Sweeney Todd

About

Directed by Rosetta Cucchi, this staging embraced the dark ambiguity of Sondheim’s musical thriller. Paolo Cavinato’s single set created a bleak, undefined space that blurred interior and exterior environments. Claudia Pernigotti’s costumes and Marco Cittadoni’s lighting sharpened focus on key points of action, heightening the story’s menace. Musically, the approach was overtly operatic: Christopher Franklin led a substantial orchestral ensemble from the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, favoring a rich, symphonic sound over reduced orchestrations. Notably, there was no vocal amplification for the adult cast—an operatic choice—while the child role of Tobias Ragg was amplified. The result was a production that fused musical theatre with operatic scale and vocal projection.