Bloodlust has a certain timeless appeal, especially in Western culture. How many artistic portrayals of a murderous barber who slices his customers’ throats and then bakes them into pies can we as a civilization produce? Plenty, it seems. The legendary “demon barber” has inspired no fewer than four films, a musical, and a ballet, despite not being based on any real-life person or events, just a lurid fantasy dreamed up by some 19th-century English pervert. The best of the lot so far is the 1979 Stephen Sondheim musical, mostly because it features a creepy score and doesn’t involve Johnny Depp trying to sing. So while this revival by the Virginia Opera isn’t, despite the company’s name, a true opera (it’s a dyed-in-the-wool musical), the company will beef up the vocals with a bevy of opera and theater talent, including New York City Opera star Stephen Powell in the title role. Maybe a stronger singer than Depp can better delight us with the madcap antics of a razor-wielding psychopath if we, as a society, can’t rely on other, less gross subjects for our entertainment. The musical runs Oct. 11 to 12 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax. $44-$98.(703) 993-8888. cfa.gmu.edu.