‘Todd’ understudy keeps his hands full

Performing a principal role in a major musical is challenging under ordinary conditions. But imagine having to master not one part but four. Then picture each role tied to a particular instrument or instruments. For Edwin Cahill, that’s his daily task. The actor covers Anthony, Tobias, Beadle and Jonas Fogg in the touring production of director John Doyle’s actors-as-orchestra staging of “Sweeney Todd.”

“When I got this pile of FedEx boxes with music two weeks before rehearsals, I said to myself: ‘Did I make a mistake? I don’t think I can do this!’ ” says Cahill, who arrives at the Ahmanson Theatre this week with the rest of the touring company of “Sweeney.” “It’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. On the first day of rehearsal, I told John Doyle I was a bit daunted, and he said: ‘Just remember: One, three different casts have gone through this before you, and they survived, and two, you will break down crying at some point, and that is OK.’ ”

Well, tears may be a bit dramatic in ordinary rehearsal conditions, but the actor-musician technique is enough to drive a performer to the insane asylum -- which may be why this “Sweeney” is set in one.

Doyle had been using actors as musicians for years before he first staged Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s “Sweeney Todd” in Britain four years ago. “It really grew out of economic necessity,” he says. “It happened in theaters that had no money, where we wanted to do musicals but couldn’t afford both actors and musicians.”

Doyle’s first stab at the staging technique was with “Cabaret,” a musical that lends itself to this treatment because of its club setting. By the time he got to “Sweeney Todd,” Doyle knew that for a more traditional musical he had to figure out a presentational hook -- such as placing the characters in a mental institution, performing the tale of “Sweeney Todd.” Because of this conceit, it’s seemingly natural that they would be playing their own instruments. The production premiered at England’s small Watermill Theatre, moved to the West End in 2004 and then to Broadway a year later before embarking on its North American tour.

“It’s a complicated thing,” Doyle says. “You can’t have 10 understudies who play exactly the same instruments in exactly the same lineup as the people you have onstage. No producer in his right mind is going to say yes to that, so it’s going to be challenging. You have to swap them around a bit but know that orally and visually every moment is covered.”

When casting this type of production, Doyle and orchestrator Sarah Travis do not necessarily look for actors who play specific instruments. Rather, it is the actors who dictate the orchestrations -- within reason. “The work is always actor-led,” Travis says. “You are looking to cast incredibly talented people who are multiskilled instrumentally.”

For example, the instruments Beadle played shifted with productions: In Britain, he played piano and double bass; on Broadway, it was piano and trumpet; and on the tour, Benjamin Eakeley takes on piano, clarinet and soprano sax. The team did know, however, that the Beadle would always be a pianist, Pirelli an accordionist and Anthony and Johanna cellists. But while those instruments remained consistent among the main actors, it was a different story with the understudies.

In some cases, there can be what “Sweeney” folks call a “one-for-one” switch, in which the substitute covers the exact musical track of the person he or she is understudying. David Garry, the tour’s cover for Sweeney Todd and Judge Turpin, plays trumpet and percussion -- precisely what is needed for those two roles.

Cahill, on the other hand, understudies Tobias (Edmund Bagnell) and Anthony (Benjamin Magnuson) but does not play violin or cello. So when he is on as Anthony, standby Elisa Winter sits onstage to play the cello parts. That means he does, well, little during the big cello moments. “It’s an interesting acting exercise, to be onstage where most people are very actively creating the musical environment for others and to suddenly be aware of yourself on the stage with nothing to do,” he says. “You feel very exposed.”

Although the production does not require Cahill to learn a new instrument, the gig is far from easy. In “Sweeney Todd” each performer must not only tackle their solos but also must sing the chorus parts, play the instruments and move the props.

Since the tour began in the fall, Cahill has gone on as Anthony, Tobias and Beadle. When he performed Anthony and Tobias in the same weekend, he nearly sang the wrong chorus parts a few times. But the only real glitch occurred when, during his performance as Anthony, he forgot to move a ladder into position, forcing David Hess, who plays the title role, to move the prop into place for him.

During the run, the protean Cahill practices vigorously to ensure he is ready to go on in any of the four tracks assigned to him. Though understudies typically have at least one official rehearsal a week, Cahill says the onus is on him to stay prepared. “I have a keyboard in my dressing room with headphones, and there is a stage monitor that plays the show live, so I listen to the broadcast and I play along so I can remember what the tempi are,” he says. “I play the clarinet for the Beadle once a week. I play the Toby part once a week. I run all the lines. I’m also sure to watch the show once a week at least. I take notes. And Dave Garry and I share a dressing room, so we’ll often run the show together. We do our own makeshift ‘Sweeney Todd.’ ”

Cahill’s biggest fear, he says, doesn’t concern the audience: He doesn’t want to disturb the performances of veterans like Hess and tuba-blowing Tony Award winner Judy Kaye, who plays Mrs. Lovett. “You want to make sure everything goes as they are used to it going,” he says.

“Nobody could possibly work harder and be more skilled than those people are,” Doyle says of his understudy team.

Indeed, even Cahill doesn’t know how he does it. “Ultimately when you get up there, Steve Sondheim is the one that takes you through the role,” he says. “You don’t do anything. You submit to the brilliance of the writing, and it carries you through.”

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‘Sweeney Todd’

Where: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays

Ends: April 6

Price: $25 to $90

Contact: (213) 628-2772