Bringing deadly ‘Sweeney Todd’ to life

It’s such a grand team lift across its dozens of cast members, special effects and a multistory set that most productions cut it down to a small-scale adaptation. 

But the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music is stepping up to the challenge of putting on a full-scale performance of the classic, gory tale. Debuting on Broadway in 1979, the show is almost 50 years old, with countless revivals and adaptations of the vengeful barber Sweeney Todd and his co-conspirator, pie shop owner Mrs. Lovett. CCM’s performance, with a double cast and three-story set, is just as huge and bloody as the original. 

“This is a real bucket-list show,” said scenic designer and professor Mark Halpin. “It’s one of the classic Sondheim musicals that will be around 100 years from now.” 

CCM’s production is double cast with musical theatre and opera/voice students taking turns in the lead roles in alternate performances, with an ensemble including students from both programs. Cincinnati print and digital publication Movers & Makers wrote that CCM’s production is “a perfect choice for merging the disciplines.”

“Often when you see ‘Sweeney Todd,’ it’s being reconceived or cut down into a chamber production,” Halpin explained. “It’s pretty rare outside of a New York or London revival to actually see the show done the way it was meant to be done with a large cast and a full orchestra in a big space like Corbett, and with the mix of musical theatre and opera voices you want for it. It’s a really, really unique opportunity to come see this how it was meant to be seen.”

And Sweeney’s famous barber chair hides a trap door all designed by students for actors to fall five feet when he “kills” them, complete with fake blood. 

“Sometimes it’s a struggle because we’re all students and we’re all learning,” technical director Paloma Robles said. “But we worked really well with each other the whole way. I’m proud of that.”

The chair and trap door are Robles’ biggest and final project at CCM. An undergraduate studying technical production, Robles specializes in carpentry.

What really sells all the death in the musical is the blood. More specifically, fake blood made mostly of laundry detergent. Ben Wright, an undergraduate studying scenic design and properties, took the lead on blood design and concocted a blood “recipe” specifically for this show.

“I don’t think people realize that when you want blood on stage, that means at least ten hours of meetings and even more time testing,” he said. 

That included creating multiple fake blood recipes to find one that didn’t stain costumes and props. His final product included liquid laundry detergent not only for the texture, but to help in washing the blood off of costumes between each of the six shows. 

“There’s been a lot of back-and-forth communication on if it will stain pants or shirts. If blood gets on stage, we have to talk to the paint team about if it’s going to affect the treatment they’ve done on the floor,” Wright explained. He even had to consult with technical director Robles to make sure his blood recipe didn’t make going down the slide unsafe. 

Wright also worked closely with the costuming team to design a blood pouch for each of the two actors playing Sweeney Todd’s gory death at the end of the musical. Wright said a neck rig would make it too hard to sing, and there’s not enough time for the actors to run backstage to get special makeup on before the big scene. 

“We decided to attach tubing to his shirt collar that stays on the actor at all times,” Wright explained. “With his shirt buttoned up, there’s a bladder of blood right at his chest level. It sits just low enough that it can’t accidentally come out earlier in the performance.” The setup gives the effect of blood coming from Sweeney’s neck, but it’s actually pouring out the collar of his crisp, white shirt. 

“It’s not just Ben Wright and his faculty adviser. It’s also me and my assistant Norah Jeziorowski who are building the rig,” said CJ Kelly, visiting assistant professor and costume designer for “Sweeney Todd.” On top of that the two performers have to learn how to activate the rig and the people backstage have to fill it and transport it without making a mess among 20 ensemble members in Victorian costume. 

Second-year undergrad student Jeziorowski, studying costume design and technology, is spearheading the costume design for Mrs. Lovett’s final outfit. The pie seller also has a death scene, but not a lot of time offstage to prepare for it. 

“CCM has never done anything like this, even when I was a student here,” said hair and makeup designer Missy J. White. She noted how students across disciplines, who may not have ever met otherwise, are coming together for this show. “It’s very cool to see such a unified artistic creation.”

White is a true Bearcat for life: She’s currently a UC adjunct instructor of wig and makeup design, and she earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees at UC. She even has multiple Bearcat family members, including her mother, grandmother, an aunt and an uncle. 

“I’m a full Bearcat, through and through,” White said. One thing that she loves about UC is the quality and caliber of shows that CCM offers. 

“CCM always felt Broadway level,” White said. “When I was a student, and even coming back, it always feels like we have Broadway standards. CCM is world-renowned.” She expressed that coming back as an instructor was surreal for her, and unique in the sense that she was literally in her students’ shoes. 

Featured image at top of the cast of "Sweeney Todd" on stage with the titular character doused in fake blood. Photo/Mark Lyons