"Swing your razor wide, Sweeney/Hold it to the skies!"
Probably every mind races to "Prelude" from "Sweeney Todd" the first time the cold steel of a straight razor touches their throats.
But then instead of a sweeping drag across the skin, one feels a series of short strokes. It's less dramatic than anticipated.
This is Classic Man Cuts on Edgewater Drive, in the College Park neighborhood of Orlando. The man holding the razor is owner Jorge Rivera, and the fine art of a straight-razor shave is a skill he acquired long ago.
"It's one of the first things I learned," says the Puerto Rico native. All the messy trial-and-error parts were done on himself. "I cut myself pretty bad in the beginning. That's how I learned you never hold it straight to the skin; always at a 45-degree angle at least."
I probably should have guessed there was no murder. I don't think Infusion Tea across the street has ever even had meat pie on its menu.
When he finishes with the shave, Rivera removes the warm hug of the hot towel from my face and hands me my glass of Maker's Mark bourbon.
Classic Man Cuts, which opened at this location in May, is a full-service barbershop. A cut and shave with hot towel and face massage runs $35. (Visit classicmancuts.com for details.)
The small four-chair space isn't big on decorations, but it nails the essentials such as sharp scissors, a keg of cold beer and a bottle of whiskey. "We're pursuing the old school," says Rivera.
Rivera, 31, knows about the old school. A stylist for seven years, he can rattle off the history of the profession. When The Beatles hit it big in the '60s,for example, 2,500 barbers shuttered around the country because everyone wanted long hair. "We got nervous when Justin Bieber came out," he tells me.
He also knows barbers were the original doctors. At least one Instagram post for the salon puts out the call, "Book your minor surgery today!" (The "Minor Surgery" is a package that includes a razor shave, cut and style, hot towel, scalp massage, eyebrows, nose hair trim and a hair enhancement or mini-facial for $50.)
"Men need the skills," says Rivera. "Let's put it this way: Without us, the world would be a very ugly place."
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