REVIEW: Hartford Stage, “Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT
www.hartfordstage.org
through July 5, 2026
by Shera Cohen

For those who enjoy the works of Steven Sondheim, seeing “Sweeney Todd…” at Hartford Stage is a dream come true. In a sense, the word “nightmare,” might be more accurate. For those who aren’t enamored with this renowned playwright, composer, “Sweeney” should still be in the Top 10 List of musicals to see.

“Sweeney” is dark, both literally and figuratively. The program book sums up the plot about “love, murder, and revenge”. Set in mid-19 th century London is the barber Sweeney Todd, his wife, and baby daughter. Crisis befalls the small family. At the musical’s start, Sweeney’s jail sentence of 15 years has ended as he roams the dregs of the city searching for his wife and child, and for his own life that was snatched from him.

Photo by: T. Charles Erickson

Matt Faucher portrays Sweeney as a man consumed equally with retaliation and despair.
Faucher’s acting chops and exquisite baritone voice are impactful. Indeed, he only has one solo as well as an important duet (“My Friends”). Yet, the character of Sweeney Todd seems to be ever-present – either when actually onstage or referred to – through Faucher’s creation of this tortured man.

Jackie Burns oftentimes screams the personification of Mrs. Lovett, the local pie-maker whose shop deserves a zero-star rating. Yes, the actress’ vocals are a bit too loud; although befitting her character’s personality and life. It’s Burns who has a lot of songs in the repertoire. Burns ingratiates Mrs. Lovett with wit, timing, and cunning. Lovett provides humor as a means to keep herself alive.

The other seven actors portray those who are friend or foe to Sweeney, and as an ensemble, the chorus of a Greek tragedy. They begin and end the sad tale. All are pros.

Willem Butler’s role as Anthony, a young sailor/love interest sings and reprises the loveliest and most melodic piece in the musical, “Johanna”. In turn, Lauren Maria Medina as the ingenue Johanna replies in an upper range soprano voice. Of course, it’s love at first sight amid the horror of their lives.

Tristan Caldwell’s role as Adolfo Pirelli, a con man competing to be the best barber in town, is outright funny. He milks every syllable of his fake Italian accent for as many laughs as possible.

 Without a doubt, Rob Ruggiero (whose home is Theatre Works) is one of New England’s consummate theatre directors. He swiftly moves a multitude of flowing scenes, each with its own signature melody. Many may disagree, but Ruggiero’s choice to add more comic relief than necessary is somewhat incongruous to this exceedingly dark tale. Having seen other “Sweeney Todd” productions, and without giving spoilers, these amusing segments occur in the barber shop. 

Not enough praise can be written about the tech triumvirate of Luke Cantarella (scenic design), John Lasiter (lighting), and Beth Lake (sound), plus each category has two additional creatives.

“Sweeney’s” set is huge, situated across the entire length of the stage, with numerous openings and tiers, many of which surprise the audience enough to say, “Wow!”
 

Lighting is exceptional on what is otherwise a dark set yet oftentimes streams of muted green haze tend to purposely show bits of warmth in the cold shadows.
 

Sound doesn’t just come from the stage; the Chorus resonates as if it is double in size, especially when actors sing from the theatre’s aisles and intersperse within audience sections.

Speaking of sound…where was the band? This is no pit band, but a mini-orchestra with strings, horns, brass, and percussion hidden inside the set unbeknownst to the audience. Wiley DeWeese conducts.
 

Bravo to the teams at Hartford Stage and Theatre Works for mounting “Sweeney,” working hand-in-hand to create, design, and promote perhaps what each theatre might produce extremely successfully, yet together make for superb theatre. Even more than that accolade is the coupling itself. The arts in our country seek help in numerous ways; primarily financially. HS and TW override the “me for myself” competition to acknowledge that, at least in the case of “Sweeney,” playing together is better for all, including audiences.

Note: Not recommended for younger audiences.

REVIEW: “The Addams Family” Mac-Haydn Theatre, Chatham, NY

Mac-Haydn Theatre, Chatham, NY 
www.machaydntheatre.org
June 11 – June 21, 2026
Review by Simon Brighenti

"The Addams Family" has been creeping in and out of popular culture since the late 1930’s when Charles Addams first published a few of his macabre cartoons in the New Yorker Magazine. They have appeared in a popular ’60’s TV show, cartoons, video games, movies, and of course a musical, now being staged masterfully in the round at the Mac-Hayden Theatre.

