Not for money, not for love is there a single ticket for the remaining performances on Friday and Saturday. After tonight's performance, the jam-packed Davies Hall erupted in an unprecedented standing-screaming-riotous-sustained ovation. How come? This is San Francisco, well used to the composer known and loved here for ecades - why would this town go crazy over a non-novelty semi-staged production of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd"? Because it's an extraordinary show, with an outstanding cast performing as an ensemble, the San Francisco Symphony - under Rob Fisher's superb direction - laying down a transparent, gorgeous carpet of sound, Vance George's Symphony Chorus acting both as soloists for the many small roles and as a fired-up ensemble, Lonny Price's simple and effective direction in the difficult space in-between the musicians on stage, and an anonymous lighting design that made it all work. There have been many "operatic" productions of "Todd," but this is the first symphonic performance I heard and the experience was most rewarding. Extraordinary too was the way very different elements came together in perfect harmony. Besides the special role of the orchestra, there was also a rainbow of variety among the performers: George Hearn and Patti LuPone (Todd and Mrs. Lovett) come from the very best of American musical tradition, from classical music drama; Davis Gaines and Lisa Vroman (Anthony and Joanna) were the Phantom and Christina through years of the Webber show's run; Neil Patrick Harris (Tobias) starred in "Rent"; John Aler and Stanford Olsen (The Beadle, Pirelli) are known for their work in opera and oratorio. And yet, all of them- as well as Victoria Clark (Beggar Woman) and Timothy Nolen (Judge Turpin) - coming from different background, experience and genre blended together, completed what the others brought to Davies Hall. LuPone was a riot, hilarious and yet affecting, deftly negotiating a unique balance between playing the role and breaking through the fourth wall frequently. Hearn is a treasure; his portrayal of the victim-monster utterly simple (and so all the more dangerous and scary), his singing warm and powerful, the high points reached not just through more volume but by going into a controlled, overwhelming scream. Vroman was at her usual vocal best, but Gaines presented a strange (and yet justly acclaimed) performance. In "Johanna," he squeezed and scooped, making the hair stand up on the heads of both voice teachers and the audience. Clark dazzled with her performance, and except for an occasional microphone problem for Olsen, it all went flawlessly. Chorus soloists deserve special mention. They were sopranos Mina Kanaridis, Mimi Ruiz and Sonja Wohlgemuth; altos Martha Horst, Dianne M. Terp and Heidi L. Waterman; tenors Howard Baltazar, J. Wingate Greathouse and David Peters; basses Jay Moorhead, Chad Runyon and David Varnum. Bravi! This terrific musical event and the still-glowing memory of Michael Tilson Thomas' presentations of classic musicals point to a simple conclusion - "crossover" is easy and good when both the material and the performance sparkle like this. There is no reason for the artificial separation between "symphony," "opera" and "musicals." There is only good and bad, and tonight was brilliant. Janos Gereben/SF [log in to unmask]