The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Sweeney Todd – Theo Ubique

 

An eerie, morbidly melancholy organ fugue, played with flourish by Jeremy Ramey opens this jaw-dropping production. Suddenly a factory whistle pierces the air. As James Kolditz’s shadow-drenched lighting begins to illuminate the room, the visual impact strikes the audience like a razor cut to the jugular. Ben Lipinski’s atmospheric, immersive, enveloping scenic design wraps around the entire No Exit Cafe, surrounding the audience within gloomy nooks and crannies.

Suddenly we’re aware that thirteen corpselike actors lie in wait, a terrified ensemble lurking everywhere, shrieking out their warning to heed the tale we’re about to be told. With their faces, frozen in terrified screams, Sweeney Todd enters the stage, and  suddenly there’s no escape. We’re in for a dark evening of macabre, Grand Guignol horror and brilliant, bloody revenge. As the fog begins to lift this operatic horror show commences with the dissonant “Ballad of Sweeney Todd.”

Musical Director, keyboardist and arranger Jeremy Ramey’s full-sounding, four-piece orchestra offers up Stephen Sondheim’s glorious score with guts and gusto. Has the musical stage ever heard such a perfectly crafted composition, so eerie one moment, with its melancholy, dissonant organ accompaniment, and then soaring with beauty and heartache the next? Sondheim’s employment of angular harmony and counterpoint, an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Requiem hymn, “Day of Wrath,” consists of twenty motifs that recur throughout the score. The composer’s insistent “Ballad of Sweeney Todd,” which both opens and closes the show and appears throughout, is as close to perfection as one can find in musical theatre.

Sondheim called his musical a “black opera;” others have identified it as the show that inspired the “grusical,” horror stories with a dramatic musical score, such as “Phantom of the Opera” and “Carrie.” Hugh Wheeler adapted his script from Christopher Bond’s melodrama, “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” which in turn was based upon a legendary real-life Victorian serial killer, who eventually made his way into the penny dreadfuls of the time.

Stephen Sondheim’s score and lyrics are considered among his finest achievements. The original 1979 Broadway production rightfully swept the Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The 2006 John Doyle revival, in which the actors also provided the show’s musical accompaniment, earned two more Tony Awards. A couple of years later the musical found its way to the silver screen. This powerful musical drama has toured throughout North America and been produced the world over; educational, regional and community theatres have also staged their own versions of “Sweeney Todd,” to great acclaim.

For those few theatergoers unfamiliar with this deliciously gruesome, often heartbreaking musical, it’s a story of how revenge can consume an individual, becoming an ever enshrouding obsession. The musical is also, according to original director Hal Prince, an allegory about capitalism and “the terrible struggle to escape from the class into which you’re born.” A poor, 19th century English barber named Benjamin Barker returns to London, following his 15 year imprisonment in Australia on a bogus charge. With his wife and young daughter taken by the evil Judge Turpin and the Beadle Bamford, the two responsible for this abomination of justice, Barker changes his name to Sweeney Todd and seeks revenge on all of those involved. With assistance provided by former neighbor and pie shop owner, Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney turns his obsession into the extermination of evil and, coincidentally, providing the necessary ingredients for his lady friend’s bakery.

This winning production will be the last book musical to be produced by Theo Ubique in the modest No Exit Cafe. It’s been their home for the past thirteen years and a great venue for producing cozy, intimate revues, musicals and plays. Sondheim’s musical provides a polished and stirring finale to a long, successful run in Rogers Park. Ably assisted by Courtney Crouse, Fred Anzevino’s majestic vision for this production offers inspiring, focused direction and clever, choreographed staging, courtesy of James Beaudry. With the magnificent Jeremy Ramey working his usual magic as musical director, guiding both his actors and musicians to harmonic excellence, there’s so much to recommend this production. Mr. Anzevino’s interpretation of Sondheim’s masterpiece is quite simply extraordinary.

Add to this a multitude of striking artistic support. With period accuracy and artistry, Bill Morey has created a gorgeous, yet modest, wardrobe of costumes and hair pieces for his cast. From Mrs. Lovett’s elegant new gown and coiffure, to mark the reopening of her bakery, to Johanna’s meticulously fitted “light, muslin gown,” every article of apparel is pleasing and period-perfect. Aji Slater has provided appropriate properties to add detail and authenticity to this story. And, although Mrs. Lovett’s a bit difficult to understand at times, Darren Hill’s dialect work with this cast has paid off.