Chatham itself, just west of the New York/Massachusetts line, is one of those hamlets which, if the word “quaint” were not already in our lexicon, we would have to add it to describe. The theatre is a jewel in a rural setting just off Main Street. It provides an immersive experience with some of the most inventive and spellbinding lighting and sound design (courtesy of Andrew Gmoser and Sean McGinley, respectively) short of Broadway.

The production brings to life the well-known cast of characters – Gomez the passionate romantic, his adoring and adorable wife Morticia, darkly clad daughter Wednesday and impish son Pugsley, along with enthusiastic Uncle Fester, feisty Grandmama and the lumbering Lurch. The book is by Marshall Brickman, the comedic writer behind a number of movies, along with Rick Elice, the creative consultant for Disney Studios for years. As directed by Steve Edlund, the story focuses on Wednesday's love interest in a “normal” young man. It sets the stage for a meeting of the parents.

Gabe Belyeu is a great Gomez, equally adept at both wordplay and swordplay. He is torn between telling his “amore” Morticia (Madison Stratton) of the offspring's intention to wed, and his oath to Wednesday not to spill the beans prematurely.

The comfort and chemistry between Belyeu and Stratton are apparent at once and remain evident throughout. It is obvious the two talented thespians have performed with and off each other in earlier productions and have a fondness one for the other that sweetly informs their scenes together.

Jack Holick (youthful but experienced and talented beyond his years) does an at times hilarious and touching turn as Pugsley. Grace Mauldin imbues her portrayal of Wednesday with tenderness, resolve and determination to wed her betrothed. The two also showcase a couple of “torture” scenes including just the right amount of foreboding and mutual fondness. Comedian/magician Jeffrey Jene is perfectly cast as the eccentric Uncle Fester, equipped with his trademark piehole-powered lightbulb, bald pate and shapeless black shroud. The shroud, however, is magically transformed into a sparkling rainbow-infused garment during a superb scene in Act II that in a certain manner literally explains Fester’s perceived lunacy.

 

Filling out the main cast of Addams are a cackling Carol Charniga as the centenarian-plus Grandma, and amply altitudinal athlete/actor Aryell Beaulieu-Shaffer who brings height as well as some depth to the lugubrious Lurch.

Steve Taylor and Erin Spears Ledford as the parents of Wednesday’s intended Lucas go from button-downed to unbuttoned due to their exposure to the Addams family as well as their realization of their true selves.  And Will Forrest presents an earnest turn as Lucas himself.

Mention must be made of “the ancestors,” a group of ensemble actors who are each given a ghostly getup that hints of their untimely demise. They act at times as a Greek chorus and as a propulsive device for the waxing and waning of the relationships throughout the production.

REVIEW: Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Dvorak & Firebird

Bushnell, Belding Theater, Hartford, CT 
www.hartfordsymphony.org
June 5-7, 2026 
by Michael J. Moran 

For the closing weekend of their 2025-2026 Masterworks series and of her 15th season as HSO Music Director, Carolyn Kuan led the orchestra in a phenomenally varied program by five composers, including an HSO premiere, and featuring an imaginative composer-violinist. 

The concert opened with a deeply moving account of 24-year-old Richard Strauss’ surprisingly mature 1888 tone poem “Death and Transfiguration.” Its vivid depiction of an artist’s illness, death, and, as the program notes, his “vision of ultimate beauty as he is transfigured into part of the eternal cosmos” was captured with unerring power and passion by an inspired orchestra and conductor.  

Photo credit: Jim Henkel's 

The mood then lifted with exuberant readings of three "Slavonic Dances," dating from 1878, by Antonin Dvorak. Each was followed by what composer Curtis Stewart called, in spoken remarks, “a riff on Dvorak,” honoring an abolitionist of Dvorak’s era by fusing his music with American slave dances. The most original of these exhilarating pieces was the third, honoring Elizabeth Freeman (“Mum Bett”), which mixes Dvorak with hip-hop and Brazilian samba rhythms and audience participation.     

Stewart, a widely travelled performer and music educator and the HSO’s 2025-2026 Joyce C. Willis Artist in Residence, next demonstrated his considerable chops as a violinist with an entertainingly personal take on Pablo de Sarasate’s popular 1878 “Zigeunerweisen” (“Gypsy Airs”) for violin and orchestra. Bending notes, extending tempos, and inserting humorous facial expressions and other gestures, but always in the spontaneous spirit of the music, Stewart kept the full house laughing with his technical wizardry and earned an enthusiastic standing ovation.   

