The horror story set to song got what felt like the full treatment at Musical Theater Heritage, even though the production was more expanded reading than staged production. (Singers sat upstage until their cues called them to a row of standing mics at the front of stage, where they lined up to play out scenes and rousing anthems.) Don Richard lent the monstrous protagonist — a murderous barber taking his revenge — flickers of redeeming traits. We felt his pain, even kind of understood his misguided point of view. As Sweeney Todd's accomplice, the baker Mrs. Lovett, Cathy Barnett played crazy so well that her performance still gives us the creeps. A supporting cast was strong as well, making for a suspenseful and thrilling reading of Stephen Sondheim's powerful work.
