Sitting in the chair as a 50-year-old barber and long-time family friend of Young demonstrated how to wield the blade with short precise strokes - the victim would not have known the pupil was being taught how to use what would eventually become his murder weapon of choice.

This week, Young, a teacher at St. Catharines Collegiate, begins playing the part of the demon barber Sweeney Todd, whose lust for revenge floods 1840s Fleet Street in rivers of blood.

It was the chance to play the role in Garden City Production's presentation of the musical thriller that made Young return to the dramatic stage, where he hasn't stepped since high school. A drama, music and English teacher, Young sang for 13 years with dinner theatre company Oh Canada! Eh, but Sweeney Todd is his first full role in years.

"I've just been waiting to get old enough to play the part," said Young, who has been a fan of the Stephen Sondheim melodramatic musical since he was 19.

Like many fans of the show, it was Sondheim's musical and lyrical stylings that attracted him.

With complicated time signatures and multiple changes of keys, along with clever lyrics and rhymes which propel the story forward, Sweeney Todd is an engrossing theatre experience.

While it takes the audience on a ride, Young said, they have to do some of the driving.

"He makes you think, and I like that aspect of it," he said. "You don't come out humming it, but you come out thinking about it."

Set in 1846 London, Sweeney Todd is the tale of love and revenge, as the barber seeks justice against those who wronged him and finds a partner in his crimes, Nellie Lovett, a pie maker whose recipe calls for a secret ingredient which just happens to clean up the mess he leaves behind.

Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opens at Ridley College's Mandeville Theatre with a preview Oct. 23 and runs Thursdays to Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. It closes Nov. 9.

Tickets are $20 for the preview, $15 for children under 12 and $25 for all other shows. Call 905-688-5550, ext. 3257.