A blazing rendition of Dvorak’s festive 1892 “Carnival Overture,” with a tender central interlude, was followed by the concert closer, an electrifying performance of the colorful 1919 suite which Igor Stravinsky drew from his breakout piece, the 1910 ballet “The Firebird,” based on a Russian folktale. Conductor and orchestra sharply characterized all six scenes in the suite, especially a lush “Round Dance of the Princesses,” a terrifying “Infernal Dance of King Kashchei,” and a memorably triumphant “Finale.”   

Next up for the HSO is their 2026 Talcott Mountain Music Festival on the five Fridays of July at 7:30pm at the Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center starting July 3 with a program called “Celebrate America!”

Review: Barrington Stage Company, “Driving Miss Daisy”

Barrington Stage, Pittsfield, MA

www.barringtonstageco.org
May 26 – June 21, 2026
by Shera Cohen

Over the 26 years since Barrington Stage Company (BSC) began, most season openers have been big musicals; a strategic and smart choice as an audience draw.This summer of 2026 differs.

photo credit Roman Iwasiwka

“Driving Miss Daisy” is a small play with a few big messages. Essentially a comedic drama (dramady) with a cast of only three, it is the talents of the actors that can make or break the spirit of the story. Add the fourth vital player in the mix -- a tried ‘n true director – and what appears on stage are live characters, telling their story, in a quality production.

Set in 1948, Georgia, is spunky Jewish widow Daisy. Her trappings are upper-middle class, although she refuses to admit it. She is spunky and stubborn. At the start of the play, the world revolves around her. Enters an unwanted hire, who Daisy’s son insists on as Daisy’s driver. Apparently, the widow Daisy has had one too many car accidents. For good or bad, Hoak, a middle-aged, unemployed, African-American man gets the job. The plot becomes the developing relationship between these two disparate people.

Debra Jo Rupp, a frequent player at BSC, as well as one of the audience’s favorites, becomes Daisy, not so much in broad comedy strokes as she has depicted in other BSC plays, but subdued, befitting her character. For the most part, Rupp makes for an ideal Daisy. Even wearing a grey-haired wig, Rupp belies Daisy’s age as 72, and throughout the scenes she ages to 97, the audience must forgive the aging process asfiction. Rupp is too young and cute.

Ray Anthony Thomas, a newcomer to BSC as Hoke, comes with an impressive resume. Thomas effectively grows from Daisy’s chauffeur to become her friend. This is Daisy and Hoke’s play against a background of prejudice and racism in the U.S.

Matthew Korinko, as Daisy’s son, serves as the conduit between the other two characters. Boolie’s role doesn’t call for deep analysis.

“Daisy” especially benefits by the direction of BSC’s founder and artistic director of over 20 years, Julianne Boyd. Although now retired, Boyd keeps her creative mind and hand in a few productions this summer. It is assuring that she has not completely left the theatre that she created.

BSC’s St. Germaine Stage provides the intimacy for the acting trio, plus the caricaturized car -- front and center. The venue would offer plenty of stage space even for a much larger cast. A point, however, regards the division of the stage space in three equal sections: Daisy’s home, the automobile, and Boolie’s office. A recommendation would be to minimize the office portion. Scenes that take place here are not as important as those in the other two sections. There is no need for all spaces to be equal.

Effective videos and still black & white photographs tell the audience that years are passing. Immediately following “Driving Miss Daisy’s” run at BSC, it moves a bit up north in geography to Williamstown, MA from June 26 – July 5, 2026.

A personal note: In its first 11 years, BSC operated from rented space at a high school in Sheffield, MA. I remember seeing the world premiere of “The Putnam County 25^th Annual Spelling Bee” performed in the school’s band room. The composer and author sat directly in front of me. “Spelling Bee” went on to Tony Awards and other accolades on Broadway! How fortunate was I?!

REVIEW: Springfield Chamber Players, SCP Oboe Quartet

52 Sumner, Springfield, MA 
https://www.springfieldsymphonymusicians.com/
May 17, 2026 
by Michael J. Moran 

The “SCP Oboe Quartet” closed the Springfield Chamber Players’ second season at 52 Sumner with a typically stimulating and entertaining program of six chamber music selections, mixing old and new, familiar and less known repertoire. The acoustics of this former church are clear, warm, and spacious.

The quartet’s members are: Marsha Harbison, retiring Assistant Concertmaster of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra; SSO oboist and English horn player Karen Hosmer; SSO violist Dani Rimoni; and SSO cellist Boris Kogan. The concert, in honor of the late Dr. William Harbison, Marsha’s husband and an avid supporter of the SCP, drew a sizable and enthusiastic crowd. 

