Sweeney Todd, Colliseum *****

There is currently a Sondheim overload in London, with Gypsy at the Savoy, Into the Woods fresh out of cinemas and two separate productions of his classic Sweeney Todd. One is at a pop up pie and mash shop on Shafetesbury Avenue, giving it's audience a close and personal tale. The ENO production, on the other hand, is far from intimate, with this semi staged operatic retelling with the ever delightful Emma Thompson as Lovett and the powerhouse Bryn Terfel as the Barber of Fleet Street. From the very start, you know you're in safe hands with a prologue that pulls fun at the glamorous setting, with scores and music stands ending up thrown round the stage and a grand piano upturned. This isn't going to be a normal 'semi staged performance' in the style of the Les Mis concerts. 

This production is going to capture the majestic nature of Sondheim's score on a grand scale. In fact, if it wasn't for the orchestra on the stage as well, it could easily pass for a fully staged show. Every aspect of this sublime performance was spot on. From the powerful chorus giving an awe filled rendition of the opening to the love ballads between Anthony and Johanna, played exquisitely by Matthew Seadon- Young and Katie Hall who reach the high notes with such ease. Philip Quast, whose Javert I found a touch too operatic and lacking in emotion is far from emotionless as Turpin, with his solo displaying a depth to the Judge which rivals John Bowe's portrayal in 2012.  Alex Gaumond, fresh from being a fraudster in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, provides a creepy Beadle and the spectacularly high notes are reached, providing me with the greatest surprise of the performance. Rosalie Craig, John Owen Jones and Jack North are also satisfying as the Beggar, Pirelli and Tobias. Bryn Terfel is, as always, masterful as Sweeney, showing a more sadistic man than Ball's Todd and less of a sense of being corrupted by Lovett, who here is played by a tuneful and wonderfully comic Emma Thompson who plays the role in an innocent way. Each little touch from a timpani being Lovett's work station to a bassist's chair being used as Sweeney's barber chair to the conductor's stick to be used as a combo make this production special and memorable. This production captures the true genius of Sondheim with a chilling rendition of perhaps the greatest musical/ opera of all time.