This exceptional cast displays all the talent and passion that Sondheim’s work demands. Philip Torre is simply magnificent in the title role, a part he seems born to play. The actor’s subtlety, his tortured face, the explosions of rage and indignation are matched by his beautiful, velvety, operatic baritone. Laying the story’s groundwork in the touching, “There Was a Barber and His Wife,” Torre caresses every emotional lyric of “Epiphany” and “Pretty Women” while joining in the black humor of “A Little Priest.”

Jacquelyn Jones’ Mrs. Lovett is sly, sexy and complex. She’s wryly funny one moment and heartbreakingly desperate the next. Her relationships to the other characters, secretly romantic with Sweeney and maternal but skeptical with Toby, are honest and layered. Ms. Jones brings a lightness and sassy humor to the play, but she’s always in complete control. Carefully layering her emotional involvement with new discoveries (“ideas keep popping out of my head”) the actress, whose musical talents are as strong as her acting ability, makes Nellie Lovett a dynamic, continually surprising and lovable leading lady.

Lovely Megan Elk, an accomplished, talented actress and skilled vocalist, grounds the Beggar Woman in a sad reality that is Sondheim’s fictional world. Her passion and gorgeous vocals lead the ensemble in many numbers, and she’s absolutely heartbreaking in the “Final Sequence,” staged inside Sweeney’s Tonsorial Parlor. Cecilia Iole and Nathan Carroll are equally affecting and poignant as lovers Johanna and Anthony. Mr. Carroll’s performance of “Johanna,” one of musical theatre’s most exquisite ballads, is heartfelt and radiant. Ms. Iole thrills with her sadly tragic and beautifully sung “Green Finch and Linnet Bird.” Both actors meet the challenge of the difficult, but humorous, tongue-twisting comical, “Kiss Me.”

Ryan Armstrong’s skillfully sung, buoyant blackmailer, Adolfo Pirelli, is funny, despicable and spot-on. Mastering two dialects as the tonsorial tyrant, as well as lending his considerable musical and comic talents to the ensemble, Mr. Armstrong is a standout in this production.

John B. Leen and the always impressive Kevin Webb create a fine, dastardly duo as the evil Judge Turpin and the smarmy Beadle Bamford. Both heartily handle the musical demands of their roles with ease and richness, while keeping their characters realistic, menacing and, in Mr. Webb’s case, richly comical.

Frankie Leo Bennett, recently seen in Theo Ubique’s “Altar Boyz,” is both heartrending and hilarious as the poor, abused orphan boy, Tobias Ragg. Audiences will once again be impressed by this young actor’s musical talent and the ease with which he masters this complex role. Whether racing around the space, spitting out the tongue-twisting lyrics of “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir,” serving up hot, steaming pies at the newly-polished pie shop or heartbreakingly pledging his love and devotion to Mrs. Lovett in “Not While I’m Around,” this young man’s performance is solid and memorable.

This vest-pocket sized production is completed by a small ensemble of actors who not only play multiple characters, but also understudy the main roles. They include Hope Elizabeth Schafer, Missy Wise, Grant Brown and Trevor Vanderzee. All four are accomplished vocalists and actors, helping to fill the tiny venue with their mellifluous musical sound.

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd and be prepared to shiver and cheer. Theo Ubique, under the inspired guidance of Fred Anzevino, is unquestionably a storefront theatre company that continually tops itself with every new production. This may be the theatre’s swan song in the No Exit Cafe, but the company will undoubtedly be just as grand next season in their new Evanston home. Fred Anzevino has assembled for this production a topnotch cast of musical actors, made even better by the contributions of a gifted production team. And, as usual, the audience may choose from a selection of delicious food and beverages, to make the evening a true dinner theatre event. Mr. Anzevino delivers a magnificent, memorable production that theatergoers will be talking about for years to come. For those who enjoy their theatre, like their meat pies, skillfully prepared, well-seasoned and bloody rare, this is the perfect production. Audiences will be heard leaving the Theo Ubique exclaiming, “God, That’s Good!”

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

 

Presented March 9-April 29 by Theo Ubique at the No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available by calling 800-595-4849 or by going to www.theo-u.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.