God, That’s Good!

Sweeney Todd – Kokandy Productions

Just in time for Halloween, Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a horrifying story of revenge and obsession, and set to the music of one of Broadway’s most magnificent scores. But for audiences already familiar with Stephen Sondheim’s musical masterpiece, director Derek Van Barham’s unpretentious new production may startle a bit—actually, in more ways than one. For this presentation, creatively staged in the downstairs Studio space of the Chopin Theatre, he’s removed most of the familiar visuals that’ve always been associated with practically every production since the musical opened on Broadway. Gone are the silver razors, the profusion of stage blood, all the elaborate costumes and wigs, the actual meat pies and ale, and the special barber’s chair that delivers Sweeney’s victims down below to Mrs. Lovett’s bakehouse oven.    

For the original 1979 production, Harold Prince wanted to create a jaw-dropping visual spectacle to accompany Stephen Sondheim’s almost operatic score. An abandoned 19th century iron foundry was moved from Rhode Island and reassembled on the giant Uris Theater stage. The scenic design had all kinds of moving parts and was dominated by a turntable, on which was built Mrs. Lovett’s Pie Shop, with Sweeney Todd’s Tonsorial Parlor perched high above it. The set represented the essence of the Industrial Age that had been flourishing in England, when this story takes place. 

In Derek Van Barham’s production, the gifted Chicago 

director/choreographer stresses the story instead. He’s sharing a tale of revenge and obsession with his audience, ripped from the pages of those vulgar Victorian Penny Dreadful magazines. He chooses to focus primarily on the characters, their actions and motivations, and, of course, Sondheim’s brilliant macabre musical score. Thus we have a stripped-down, almost immersive production that’s filled with atmosphere. It features an in-the-round acting area, with an unadorned turntable set in the middle. The audience is seated in mismatched chairs, all tucked within the gloomy nooks and crannies that surround the stage. And then the play begins.

 Although I missed the organ’s doleful chords, a morbidly melancholy fugue, played with a flourish by Nick Sula’s modest, masterly orchestra, opens this unusual production. Suddenly a factory whistle pierces the air. As G “Max” Maxin IV’s shadowy lighting begins to illuminate the room, the visual impact strikes the audience like a razor cut to the jugular. We’re soon aware that a company of corpselike actors are lurking everywhere in the shadows, 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 now there’s no escape. The audience is in for a dark evening of grisly, Grand Guignol horror and brilliant, bloody revenge, commencing with the dissonant “Ballad of Sweeney Todd.” 

Musical Director, keyboardist and arranger Nick Sula’s full-sounding orchestra offers up Stephen Sondheim’s glorious score with guts and gusto. Has the musical theatre ever heard such a perfectly crafted composition, so eerie one moment, with its melancholy, dissonant accompaniment, and then soaring with beauty and heartache the next? Sondheim’s employment of angular harmony and counterpoint, and an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Requiem hymn, “Day of Wrath,” results in twenty motifs that recur throughout the score. The composer’s insistent earworm, “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 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 literature of the day. 

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 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, the adoring 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 is so incredibly inventive. Nick Sula works his magic as musical director, guiding both his actors and musicians to harmonic excellence. And Derek Van Barham’s inventive interpretation of the Sondheim (music & lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler (book) masterpiece seems simple, but is quite creative, extraordinary and breathtaking. 

This exceptional ensemble cast displays all the talent and passion that Sondheim’s work demands. Having already played the Beadle and Pirelli, one of Chicago’s favorite triple threats, the wonderful Kevin Webb is simply magnificent in the title role, a part he seems born to play. The actor’s subtlety, his tortured face and 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,” Mr. Webb caresses every emotional lyric of “Epiphany” and “Pretty Women” while joining in the black humor of “A Little Priest.” 

Caitlin Jackson’s 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 Jackson brings a lightness and sassy humor to the play but she’s always in complete control. As a comedian, Caitlin often reminds me of English actress Dawn French. Carefully layering her emotional involvement with new discoveries (“ideas keep popping out of me head”) the actress, whose musical talents are as strong as her acting ability, makes Nellie Lovett a dynamic, continually surprising and lovable leading lady.

Isabel Cecilia Garcia proves themself an accomplished, talented actress and skilled vocalist, grounding the Beggar Woman in a sad reality that is Sondheim’s fictional world. Their passion and lovely vocals lead the ensemble in many numbers, and they are absolutely heartbreaking in the “Final Sequence,” staged inside Sweeney’s Tonsorial Parlor. Chamaya Moody and Ryan Stajmiger are equally affecting and poignant as young lovers Johanna and Anthony Hope. Ryan’s performance of “Johanna,” one of musical theatre’s most exquisite ballads, is heartfelt and radiant. Ms Moody thrills with her sadly tragic and beautifully sung “Green Finch and Linnet Bird,” although some of her lower notes are difficult to hear. Both actors meet the challenge of the difficult, but humorous, tongue-twisting comical, “Kiss Me.”

 Quinn Rigg’s skillfully sung, buoyant Italian blackmailing street barber, 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. Rigg is a standout in this production.

Christopher Johnson and Josiah Haugen 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 maintaining realistic, menacing characterizations. The Judge’s self-flagellation scene is an inspired interpretation. It’s often cut from productions because of the discomfort it affords audiences. But here it’s handled with taste, the best I’ve ever seen it, thanks to Mr. Van Barham and his cast.

Patrick O’Keefe is both heartrending and hilarious as the poor, abused orphan boy, Tobias Ragg. Audiences will 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 an ensemble of gifted actor/singers who not only play multiple characters, but also understudy the main roles. They include Joel Arreolla,  Brittney Brown, Ethan Carlson, Stephanie Chiodras, Christopher Johnson, Nikki Krzebiot, Daniel Rausch and, on opening night, Nathan Kabara, filling in for Charlie Mann. Each and every performer is an accomplished vocalist and actor, helping to fill the tiny venue with their stage business and mellifluous musical sound. 

Attend this Tale of Sweeney Todd and be prepared for something new and different, creative and full of new images. Derek Van Barham has assembled for this emotional show a topnotch cast of musical actors, made even better by the contributions of a gifted production team. This unique presentation delivers a magnificent, memorable evening that theatergoers will be talking about for years to come. For those who enjoy their theatre, like their meat pies, skillfully prepared, a little crusty, well-seasoned and bloody rare, this is the perfect production. Audiences will be leaving the Chopin Theatre exclaiming, “God, That’s Good!”

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas 

Presented September 8-November 6 by Kokandy Productions at the Chopin Downstairs Studio Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the box office or by going to www.bit.ly/SweeneyChicago

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