It’s not all rainbows and sunshine inside the mind of a man who slits people’s throats and bakes them into meat pies—just ‘cuz.  But it sure makes for a fun little ditty.

Musical theater composer/genius Stephen Sondheim (“Sweeney Todd”) is loved by many people for many reasons.  But this is why I love him; he can write a song from the perspective of just about anybody.  Guy murders a judge and chops up his body before shoving him into an oven?  Let’s write a song about it!  Madmen bond over shooting an American President dead (as in “Assassins”)?  Let’s write a song about it.  Skeezy fairy tale wolf date-rapes teenage girl only moments after doing the same to her grandmother (as in “Into the Woods”)?  Do I hear violins?

I’ll take a moment for those of who didn’t actually get what was going on during “Into the Woods” to absorb that last revelation…

And yet, for all these songs, nobody once accuses Sondheim of tastelessness.  That’s art, I suppose.  But of course, it all has greater meaning—and says something worthwhile about life.  And those who don’t get that are the same folks who probably didn’t realize that the Wolf in Into the Woods (whose costume in the Broadway production literally had giant fake genetalia) was making sexual advances towards Little Red Riding Hood.  Like the Mom and Dad who happily let their kids belt out the new Lady Gaga single “Poker Face” without detecting the fairly blatant sexual innuendos, they’re better off not knowing; and the rest of us are better off not having them know.

Because those people aren’t going to appreciate Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” when it makes its way to the Forum Theater on April 18th anyway.  Todd is the tale of a man so disgusted with the complacency and corruption he finds in London that life loses all value for him.  He begins killing at random; and then disposes of the bodies by giving them to the baker downstairs (Mrs. Lovett) who finds that they make tastier meat pies than the pussy-cats being used down the street.  Todd’s quest becomes one of revenge when he finds the man responsible for death of his wife—but that doesn’t stop him from offing a few other people along the way—just for sport.

If you don’t know Sweeney Todd—you may be missing one very important piece of information: The show is FUNNY.  Hysterical, in fact.  Part of its success lies in the fact that Sondheim is able to balance the dark comedy with some pretty serious characters.  Mrs. Lovett, for example, is so in love with who Todd was BEFORE going mad that she can’t even bring herself to realize who he’s become.

At least, that’s the analysis from Carrie Cimma, the actress who plays Lovett in the National Tour that will stop in here on April 18th.  She took some time away from baking priests, mimes, and fops into meat pies in order to fill us in about what we’re going to see…

So in this version of Sweeney, the actors play their own instruments… how good were you REALLY with the stuff you have to play before you started rehearsing?
I was trained primarily on saxophone, but I also play a little piano, guitar and trumpet.  So learning the tuba was really just a matter of remembering how to read the clef it plays in, and adjusting to a different size mouthpiece.  The triangle was much easier!  It was the memorization that was really the most difficult part, even on the easier instruments.  Rarely are professional musicians asked to memorize this much music at one go, so it was a challenge for m e, being an actor first.
 
I’m sure you’ve heard a ton of other actresses sing this part on cast recordings–maybe seen it live.  How do you avoid doing the same old thing with Lovett?
 I was working out of town when the revival played in New York, and was only vaguely familiar with the Lansbury 1979 version.  So I think it was a blessing that I kind of had to start from scratch.  That gave me the opportunity to do EVERYTHING fresh without any preconceived notions of what it "should" be.  The director and producers were really wonderful in letting me experiment and try new things.  I don’t think she’s necessarily an "old" lady, so i tried to keep her light and young and funny.  That’s the heartbreak of this character really; she does what she needs to do to survive, and is very witty and charming, but makes some terrible choices.  She really needs to be someone the audience identifies with, that keeps people on her side.  Then when she comes to the end of her story, it’s that much more devastating. 
 
Sweeney Todd’s a bit of a nut; I always wonder what Lovett SEES in Sweeney?  What’s it for you?
I think she’s fixated on the version of Benjamin Barker she remembers from 15 years ago.  Back then, he was probably young and handsome, charming and friendly.  She’s had that person in her head for all this time, and his transformation into this obsessive madman kind of flies under her radar.  It’s that whole "love is blind" thing.  Also, when she has been ruminating on this one person for so long, losing that obsession is almost worse than losing the actual person or the relationship.
 
Have you ever actually HAD a meat pie?
Yes.  I’m not such a fan.  I’ve never really liked pie crust.  I like to eat all the filling out of pecan pie and feed the crust to the dog.
 
One made of a pussy-cat?
I own a cat, so no!  His name is Bisquit, and that’s about as close as I get to the cat/food connection.
 
OK, now the dirt; One of the fun things about having the tours come through is seeing them out after the show.  Who in the cast are we most likely to end up doing a shot with before you leave town?
Well, Binghamton is our closing city, so probably all of us!!  I have to take really good care of myself for this show, so I haven’t been drinking while touring.  But when it’s over, I think I might have a whiskey or two.  Or three.
 
You don’t have to make any enemies by telling us the crappiest place you’ve visited on tour; but you DO have to tell us why it sucked so much…
It’s always hard when we’re staying away from the area the theater is in.  Sometimes we’re out by the highway, next to a Waffle House (which is delicious) and you have to take your life in your hands by running across the four lane highway to get to the gas station to get a coffee.  A lot of places we’ve been are not very pedestrian friendly, so it’s like a dangerous game of Red Rover.