Preview
SWEENEY TODD
Calgary Opera
Starring Louise Pitre and John Fanning
Written by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler
Directed by Kelly Robinson
Conducted by Jeffrey Huard
Runs January 31 to February 8
Jubilee Auditorium
What do you do for an encore after starring on Broadway in the blockbuster hit Mamma Mia?
Well, if you are Canadian-born Louise Pitre, you do Mrs. Lovett, the gruesome pie maker in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Calgary Opera.
Pitre is back in town to star in the first opera production of Sondheim’s musical thriller to be staged in Canada. Opera companies in New York, Chicago and London have already presented Sweeney Todd, which was originally produced as a musical on Broadway in 1979.
Calgary audiences may recall Pitre as Piaf, a role she played in three productions including one at Theatre Calgary. A favourite in the Toronto music community, with three of that city’s Dora Mavor Moore Awards to her credit, the bilingual singer-actor has personality and energy to burn. The latter she expends in demanding gym workouts, which in turn give her even more stamina for her powerhouse performances.
After her Mamma Mia schedule, which had her singing ABBA melodies at New York’s Winter Garden for eight shows a week, Pitre labels Calgary Opera’s routine of performing on alternate days for a mere four performances, "a gift; a breeze."
The appeal and challenge of the Sondheim musical, especially the complexity and richness of the music and the cleverness of the rhymes and rhythms – which imitate opera in developing character and propelling the plot forward – were lures for Pitre to come to Calgary. But, she reveals with a conspiratorial smile, she actually had to work harder to create the character of Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia.
Over the three years on tour and in New York, "I really had to dig and search and grind out every bit of heart from material that you might not think was capable of giving the audience that," she says. "But the goal is the same in whatever you sing or whatever you say. You are trying to make it as real as possible and make the audience feel as much as possible. But, some material makes your job a whole lot easier and this (Sweeney Todd) is a whole lot easier – such rich material. You can soar and have fun with (it)."
This is her first time doing an opera production and Pitre compares the preparation process with that for musicals. "The only difference is the speed at which you have to do it. In musical theatre, you show up on day one and everyone starts learning the piece together. Here (at Calgary Opera) you are expected to know your music and script before you get here, so you have to learn them on your own. You show up and we start staging on day one."
For the role of Mrs. Lovett, who aids the musical’s murderous title character by baking the bodies of his victims in her meat pies, Pitre says she is using a working-class English accent and singing in a "not-pretty voice." She calls it a complex character part. "What the audience sees of her is quite funny, endearing really, in a crass, nasty, in-your-face kind of way," she says with a laugh.
Pitre says she is often rubbing her hands in anticipation of her next number because of the constant tempo changes, the internal rhymes and the brilliance of the lyrics.
"(The words) talk about something so gruesome as killing people and putting them into pies, but it is done in such a way (that) it has you laughing at politicians and actors and the clergy," she says. "And you forget all about the nasty deed we’re talking about doing."
During her time on Broadway, Pitre was splashed on magazine covers, became a part of the New York City scene and gave fans backstage tours. Her website received a large volume of e-mail, which she says she answered personally.
Adding to her joy of being on Broadway was the presence of her husband, actor-singer-dancer Joe Matheson, and her much-loved dog Tasha. Each night, she says, the pair waited protectively at the stage door while she signed autographs.
On her last night in Mamma Mia, Pitre received an unusual gift – the rolling pin that Angela Lansbury used in the original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. The gift-wrapped memento came from the company manager of that production and touched her deeply. She plans to brandish it during her Calgary Opera performances.
"I’ll be using it when we sing ‘Worst Pies in London’ and ‘A Little Priest,’" she promises. |
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