4 Stars - ‘Sweeney Todd' by Kokandy Productions reminds us of what Chicago's off-Loop theaters can do, Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune 9/22/22 

"Remarkable things happen in the cramped basement of the Chopin Theatre in Wicker Park. This is, after all, the original site of director David Cromer's production of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," a show that redefined that play and went on to huge acclaim in multiple cities.

And, on Friday night, just as the actor Ryan Stajmiger sang the first notes of Stephen Sondheim's "Johanna," an audience member behind me shouted, "Yes!"

And then again, ringing out: "Yes!"

I wasn't remotely disturbed by the interruption. In fact, I understood it: I, too, wait to hear "Johanna," arguably Sondheim's most beautiful melody, whenever I see "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." And young Stajmiger was singing it quite beautifully, and from the heart.

But on a deeper level, I think, the man also was reacting to what live theater can do for the emotions, especially Sondheim musicals, especially when a director understands the Great One's constant themes of trauma and regret, our inability to go back in time to correct our own mistakes, the way the world can unleash chaos upon us without warning. "Johanna," like "Loving You" in Sondheim's "Passion," is a declaration of love, a statement that life cannot otherwise continue. Sondheim saw that as the great defense against despair of our shared existence. I've no idea if the audience member had just headed back out after the great pandemic pause, but I would not be surprised.

Clearly, some of that famous Chopin subterranean magic has rubbed off on Kokandy Productions' new take on "Sweeney," resulting in the kind of knockout off-Loop production that restores your faith in what Chicago's small theaters can achieve in an aesthetic of their own original devising.

Like "Our Town," to which it absolutely deserves some comparison, director Derek Van Barham's production has an appetite for risk, an inventive idea for every tiniest moment in the show, a relentless focus on ensuring that each and every performer is present in the deepest sense, and an insistence on truth. Add in a small live orchestra and excellent singing (musical direction is by Nick Sula) in a show that is notoriously hard to sing and what more do you need?

There is more, though. It's often funny, too.

The chief partners in pie-shop crime here are played by Kevin Webb and Caitlin Jackson. They nail to the wall the famously witty Act 1 close, "A Little Priest," because they make you believe in its spontaneous invention. But that's not even their main quality: they also evidence a kind of avaricious desperation, clinging to each other in a relentless drive to control their circumstances. So consumed is Webb, you don't feel like Sweeney is really making any decisions but merely reacting to changing circumstances as potential peace slips further and further away. It's perfect for this most tragic of Broadway musicals.

Van Barham's "Sweeney" is performed on a hand-operated turntable, which represents many things and feelings. The show, performed just a few feet from even the back row, has minimal props, with most things mimed, beyond a few picture frames, mostly employed to allow the characters no mistake. The famous barber's chair with its lever is not there in the usual way, but it is there nonetheless and the staging of those murders is so inventive as to provoke gasps.

Despite the lack of lighting instruments available to G Maxin IV, who also came up with the astonishing non-set, the show has far more cues than the theater has seats, perhaps to a fault. I don't know. By the end of the night, these switches started to feel like primal shocks or exposures, maybe even suggestions of the brights lights of salvation.

The supporting cast and ensemble, mostly young newcomers to the scene, watch and act with such intensity you cannot help but try and match how much they care.

What a thrilling piece of direction! What a great Chicago-style "Sweeney!"

"Yes," indeed"

Attend this tale: Kokandy's minimalist Sweeney Todd ruthlessly dissects corruption and darkness, Catey Sullivan, Chicago Reader 9/22/22

"I've seen bloodier stagings of Sweeney Todd than the current incarnation from Kokandy Productions at the Chopin Theatre's downstairs space, directed and choreographed by Derek Van Barham. I've seen more polished versions of Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler's (book) magnum opus.

But I don't know that I've ever seen a Sweeney Todd that so ruthlessly depicts the darkness and corruption of the world that surrounds us. It's evident in the opening number: Barber Sweeney Todd (Kevin Webb) returns to London after being falsely imprisoned for decades. He hopes to reunite with his beloved wife Lucy and his daughter, Johanna (Chamaya Moody). He quickly learns his hopes were in vain. Lucy poisoned herself after being raped by Judge Turpin (Christopher Johnson), the same judge that sent Sweeney to prison. The judge took the baby, now a teenager, and plans to wed her. 