The concert opened with an elegant performance of German Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann’s four-movement “Trio Sonata in a Minor.” Next came a century-and-a-half leap forward to the best-known work on the program, Mozart’s cheerful three-movement 1781 “Oboe Quartet in F Major.” The ensemble gave it a sprightly turn, with Hosmer displaying greater virtuosity in the first and last movements than the oboe’s design allowed in Telemann’s time. 

The strings then turned in lively readings of two movements from Beethoven’s early (1797) six-movement “Serenade in D Major, Op. 8:” a charming opening (and closing) march; and an affectionate Polish dance. This was followed by a moving account of Brett L. Wery’s dramatic 8-minute “Passage of Orpheus for English Horn and String Trio.” Depicting Orpheus’s rescue and loss of his lover Eurydice in the underworld, it features soulful work by Hosmer (who is also Wery’s wife) portraying Eurydice alone on the English horn, a slightly larger and darker version of the oboe. 

The concert continued with a bracing rendition of French composer Jean Francaix’s jazzy 1971 “Quartet for English Horn and String Trio.” The three movements exuded alternately bustling and quiet corners of daily life in contemporary Paris. The afternoon ended with a novelty by George Gershwin, “Promenade: Walking the Dog,” in which Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire walk a dog on board a luxury liner in the 1937 film “Shall We Dance?” The ensemble took it for an aptly jaunty spin. 
  
Engaging comments before each piece by Harbison or Hosmer made up for the lack of program notes, and the Players commendably save paper by making a program list and performer bios easily accessible via QR code. 

REVIEW: Springfield Symphony Orchestra, “Brahms and a Modern Voice”

Symphony Hall, Springfield, MA 

https://www.springfieldsymphony.org/

May 2, 2026 

by Michael J. Moran 

The SSO’s season finale, sponsored by the Harbison family in memory of amateur violist and SSO supporter William “Bill” Harbison, who died earlier this year, began by honoring his wife Marsha Harbison, retiring as SSO Assistant Concertmaster after 49 years in the orchestra. She told several short anecdotes about Bill, one involving a piece on today’s program, which set a warm, welcoming tone for the large house at this concert. 

Guest conductor Courtney Lewis, Music Director of the Jacksonville (FL) Symphony, opened the program with the first of three suites of “Ancient Airs and Dances,” arranged for modern orchestra by Ottorino Respighi from lute pieces of early Italian and French composers. Lewis led the SSO in sparkling accounts of a stately “Balletto” (Molinaro), graceful “Gagliarda” (Galilei), charming “Villanella,” and lively “Passo mezzo e Mascherada” (both anonymous). 

Photo Credit Silver Photography

Next, American violinist Charles Yang was a brilliant soloist in the concerto “For a Younger Self,” which film composer Kris Bowers wrote for Yang in 2019-2020. Bowers’ musical story-telling skills (he also wrote the score for the series “Bridgerton”) were well suited to Yang’s rock star personality and flamboyant performance style. 

 

Following Bowers’ instructions, Yang expressed the “chaos and anxiety” of the young artist in the “Moderato ma non troppo,” “gently” navigated the quiet “Larghetto,” and dispatched the “Presto” finale “with [the] ease and confidence” of a mature artist. Lewis and the orchestra were agile accompanists. 

A standing ovation brought Yang back to perform what he called “an unscripted, improvised” encore, playing and singing Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” with dazzling rhythm and blues chops. 

The program closed with a powerful rendition of Johannes Brahms’ 1877 second symphony. A dramatic “Allegro non troppo,” a serene “Adagio non troppo” (where the cellos played their opening passage “with love,” in Marsha Harbison’s words), and a lilting “Allegretto grazioso” led to an outburst of joy in the closing “Allegro con spirito.” With perfectly judged tempos in all four movements, Lewis may have surpassed even his impressive SSO debut on short notice last year, drawing inspired playing from all sections of the supercharged ensemble. The enthusiastic audience would clearly welcome more return visits by this dynamic conductor. 

The SSO will next present a Juneteenth concert on June 19.

Preview: Author Talk, A Biography of Eleanor Powell, Springfield Native

Thursday, May 28, 2026, 7pm-8:30pm

Hope Center for the Arts

150 Bridge St., Springfield MA

FREE, open to the public!

Lisa Royere, co-author of a biography of of Eleanor Powell

will speak and show a video on her book.

Watch on YouTube