are you getting what you want or not, how obsessed are you about getting it?
Rage: As a director, what was your greatest challenge in putting this show together?
SM: Sweeney was originally conceived as a chamber piece, but when Stephen
Sondheim proposed it the angle wasn’t working according to producers. It was not until he developed the notion of pulling themes of Industrial Revolution into
in act one, “Have a little Priest.” To look over at Debbie and know she is 300 percent on stage with you. It helps you to relax, sit back and perform. I enjoy that number a lot.
Rage: It’s a great scene. Wonderful humor. You must be drained by the time the curtain falls.
SM: Not only emotionally, but physically. You saw the show, you know the set
has a ton of stairs, and what you don’t see is there are a lot of stairs backstage. You have to go downstairs to get to the dressing rooms; so you are literally running up and down staircases all night long. In the future I’ll be kinder to actors.
Sweeney Todd
Cygnet Theatre’s Old Town Theatre Now – April 25 A Special “Out at Cygnet” Hosted by The Rage Monthly on April 14 619.337.1525 Cygnettheatre.com
APRIL 2010 | RAGE monthly 11
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