London, as Sweeney sings, is a cesspit of cruelty and corruption, as is the world entire. It's a quasi-duet that also has young sailor Anthony (Ryan Stajmiger), praising the wonders of the world and the gleaming possibilities within the marvels of the great city. In one song, Sondheim lays out two diametrically opposed views of the world, and the former holds sway. This is a story of despair curdled into violence. The closest thing to happiness comes from the industrious Mrs. Lovett (Caitlin Jackson), who makes a killing making meat pies with human meat sourced from Sweeney's customers, falling more giddily in love as she goes.

Van Barham has overlaid an interesting concept on Sweeney Todd. This demon barber is plagued by demons literally embodied in both the choreo and in G "Max" Maxin IV's kinetic lighting design. The latter is twitchy as a haunted-house strobe at times, overwhelming waves of red at others. As to the former: When Sweeney is in his head planning his vengeance, he's twitchy as an electrical wire dangling in a storm, surrounded by a lurching, zombie-like chorus. This is a portrayal of someone who would do anything to escape their own inner torment, but who knows that even if they could, the demons of the outside world will devour them regardless.

The cast holds up frames as Sweeney unleashes his inner torment by slashing the throats of his customers, demanding the entire audience contemplate their own inner (or outer) Sweeney, as do the lyrics with Sondheim's brilliant brutality:

No one can help, nothing can hide you / Isn't that Sweeney there beside you?

No one is spared. Usually there's a scene where Sweeney decides against killing one of his customers because he sees the man has a small child and loving wife. Van Barham has cut it.

The production uses minimal props. Sweeney's razor, for example, doesn't show up until the very final moments, and he's not the one looking at it in wonder. There's no fancy barber chair shooting bodies down to the grinder in Maxin's minimalist set, which is a mostly bare rotating platform. Sweeney's barber chair is a lightly upholstered piece that looks like it came from a thrift-store dining set. And make no mistake. You need someone who reads older than mid-20s to play Judge Turpin. Scrawling crow's feet on a young person's face is not a solution.

Miscasting aside, there is more than enough to recommend this Sweeney. Webb brings a torrent of torment to every well-executed note and refrain, ably intensified by music director Nick Sula's bloody good micro-orchestra.

Of paramount importance: Jackson's Mrs. Lovett is a frowsy delight. Her carefully calibrated, bone-dry gallows humor and pragmatic optimism (when there's a meat shortage on, cats are not the answer) offer both comic relief and-crucially-a foil to Sweeney Todd's lethal wall of cynicism.

A bloody weekend: Kokandy's ‘Sweeney Todd, Patrick O'Brien, ChicagolandMusicalTheatre.com

When Kokandy Productions announced Kevin Webb and Caitlin Jackson as the leads in their Halloween-timed production of Sweeney Todd, my ears pricked right up. Here were two performers who I've been following for the last many years-Webb via the arch and macabre Black Button Eyes Productions; Jackson, the garish Hell in a Handbag. Both have turned in standout performances in the shows I've seen with them; both always seemed to be on a verge of a big break; and both seemed especially right for the demon barber and the infernal baker of Fleet Street.

With Sweeney Todd, their respective turns are as thrilling as this musical thriller can get and then some.

In many ways, this is still Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's nigh-indestructible paean to Grand Guignol and Bernard Herrmann. In other ways, Derek Van Barham's concept and direction is like laying a cel over the magnificent score: not an imposition, but a transposition. As in: Sweeney Todd has never wanted for a zombified chorus lurking about, but their inclusion here is surprisingly illuminating, even if this is your second or twelfth Sweeney.

It's never wanted for a turntable and a gazillion Edison bulbs hanging on by a filament, either, but G. "Max" Maxin IV takes full advantage of the Chopin's claustrophobic, tzotchke'd basement and turns it into something appropriately discomfiting.

If you're familiar with it, imagine that actor-musician Sweeney that hit Broadway some seasons back, but without the actor-musicians, just as many props, and with a sense of humor.

