The time has come for another too-close shave.

The man with the razor and his gruesome, meat-pie-baking landlady are back, with blood on their minds and instruments at the ready.

But unlike the recent blood-soaked Johnny Depp / Helena Bonham Carter film version, in the touring revival of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," gore is not a calling card. In director John Doyle's reimagining - which earned him the 2006 Tony award for best direction of a musical - the 10 cast members double as the orchestra. Even Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett take up instruments.

LA.COM chatted separately with David Hess (who plays Sweeney) and Judy Kaye (Mrs. Lovett). Both have "Todd" expertise. Hess was the standby for Judge Turpin and Sweeney in the Broadway company. In that production, Kaye went on for original Mrs. Lovett Patti LuPone for several weeks and has played the role in several earlier productions, including opposite the original Sweeney, Len Cariou.

First up,"Sweeney's" meat-pie expert Mrs. L, the tuba-playing Judy Kaye:

Are you using the tuba like Patti LuPone did?

I am. When I went on for Patti, she had a special relationship with that particular tuba to the point where I wasn't allowed to look at it. Truly. I had to use a different one that weighed about 10 more pounds. I'm more than happy to get this one back, which I think ended up in (Doyle's production of) "Company." Not being a tuba player originally, I'm not sure how big they're supposed to be. But it has a wonderful sound.

Didn't LuPone name the instrument? Have you renamed it?

I guess it's "Girlfriend." I've called it different things, some disparaging, some not. Most of the time, I just say, "Come here, Girlfriend."

Was it daunting to be part of the band as well as the ensemble?

Extremely daunting. I had done the role many times. When I stepped in for Patti, I had done three different productions with the big guys, and I knew (the role) inside and out. It wasn't difficult learning a new adaptation of the script. What was extremely daunting was the concept of, first I have to learn to play the entire thing and then do it by memory. We had a great deal of rehearsal, but that first night I went on on Broadway was the scaredest I literally had ever been on stage. That includes the White House and Yankee Stadium. I was so worried about screwing up and ruining the show - ruining someone else's work.

Talk about your first time playing Mrs. Lovett?

That had to have been in the early 1980s not long after the Broadway production, at the Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit. It was a full production on that massive set. David Cryer was my leading man and Rebecca Luker, just out of college, was Johanna.

I had loved it so much seeing it on Broadway. I had been doing "On the 20th Century" while the Broadway production was being birthed. I had met Angela (Lansbury) at that point. I knew Len Cariou. Since then we've become even closer friends. And then to have an opportunity to try to do the role myself - it's magnificent the way it all fits together. I've been on record as saying anytime anybody wants me to play this role, I'm there.

When did you play the role opposite Cariou?

In London for the 20th anniversary. It was a heavily staged concert production without scripts. Len and I play golf together. We're neighbors. We go on vacations together. It's been a long and wonderful friendship. Len taps into the pain of that man and where that pain is and how that pain leads to rage in ways I don't think any other actor possibly could. He's a, dangerous actor.

Have you ever tried to coax him back to playing Sweeney again?

I think he's done it. I had to cajole him into doing it in London. It's a huge undertaking in what it costs the actor to play it. I've talked to David Hess, and I think it costs a lot to play this character. Emotionally and physically, it asks everything of that person, and I don't think it's something you want to do too much.

Is there another female role that's equivalent to "Sweeney" physically?

I've called Annie Oakley ("Annie Get Your Gun") a triathlon of American musical theater. I'm not the first to say Mama Rose (of "Gypsy") is the King Lear of musical theater. I've played both of those, and those are really tough. Once you're done with those, you know you've been through something. But Mrs Lovett is so much fun to do. She has the humor and then finally the pain - and then she gets to die, for God's sake.

Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651

http://evan.henerson@dailynews.com