EAST WEST INJECTS NEW LIFE INTO MUSICAL 'SWEENEY TODD'.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

THE ``DO MORE with less'' principle of play-making seems to apply particularly well these days to ``Sweeney Todd,'' the gory and semi-operatic musical by Hugh Wheeler and Stephen Sondheim. From Broadway - where John Doyle's concept production has his actors also doubling as the band - to Little Tokyo, where East West Players rarely takes a misstep with a Sondheim production, ``Sweeney'' is slashing, crashing and cashing in.

So we didn't get a stops-out revival from Los Angeles Opera as part of last year's season. Who cares? The production directed by Tim Dang for East West Players spends wisely, employs some rather nifty effects and more than delivers the goods.

The barber of Fleet Street, it may be remembered, was sent away on a trumped-up charge only to have his beloved wife killed and his infant daughter taken away and raised by the judge who did the sentencing. Returned to London and thirsty for vengeance, Sweeney (played by Ronald M. Banks) boards with baker Mrs. Lovett (Marilyn Tokuda). By slitting the throats of his customers, Sweeney is able to supply some savory, er, parts that spice up Mrs. Lovett's meat pies.

A hot burst of red light (designed by Rand Ryan), a high-pitched violin effect and some strategically spilled entrails punctuate the murders. Once a deed is done, Sweeney triggers his trapdoor barber's chair, and the victim pitches down into a highly versatile revolving platform that also serves as set designer John Binkley's primary scenic piece. A pair of spiral staircases flank the stage. Sweeney does most of his work from above.

The band, eight in number and directed by Lisa Joe, is up on a stage-right platform, unseen. EWP's David Henry Hwang Theater, once a church, has strong built-in acoustics. Even so, this is a complicated and demanding score, vocally and lyrically. Dang and Joe have the musicians to play it and the actors to sing it.

Good things need to flow from the man with the razor. Banks, seeming to take little delight in the revenge he exacts, has a thrilling voice and a rather gloomy demeanor. The second-act montage reprising the love song ``Johanna'' finds love-struck Anthony Hope (Timothy Ford Murphy) serenading Sweeney's daughter while the barber, also in song, blithely dispatches customer after customer. Until one makes the mistake of entering the barbershop with a little girl in tow.

The much perkier Tokuda weaves smoothly through ``The Worst Pies in London'' and is forever trying to jolly Sweeney out of his funk and get him to look at her with a romantic eye. Banks and Tokuda are a clever if quite mismatched pair, making the finale a bloody good - if not entirely unexpected - delight.

Director Dang infuses the production with witty touches throughout. His ensemble is dead on, the show moves, and the music plays beautifully. There may be glitzier ``Sweeneys'' on the horizon (including a proposed film version) but, for the time being, East West Players fills the void.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

SWEENEY TODD - Three and one half stars

Where: East West Players, 120 Judge John Aiso St., downtown L.A.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; through March 19.

Tickets: $35 to $40. Call [phone], Ext. 20, or visit www.eastwestplayers.org.

In a nutshell: Sharp as a razor in tone and execution.

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Photo:

Ronald M. Banks and Marilyn Tokuda carve a niche for themselves as the barber and the baker in ``Sweeney Todd.''