Sweeney Todd doesn't work without its pitch-black humor, and I don't know if Jackson could ever suppress that side of her, and thank that dark and hungry god she doesn't. Her Mrs. Lovett-glassy-eyed yet turbulent, wicked yet sexy, and above all done with the perfect illusion of effortlessness-might be the creation of the fall season. Webb's Sweeney, meanwhile, if a bit of a cold brew-one that emphasizes his ultimate impotence and naïveté-is still a twitchy unholy terror, especially as he sings so rapturously while racking up a body count. He and Christopher Johnson's Judge Turpin just go to show that the storefront bass-baritone is a perilously endangered species.

Nick Sula's music direction, meanwhile, proves that fine singing is not endangered, not while he's around.

Even with a sure bet like Sweeney Todd, it's nice to see a bet pay off. This Sweeney by rights should set this city on fire.

Highly recommended - Kokandy's Sweeney is a creative, exciting take on Sondheim's master work.  Karen Topham, ChicagoOnStage.com

Kokandy Productions is one of my favorite companies for interpreting musicals in small spaces on a low budget, and Sweeney Todd is one of the best musicals ever. It is usually dependent on big sets (the barber chair to bakehouse slides practically scream for multiple levels), though Theo Ubique did it several years ago in its old cafe location, effectively incorporating the audience into the production. All of this made me extremely excited to see what this clever company-their summer production of Cruel Intentions the Musical is one of my favorite shows of this year-could do with Stephen Sondheim's iconic musical in its confining basement space at Chopin Theatre. And what they did was to prove once again that their unique skill, under director Derek Van Barham's creative lead, and ability to attract talented actors leave no musical (large or small) outside of their range. Their Sweeney is unique and moving from start to finish and works brilliantly even without some of the expected physical elements. Here, even Sweeney's razors remain in our imagination.

Van Barham's imagination is on display even before the show begins, as the audience catches sight of several actors in eye-catching, geometrical, and brightly colored makeup designed by Sydney Genco, who went to town on this project. The makeup is the first sign (well, other than the set, which is a hexagonal platform-a turntable moved by the actors-set on a square one) that Van Barham isn't interested in verisimilitude here; he is interested in mood. And that mood is quickly set when we meet Sweeney, the transported barber who is clandestinely returning to London after twenty years in order to get his revenge. As played by Kevin Webb, this is a Sweeney who has been broken in many ways by his years in exile; his frequent, enormous, painful-looking head spasms-as if he were undergoing electroshock therapy-are only the most notable physical sign.

At first, Webb tones the character down, doing his best to "control" the spasms and maintain an even emotional stance, but gradually Sweeney's inner pain simply takes over as the spasms become bigger and more frequent. Forming a deadly partnership with Mrs. Lovett (Caitlyn Jackson reminding the audience of Angela Lansbury's Broadway take on the character) helps him to fight off his demons for a little while, but everything falls apart when her advice-to take his revenge slowly-backfires. He has Judge Turpin (Christopher Johnson), who sentenced him (and who is responsible for the gang-rape of Sweeney's wife, and who now has Sweeney's daughter Joanna as his ward), in his temporary barber chair but, in taking time to enjoy the moment, he misses his opportunity.

After that, all bets are off.

Jackson's Lovett is a wonderful creation. It's easy to see that Todd's return is something she has dreamed about in her infatuation with him, which she makes clear in her take on the murderously comical "A Little Priest," in which she explains her plan to have him kill people as practice leading up to the object of his hatred while she uses their bodies to fill her pies, "the price of meat being what it is when you get it...if you get it." The duet is twisted, yes, but undeniably hilarious, and I saw people whom I know have seen the show many times laughing out loud during it. Jackson is just as wonderful in Lovett's seductive "By the Sea," in which she articulates her (unreciprocated) vision of their future together.

The secondary leads, Ryan Stajmiger as the sailor Anthony who saved Todd from certain death on the high sea and befriended him on the long journey and Chamaya Moody as his object of affection who turns out to be Joanna, are individually strong with lovely voices but lack the kind of chemistry that Webb and Jackson exude. Even the first-love number "Kiss Me" fails to make them a real couple. Their frantic escape from Turpin's clutches when they discover that the judge-defying at least the spirit of anti-incest laws-has decided to marry her lacks the combination of urgent fear and barely suppressed horniness that defines the best versions of this scene. Without that, it's hard to see them as the fairy tale couple they want to become.

