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<p>KINGSTON &#8212;&#8220;Sweeney Todd&#8221; may be dark and bloody, but the young cast preparing to bring the show to a Wyoming Seminary stage sees it as a love story.</p><p>&#8220;Fundamentally, all the characters are in pursuit of a really pure, driving love,&#8221; said director Kevin Hourigan, a Mountaintop native who recently has been acting and directing in New York and abroad. &#8220;And, even if it&#8217;s in a totally distorted and violent way, every character thinks what he is doing is good.&#8221;</p><p>So, Sweeney, the &#8220;demon barber&#8221; whose customers often disappear after an unexpectedly close-to-the-throat shave, is somehow driven by love for the wife he lost years ago to the predatory Judge Turpin.</p><p>&#8220;What he&#8217;s doing isn&#8217;t right,&#8221; said Ray Hopkins, 18, of West Pittston, who has the title role in the play, which culminates Seminary&#8217;s six-week intensive Performing Arts Institute. &#8220;But I know where he&#8217;s coming from.&#8221;</p><p>As for Turpin? The man who cast his lustful eyes first on Sweeney&#8217;s wife and later on his daughter? Whom or what does he love?</p><p>&#8220;He feels entitled to have a love life,&#8221; Ron Miller, 18, of Hazleton, said carefully, admitting it may be difficult for audiences to see the character as anything but pure evil.</p><p>Judge Turpin also is in love with power, Miller and cast mate Angelina Umbriac, 15, of Hazleton, agreed.</p><p>Umbriac, who portrays Sweeney&#8217;s daughter, Johanna, said her character loves a sailor named Anthony, and even though they live in a cruel, forbidding culture, the young couple sees beauty in the world.</p><p>Sharing some of that youthful optimism is an apprentice barber named Tobias.</p><p>And whom does Tobias love?</p><p>&#8220;He has a simple, innocent love for Mrs. Lovett,&#8221; said Ariana Notartomaso, 16, of West Wyoming, who plays Tobias. &#8220;He sees her as his mother.&#8221;</p><p>And the lad seems grateful for the meat pies she supplies.</p><p>Speaking of those meat pies, we all know what the main ingredient is, and other versions of the Sweeney Todd story have showcased a lot of blood.</p><p>In the Performing Arts Institute production, the blood will be symbolized by red powder the chorus will toss onto the set, making its white walls darker and more crimson with each death.</p><p>&#8220;What&#8217;s crucial is that we&#8217;re able to clean it up,&#8221; Hourigan said before a rehearsal last week, as a worker walked by with a panel to be tested with the powder.</p><p>While Hourigan worked on a scene with some cast members, his younger sister and assistant director, Meghan, who also is an actor based in New York City, coached Tommy Walkowiak on how to speak.</p><p>Most of the cast will use either Cockney or British upper class accents, Meghan Hourigan said, but Walkowiak plays an Irish character who is pretending to be from Italy. So he has two accents to master.</p><p>Local audiences may remember Walkowiak, 15 of West Wyoming, speaking with a French accent as Lumiere, the human turned candelabra in Wyoming Area Secondary Center&#8217;s spring production of &#8220;Beauty and the Beast.&#8221; Hopkins, who plays Sweeney Todd, was the Beast in the same show.</p><p>Despite the cruelty and murders depicted in &#8220;Sweeney Todd,&#8221; Kevin Hourigan said, the story shows the resilience of the human spirit. As for the music, he said, &#8220;This is one of Sondheim&#8217;s masterpieces. It really propels the story along.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Director Kevin Hourigan, standing at left, watches the rehearsal for &#8216;Sweeney Todd,&#8217; which he sees as basically a love story. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL072315sweeneytodd11.jpg</photo0><caption0>Director Kevin Hourigan, standing at left, watches the rehearsal for &#8216;Sweeney Todd,&#8217; which he sees as basically a love story. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL072315sweeneytodd21.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ray Hopkins and Alyssa Reed rehearse their roles as, respectively, Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL072315sweeneytodd21.jpg</photo1><caption1>Ray Hopkins and Alyssa Reed rehearse their roles as, respectively, Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL072315sweeneytodd31.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The cast of &#8216;Sweeney Todd&#8217; gets ready to sing. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL072315sweeneytodd31.jpg</photo2><caption2>The cast of &#8216;Sweeney Todd&#8217; gets ready to sing. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL072315sweeneytodd41.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ray Hopkins, Alyssa Reed and Chris Ricci rehearse for &#8216;Sweeney Todd,&#8217; to be presented by the Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary Aug. 6-7. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL072315sweeneytodd41.jpg</photo3><caption3>Ray Hopkins, Alyssa Reed and Chris Ricci rehearse for &#8216;Sweeney Todd,&#8217; to be presented by the Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary Aug. 6-7. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Performing Arts Institute prepares musical</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street&#8217; (School edition)</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Kirby Center for Creative Arts at Wyoming Seminary, Sprague Avenue, Kingston</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 8 p.m. Aug. 6-7</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $20 for adults, $12 for students and seniors</p><p><strong>Info:</strong> 570-270-2186</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘Sweeney Todd’ a tale of love, blood