SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET • Fly North Theatricals

It seems only fitting that Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd be staged at a venue named after one of its songs: "Green Finch and Linnet Bird." But staging this sweeping musical in the snug Greenfinch Theatre space is a hefty undertaking, and Fly North Theatricals handles the challenge with mostly successful results.

The grisly tale of Sweeney Todd has been around since the Victorian era. The character was first introduced in an 1846 penny dreadful called “The String of Pearls”. Penny dreadfuls were immensely popular serialized stories that focused on the sensational. The story concerned a murderous barber and his partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett, who baked his victims into her meat pies. British playwright Christopher Bond adapted this story in the early 1970s, giving Todd a backstory and a motive for his dark deeds, having been wrongly sentenced to life so the degenerate Judge Turpin could have Todd’s wife for his own. Stephen Sondheim saw musical theatre promise in the play, and he, along with book writer Hugh Wheeler, transformed Sweeney Todd into an expansive, harmonically intricate, discordant, psychologically complex musical thriller. That version premiered in 1979, and won eight Tony Awards.

PROGRESS • Prism Theatre Company

Local playwright John Wolbers began writing this play around four years ago, followed by informal readings two years later. Now, Prism Theatre Company is giving Progress a solid world premiere at the Kranzberg. Progress centers around the relationships between Queen Elizabeth I and the ladies-in-waiting who counsel, challenge and support her and each other through most of the Queen’s 44-year reign.

It’s Christmas 1562, and the attendants of Queen Elizabeth (called "Bess" by her confidantes) busy themselves with preparing her wardrobe and wigs, managing her correspondence, and are poised for assistance with makeup and hygiene. These ladies include Blanche (Nicole Angeli), Keeper of Her Majesty's Jewels and supervisor of the Queen’s daily appointments. A powerful gatekeeper of the household, she’s earnest and shrewd. Dorothy (Rachel Tibbetts) is high-strung and rushed off her feet as the Queen’s Mistress of the Robes. Bess's lavish collection of garments set trends during her reign, and she and Dorothy understand how a carefully curated image reflected status and power. Sidney (Carly Uding) is a Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber and in charge of the Queen’s makeup. She nursed the Queen through a life-threatening bout with smallpox, contracting the disease herself, and she cares much for the welfare of those in the more far-flung areas of Northern England. Kat (Margeau Steinau) was Bess’s former governess and later serves as the First Lady of the Bedchamber. Kat’s coarse and cheeky language provides many of the laughs in the play, and though she pulls no punches, she’s always ready to sooth with a platter of sweets or a calming tonic. Mary (Sarah Lantsberger) is the new girl and responsible for Bess’s wigs and hygiene. Awkward and unsure initially, she provides a good dose of lightheartedness to the group. Last but not least is Queen Elizabeth I herself (Michelle Hand). Sharp-witted and impulsive, she strategically avoids wars and marriage proposals alike, and meets with foreign ambassadors while suffering from throbbing cramps, but she’s able to bear up under the pressures of the crown with the bracing advocacy of her ladies-in-waiting.