Several more minor characters are better realized. Chief among them are Pirelli (Quinn Rigg) and his young assistant Tobias (Patrick O'Keefe). Rigg's take on the pompous Italian barber is delightful, and O'Keefe exudes innocent earnestness while assisting him and, later, Lovett. As an old beggar woman who appears early and often-and is the first to sense that there is something terrible going on at Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies-Isabel Cecilia García creates a very sympathetic societal victim who has a secret, dark connection to the main scenes. Josiah Haugen's Beadle Bamford and Johnson as Turpin are both clear in their officiousness and yet capable of hidden depth. Turpin's self-flagellation scene, in which we see the emotional pain his depravity is causing him, is brilliantly depicted, and Bamford shows off a secret fun side in a scene in which he commandeers the piano and sings old folk ditties with Mrs. Lovett.

But here it is Van Barham's use of his fine ensemble that makes all of the difference. Taking full advantage of the frightening subtexts in Genco's makeup, he makes his ensemble into the embodiment of darkness and retribution. On several occasions, he has them closely surround Todd or other major characters, menacingly singing and angrily staring. He even does something similar with his staging of Todd's letter to Turpin, intended to trick him to his death. From the opening, the ensemble holds a mirror up to this evil world...quite literally, as the show is full of empty frames that stand in for the reflective surfaces. (Maybe they just wouldn't like what they would see?) Even in the one clearly joyful moment for the ensemble-when they get to sample the new and delicious meat pies, which they fully enjoy-Van Barham's choreography shows them for the monsters they are becoming as they contort and twist themselves while singing the pies' praises and chowing down on their fellow Londoners.

Highly Recommend: "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" - Alan Bresloff, AroundTheTownChicago.com

★★★★★One of my favorite Sondheim musicals is "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" ( hereafter I will use "Sweeney Todd"). I have witnessed quite a number of productions, but never as a chamber piece. Kokandy Productions, since its onset, has been great at selecting material to convert from large stage to chamber. For those unaware of a Chamber Piece/or musical, it is an intimate production where more imagination on the part of the audience comes into the mix. The actors are close enough to touch and often, a character will sit at a musical instrument and become a part of the band. The audience is not sitting in what we call theater seats, but rather arm chairs and stools and other pieces of furniture one might find in "Grandma's living room".

Now, try to imagine "Sweeney Todd" presented in this fashion. It is not easy, but if anyone could pull it off, it is Kokandy. The theater is located in the lower level of The Chopin Theatre. When you go down the steep staircase to the lower level lobby, you go back a good 30 years in time. The lobby has a bar and lots of antique seating. The theater itself is even more so, and the stage for this production is a wooden turntable in the center of a square that has seating on all four sides and some huge pillars at each corner. You will see no set, just a chair and later a table. There are no props, or at least for 86% of the play. The costumes (Rachel Sypniewski) are nice, but the wigs for the most part are not fitting the play that Hugh Wheeler and Steven Sondheim imagined when they penned it.

Directed and choreographed by Derek Van Barham with musical direction by Nick Sula, I found the charm of the show to remain and a cast of players that understood the nature of the story, which by the way is about a man, who was a skilled barber that was sent away for a crime he did not commit. The reason for this was that a certain judge (Christopher Johnson) wanted the barber's wife and child. As it turns out, he has been raising the child, a daughter, Johanna ( played by Chamaya Moody) who he is about to take as his bride. I had a slight problem with the casting here as she is referred to as a blonde several times and to make the audience see this, she had a few strands of blond hair- in the world of wigs, why not make her a blond for 2 plus hours?

To go on with the story, this barber, who has now taken on a new name, Sweeney Todd ( played to perfection by Kevin Webb, except for his make-up) is back for revenge and to avenge his wife, who he believes died when he was sent away. He opens up a barber shop above the pie shop owned and operated by Mrs. Lovett( Caitlin Jackson is powerful and amazing). In fact, these two were perfect for their roles and had some of the minor stuff been better, this show could have easily been a Highly Recommended- just for their performances. There are no microphones used but these two along with the energetic Patrick O'Keefe as Tobias are strong enough to carry on any stage anywhere. The others should be miked ( my side of the theater is where the band was and this made it hard to hear even with my hearing aids on).

The barber had no barber chair or even razors to show, but during the finale, when Tobias did his final bit, he had a razor. Consistency? FYI- the story involved murder ( lots of them) and those done in are baked into meat pies, The production is long for a musical with act one being close to 90 minutes and Act two being1 hour and 5 minutes. There is a 15 minute intermission and while you can buy drinks, during the show you are asked to keep your masks on.

