Tyler Stouffer, right, plays the title character and Brandy Johanntges is Mrs. Lovett in Millennial Theatre Company's production of "Sweeney Todd." (Submitted photo)

The film version of the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical “Sweeney Todd” came out in 2007, but director Joe Asente’s approach to Millennial Theatre Company’s staging of the musical calls to mind another film released that year – “There Will Be Blood.”

“In general I’m a very big horror fan,” Asente said. “This time of year, scary movies, haunted houses, that’s my bread and butter. I’ve seen ‘Sweeney Todd’ done where the blood was more suggested, even putting a red scarf around the neck (after the title character had slit the throat of one of his victims) with no liquid at all.”

Asente is taking the opposite approach for his staging, which opens Friday at Hopewell Theatre in Youngstown.

“When we did ‘Carrie’ in 2017, I had the same request — we actually drenched Carrie in blood,” he said. “It’s normally done with lighting suggesting it. I think it adds to the horror of the show and makes it more real, more violent, more disturbing. That’s what this show is supposed to be. It has some comedic elements, but it’s supposed to leave you disturbed and uneasy.”

MTC hired Pittsburgh-based Tolin FX, which has worked on such projects as the film “The Dark Knight Rises” and the Netflix series “Mindhunter,” to create its blood effects. At the beginning of the week after only a couple of rehearsals with the equipment, Asente wasn’t worried if it would be bloody enough. He was more concerned with containing the blood enough that he wouldn’t need to create a splash zone at the front of the stage.

“They’ve developed this sustained blood squib,” Asente said. “Usually a squib is like a gunshot effect, just a quick release of blood. This is a sustained spray, like what you would have with this kind of wound.

“It’s still an ongoing process. We’re still trying to fine tune how they work. They’re all CO2 pressurized, and we need to gauge how much pressure we need. The first couple of rehearsals, there was a lot of blood spillage everywhere. We need to fine tune down to a more acceptable amount.”

“Sweeney Todd,” a musical about a murderous barber out for revenge and a baker who makes “the worst pies in London” and finds a way to help Sweeney dispose of his victims while providing a protein for her meat pies, takes the place of a more-lighthearted musical that’s occupied the October slot in MTC’s season in recent years — “The Rocky Horror Show.”

It’s also the second Sondheim musical the theater company has staged, following last season’s production of “Into the Woods.” Sondheim’s work is revered by theater lovers, but his shows can be challenging to sing and to stage.

“I definitely think my board felt very confident going into it (after the success of ‘Into the Woods’),” Asente said. “I was much less familiar with ‘Sweeney Todd’ than ‘Into the Woods,’ which is my favorite musical. I’ve seen it a few times, but by no means do I have the score memorized like the back of my hand, the way I know ‘Into the Woods.’ I was nervous going into it because I think the music is more complex, but (music directors) Rosie Bresson and Cari Auth did such an amazing job teaching everyone the complexities of the score that in the end my apprehension was unwarranted.”

MTC was able to secure rights to the musical before the current Broadway revival was announced, and Asente said he believes the success of the New York staging with Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford (it received eight Tony nominations this year) will only increase interest in the local production.

The cast features Tyler Stouffer, Brandy Johanntges, Hannah Marzano, George Maillis, Finn O’Hara, Sydney Campbell, Chris Harben, Ben Doss, Edward Bazzell, Andy Scott, Aubrey Vernon, Roz Blystone, Landon Eli, Michelle Jalbert, Lexie Dumbrowski, Jackson Linko, Josh Cummings and Hannah Derenzis.

The show’s popularity among performers helped the show cast a wide net for auditions.

“I was really impressed with the number of people who came out of the woodwork for auditions,” he said. “The rehearsal process for ‘Spongebob’ (which was staged over the summer at Youngstown Playhouse) was so long an intense, a lot of our regulars bumped vacations plans back until after August and others were rising freshmen going to college, so they left for school. A lot of our usual crew wasn’t available. I was hoping a big name like ‘Sweeney Todd’ would draw out some new folks, and it did. The actor playing the judge is driving from Erie, Pa., for every rehearsal. There’s people coming from Cleveland, Akron. We have a large crew of new people, and some local theater people who’ve never done one of our shows before.”

If you go …

WHAT: Millennial Theatre Company — “Sweeney Todd”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday through Nov. 4, 2 p.m. Sunday through Oct. 29 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31

WHERE: Hopewell Theatre, 702 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $25 and are available online at

millennialtheatre.org