CAMBRIDGE — Arrow Street Arts in Harvard Square is still a work in progress, but while construction continues, there’s a show to put on.
“This whole project is a journey of discovery and exploration,” says David Altshuler, founder of the nonprofit Arrow Street Arts, Inc. His wife, Sharman Altshuler, is the founder and producing artistic director of Moonbox Productions, the new venue’s resident theater company, which is presenting “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” beginning Friday.
“We’re reimagining the space in a way that embraces the community,” he says. “The goal is to invite people to imagine with us. We see ourselves as ‘inviters’ more than ‘producers.’ ”
The former Oberon club space has been opened up, with a storefront studio accommodating audiences of up to 100 for dance or other performances, a wide hallway offering pop-up possibilities, and a black box theater accommodating audiences of up to 300.
While including such details as a sprung floor for dance, rigging for circus acts, ADA-accessible flooring, private gender-neutral toilets, and assistive listening systems, Altshuler is also mindful of the need for financial sustainability and is building out a kitchen that will be useful for catering, as well as a seating system for the black box that can be adjusted according to the size of the audience or pushed back completely to open up space for an event.
While construction is still underway — Arrow Street Arts isn’t scheduled to be fully open until the spring — a pause in the work created a window for Moonbox to stage “Sweeney Todd.”
“This is kind of a beta test,” Altshuler says. “We’re inviting people in to try out the space and see where we are in the renovations. We’re hoping they will see opportunities to participate.”
“Sweeney Todd” runs Friday through Nov. 5, and just a week before opening night, the set was already taking shape, with railings and stairs on a multilevel set painted a bright red in contrast to a black stage deck.
The setting of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 musical “evokes both Dickensian London and 1970s New York City,” says director Ryan Mardesich, who is making his professional directorial debut. “The themes of corruption in the justice system, the dangers of unfettered capitalism, and the challenges of living a decent life in that environment all feel relevant to the situation we are living in today.”
“Sweeney Todd” tells the tale of a wrongfully imprisoned man who returns home to wreak revenge. With the help of his business partner, the meat-pie baker Mrs. Lovett (Joy Clark), his desperation and frustration lead to a kind of madness. Along the way, we are treated to some of Sondheim’s most glorious songs, including “Not While I’m Around,” “Johanna,” “Wait,” and the brilliant patter song “A Little Priest,” led at Moonbox by musical director Dan Ryan and an 11-piece orchestra.
Davron S. Monroe, best known for sophisticated portrayals of suave and chic leading men (“Breath & Imagination,” “Passing Strange,” “The Wiz”) will play Sweeney. Monroe, who is Black, admits the role was “never on my radar, even though the music is in my vocal range, because,” he says with a laugh, “I’m not old enough. And folks who look like me don’t often get to play this role.”
Mardesich says he knew Monroe was right for the role after seeing his performance in Reagle Music Theatre’s “Pippin” in 2022.
“He was so menacing as the Leading Player in that production,” says Mardesich of the character who charms and manipulates characters in the show along with the audience. “And it’s crucial that Sweeney be lovable and likable, until all the bad stuff happened to him.”
Monroe says he starts to work his way into the character by watching how people move.
“There is a weight that people carry when they are down on their luck,” he says. “Sweeney is a man who has been locked away for 15 years, who’s lost his family and has everything he loves taken from him. How does that manifest in his mind, his heart, and his body?”
Monroe, trained in operatic performance, says, “as a singing actor, I didn’t think about the musical challenge. I needed to think about who this man is.” Sweeney, he says, is a complicated character, more than just a madman.
“His relationship with Mrs. Lovett is fascinating,” Monroe says. “They have some kind of connection that is more than simply a business arrangement. There’s a moment at the end of Act I when Mrs. Lovett acknowledges and embraces Sweeney’s trauma. She finds the soft spot hidden beneath all his pain.
“It’s important to see and appreciate that dark beauty,” he says, “which makes the spiral into madness more tragic.”
Monroe has served as Moonbox Productions’ director of equity, diversity, and inclusion since 2020, and has been connected to the company since its debut production of “Godspell” in 2011. He says he is looking forward to the new space on Arrow Street, not just for Moonbox, but for the entire arts community.
“Moonbox is putting resources into inclusive, accessible, and affordable arts. They are building community from the inside out,” he says.
A “panto” from imaginary beasts
Known for its charming and hilarious family-friendly “pantomimes,” the theater company imaginary beasts is presenting “The Spider and the Fly: or The Tangled Web” at Chelsea Theatre Works Oct. 13-29 (tickets $12-$24 at imaginarybeasts.org). The “panto” is a British holiday tradition that plays with stereotypes and features madcap comedy. Audiences are encouraged to boo, cheer, and otherwise join in the fun. “The Spider and the Fly” was co-written by imaginary beasts’ founder Matthew Woods, who directs the show, and Kiki Samko, with assistance from the ensemble.
SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
Presented by Moonbox Productions. At Arrow Street Arts, 2 Arrow St., Cambridge. Oct. 13-Nov. 5. $55-$65 (student discounts and some “pick your price” tickets available). www.arrowstarts.org/sweeney
Terry Byrne can be reached at trbyrne818@gmail.com.