"Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street".

Beeston Musical Theatre Group.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Set in modern day England, this supply and demand musical details the return of barber Sweeney Todd, previously known as Benjamin Barker, to London after 15 years of exile, He's back to take revenge on the corrupt Judge Turpin who banished him, and by conspiring with a local baker, Mrs. Lovett, who is in desperate need of fresh meat for her pies, he wreaks his bloody revenge, but not without some heartache for Todd along the way.

Tim Yearsley as Todd, has an air of menace about him from the minute he strides on stage, and that menace stays with him right to the grisly end. He's angry and his tunnel vision of getting his revenge on Turpin and Beadle Bamford is quite frightening. His distorted features often staring out to some unseen victim really makes you feel on edge. Great to see Tim back on stage in such a strong and powerful role and also wonderful to hear those rich operatic vocal tones, delivering some of Sondheim's finest words.

 Sara Evans is Mrs Lovett and, paired with Todd , they make a formidable pair, as dangerous as Bonnie & Clyde but with some lovely comical segments, especially in the song "A Little Priest" where they are comparing the tastes of the pies with various professionals as the fillings. Again, a wonderful voice and a lovely comedy character role, and that laugh is irresistible.

The young sailor, Anthony Hope, who befriends Todd at the start and falls in love with Johanna, who is really Todd's daughter, is played by Jordan Silver. His voice has got stronger since the last time I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing him on stage in "Rent" and as a leading role in "Footloose" a couple of years ago, and is showcased on the song to his love "Johanna". A lovely clear, strong timbre to his voice which is very pleasant to listen to and just right for this style for musical theatre. This is Jordan's debut for Beeston Musical Theatre Group.

Johanna, played by Harriet Campion, has an amazing strong operatic voice and whether in her solo number or complementing  Jordan's voice when duetting with Anthony, Hattie has been perfectly cast in this vocally challenging role.

Judge Turpin is played by a master of theatre, as well as musical theatre, and plays a mean invisible typewriter as well, but not in this. Adam Guest steps into the role late on in rehearsals, but he is no stranger to this musical. Adam is so far removed from the character of Turpin, who is so sinister in his controlling relationship of his ward, Johanna, even punishing himself over his sickening thoughts of her. Adam is also Assistant Director for the show.

Jonas Fogg, who owns the asylum where Johanna has been placed by Turpin, is played by Andy Bulmer, a small part but makes up for it as part of the Ensemble.

Tobias Ragg, who has Pirelli as his master is played by Arden-Caspar Jennison. Arden is another actor who has a strong voice, especially with those big notes, and at other times sings with such innocence, showing the versatility in his vocal technique. I've said it before but Arden has one of those faces that allows him to play parts much younger than his actual age, and what a boon that is for any actor. He shows that ability in this role and you can believe he is of a younger age character wise, all the while making the character of Ragg completely believable and innocent.

Adolfo Pirelli, the comedy character of the musical is also quite the deceitful one as his role switches from Italian barber to Northern blackmailer. This dual nationality is pulled off with a wonderful comedic element by  Craig Arme. Craig, like Tim has a wonderful operatic range and is put to excellent use as Pirelli.

Eleanor Carty plays The Beggar Woman. Even though the role is quite a flirty fun role, Eleanor also shows the sad, desperate and lonely side of the woman, and I won't spoil it for anyone who doesn't know the story, but she has a secret that is revealed at the end, but only after her death.

Thomas Telford is Beadle Bamford, again a pleasure to watch because not only does he have the element of being one of the villains of the show, he brings a certain amount of comic relief to the musical, especially in one scene that he shares with Sara and the organ, showing off some quite high vocals. This role marks Thomas' debut performance with Beeston Musical Theatre Group.

A tight ensemble who produced a wall of sound when all singing together. The Ensemble are made up Thomas Judt, Elsa Kitching, Jess Liddle, Arran McKay, Ruth Maddison, Robert McAuley, Maisie Cutts, Charlotte Gerlernter, Jake Gerlernter, John Hand, Mina Holtom, William Howarth, David Artiss, Naomi Batley, El Brown, Chris Bryan, Alice Cammell and Jane Cottee.

Technically, this can be quite a difficult show, mainly due to the disposal of the bodies but among the various changes in this production, this is carried out using a different approach.

Directed by George Lamb who has turned the visual side of this musical on its' head. I've seen traditional and Steampunk versions of "Sweeney Todd" but this is a very modern version with laptops, mobile phones, electronic payment methods for shaves and the pies etc, and when I saw the photos, of the modern attire, I didn't know if I would enjoy the musical as much as I wanted to but the modern clothes approach and modern technology has taken absolutely nothing away from the sinister storyline, and in a way even adds to it, showing that set ups like this could happen today, and possibly does! And all done in just FIVE months, among the other projects that George has had on the go is a testament to the hard work and commitment that George injects to all of his projects.

The Movement Director is Charlotte Drewett-Holden. Charlotte describes this show as "deliciously dark", a phrase that I think sums this up perfectly and the movement side of the show is extremely importan to showcase some of the characters. take for instance the Beggar Woman who has a very distinctive, almost macabre like way of moving about. This in complete opposition to Todd who always extends himself to his full height to show the power and importance of the character. Very often the way that a character moves around the stage and the theatre is as important as the script the character has to deliver, and when both areas come together as it did in this story, the results are magical, as well as deliciously dark.

Musical Director for this production is Sam Griffiths. Sondheim has a knack for creating atmosphere in his music and bringing the fun, or darkness out of the music is something that Sam is completely at home with. I've been present when Sam has been MD for previous "Sweeney" productions, and every time I manage to spot something new in his arrangements of the music and/or vocals. A Musical Director has the ability to keep someone like myself on their toes with these changes, and Sam is one MD who never fails to do that. That said, Sondheim is notorious for his complexity in his music, and it's no easy job to deconstruct one of his many layered pieces and put it all back together and still make it sound fresh to the ear, and succeed in the beauty of the score. The thirteen piece band sounded absolutely lush.

Set Construction is by Damon Pipes and brings that modern feel of the story, as well as the darkness of the story to life with Mrs Lovett's massive oven where all the pies are created and baked. the Rostrum hire is from A Stage For Hire.

Wardrobe isn't mentioned in the programme. This is a very modern costume design which brings the story visually into the modern world so I presume that the majority of the costumes have been provided by the actors themselves

Sound Production is by Dave Dallard who mixes everything perfectly. I was sat in the balcony section of the theatre and heard every word spoken and sung.

Lighting design is by Steve Greatorex, who is a very busy man this week with lighting design. A wonderfully dark design that brings out the danger and sinister feel of the modern day revenge and cannibalism storyline, and really makes you feel the heat from that oven via the lighting at the back of it.

Katie Bird is Production Manager and part of the Backstage Crew, who also consisted of Fiona Elias, Paolo Elias and Beth Yearsley.

This is a very modern, but extremely classy production, and just because you've seen previous productions, don't let the modern clothing etc put you off because the style and excellence is all there, as well as a superb soundtrack.

Beeston Musical Theatre Group are supporting BANA UK (British Acoustic Neuroma Association) throughout the run.

"Sweeney Todd" is at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 31 October, and an ideal run up to Halloween.

Photography by Martin Holtom.