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.
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| Sweeney Todd (Chandler Spradling) and Mrs. Lovett (Jenelle Gilreath Owens). Photo credit: Julie Merkle |
The leads in this production are standouts. Chandler Spradling’s rich bass-baritone is darkly seductive, and his glassy-eyed portrayal of Sweeney Todd exemplifies an obsession with vengeance that utterly consumes him. You can always see the wheels turning behind the cunning eyes of Jenelle Gilreath Owens’s Mrs. Lovett. Many of her songs are lyrically rapid-fire, and she manages them while doing half a dozen things at the same time extremely well. Scenes with these two are consistently great to watch. Rachel Bailey balances the beggar woman’s deviant solicitations for charity and unhinged outbursts with vocal and physical skill, and Isobel Ramsey tackles the vocal gymnastics of Johanna’s high soprano wonderfully. Matt Ingram leans hard into the hammy comic relief of the odious Beadle, Crispin Shininger’s naively devoted Tobias is heartbreaking, and Nathan Hakenewerth is fittingly flamboyant with great vocal dexterity as the huckster Pirelli. The ensemble is strong throughout, and the band, under the musical direction of Stephen Schermitzler, sounds fantastic as well, though the musicians occasionally overpower the vocals during quieter moments with slighter voices.
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| Johanna (Isobel Ramsey) and Anthony (Dereis Lambert). Photo credit: Julie Merkle |
With a backdrop of dingy walls and white sheet draping, the stage features a raised platform to stand in as Todd’s tonsorial parlor, with pieces being rolled on and off to accommodate different locations. The small space presents some sight line challenges depending on where you sit, but director Colin Healy keeps most of the action front and center. A big advantage of the space is that the boundary separating the audience from the stage is all but erased, and this heightened intimacy plays to the musical’s chills and thrills.
It’s an ambitious production that’s playing at the Greenfinch Theater & Dive until August 9th.
SWEENEY TODD
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
From an adaptation by Christopher Bond
Directed by Colin Healy
Greenfinch Theater & Dive, 2525 S. Jefferson Ave.
through August 9 | tickets: $25.00
Performances Thursdays to Saturdays @ 7:30pm, Sundays @ 2:00pm.
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| Tobias (Crispin Shininger). Photo credit: Julie Merkle |
Cast
Sweeney Todd: Chandler Spradling
Mrs. Lovett: Jenelle Gilreath Owens
Anthony: Dereis Lambert
Johanna: Isobel Ramsey
The Beggar Woman: Rachel Bailey
Tobias: Crispin Shininger
Judge Turpin: Ken Haller
The Beadle & Others: Matt Ingram
Pirelli & Others: Nathan Hakenewerth
Principal Soprano & Others: Margaret Beekman
Principle Alto & Others: Mia Millican
Principle Bass & Others: Parker Miller
Crew
Music Director: Stephen Schermitzler
Sound Design, Set & Light Co-Designer: Colin Healy
Assistant Director, Production Manager: Jaac Nischbach
Technical Director, Set Co-Designer: Bradley Rohlf
Stage Manager, Sound Board Operator: Dizzy Funke
Costume Design: Jen Blum-Tatara
Prop Design: Kel Rohlf
Scenic Painting, Set & Light Co-Designer: Lauren Perry
Fight Choreography: Angela Healy
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| The Beggar Woman (Rachel Bailey). Photo credit: Julie Merkle |
Band
Piano: Stephen Schermitzler
Violin: Alex Mosier
Viola: Amie Tripodi
Cello: Paul Rueschhoff
Bass: Abe Calixto
Reeds: Josh Baumgartener
Horn: Jessica Poddig
Trumpet: Joe Akers
Trombone: Jordan Epperson
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