The ensemble is a major part of every musical and this group is high spirited and strong in character study. They deserve to be mentioned: Nathan Kabara, Daniel Rausch, Nikki Krzebiot, Stephanie Chiodras, Ethan Carlson, Joel Arreola and Brittney Brown as well as Ryan Stajmiger playing Anthony, Johanna's lover, Josiah Haugen and Isabel Cecillia Garcia. The songs that people are familiar with are : "Pretty Women", "Johanna", "Not While I'm Around", "The Worst Pies in London" and of course "The Prologue" and "The Epilogue".

In Time for Halloween, Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Arrives with Strong Vocals, Clever Staging. - Lisa Trifone, ThirdCoastReview.com

 

As we left the Chopin Theatre Friday night, after an appropriately spooky and decidedly well-sung performance of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street presented by Kokandy Productions, I commented to my guest how much I appreciated any show populated by a young, hungry cast. These performers so wanted to be a part of a production that they committed their evenings and weekends to its rehearsal and presentation. And sure enough, a quick check of the digital program confirmed it: among this talented ensemble are a full-time nonprofit attorney and at least one current theater student. The median age of the cast is somewhere in the late 20s (mmmmaybe early 30s), making it hard to believe these babyfaced actors are citizens of the rough and tumble cobblestone streets of mid-19th century London. But staged as it is in the round in Chopin's downstairs theater, with a DIY rotating centerpiece and a production design that relies more on pantomime than actual props, the show becomes something to discover, an example of Chicago's thriving storefront theater scene and the people committed to making it great.

Derek Van Barham directs this production of Stephen Sondheim's 1973 macabre classic, about a man returned to London after a 15-year prison sentence abroad. Having lost his wife and daughter to a bourgeois local judge who raped the woman (who later poisoned herself) and took on the girl as his ward, the barber now known as Sweeney Todd (Kevin Webb) decides to ply his trade (and get his revenge) in a shop above a meat pie shop owned by the brassy Mrs. Lovell (Caitlin Jackson). His friend, the sailor Anthony (Ryan Stajmiger), spots the now-teenaged Johanna (Chamaya Moody) from the window in her room in Judge Turbin's (Christopher Johnson) grand mansion and instantly falls in love. Meanwhile, a carpetbagger named Pirelli (Quinn Rigg) floats into town with a young boy, Tobias (Patrick O'Keefe), assisting him, only to come face to face with Todd's brand of "close" shaves. All these narratives criss-cross and intersect over the show's nearly three hours (with one intermission) in a show known for such classic Sondheim melodies as "Pretty Women," "Johanna," "A Little Priest," and "Not While I'm Around."

With few exceptions, the cast of Sweeney Todd is a talented bunch; Webb and Jackson shine in their lead roles with powerhouse vocals, while Stajmiger and O'Keefe more than hold their own as well. And the audience gets to experience it all up close. The Chopin's basement theater, a space already chockfull of character with mismatched seating (I was in a vintage lounge chair, my guest in an embroidered dining chair) and a sort of maximalist Victorian aesthetic, holds maybe 150 people, and though there are five (by my count) general mics hanging from the ceiling over the stage, none of the actors are mic'ed. This mostly works, until an actor is directly under one of them and all of a sudden we're reminded they're there. Van Barham and production designer G "Max" Maxin IV make inventive use of the small space, cast running this way and that through the aisles, out into the lobby and more. The small but sufficient live band is nestled into a corner and is even incorporated into one of the show's later scenes.

Don't expect any grand staging here; this is storefront theater, after all. But the creative team, including costumer Rachel Sypniewski and make-up designer Sydney Genco, work with what they have and create a sort of punk rock 1840s. Though the wigs are particularly rough and one wishes the ensemble costumes had a bit more flare to them, there's a touch of ingenuity in a colorblock makeup theme and the way certain parts of the extended space serve as various parts of Mrs. Lovell's pie shop and bakery. It's all a valiant effort, one that pays off as the cast immerses us through their committed performances.

Fans of Sondheim can rest easy, his words and music are beautifully intact here; those uninitiated to this murderous show should perhaps prepare themselves for the brutal turns it takes (is it too soon for spoilers on a show that premiered in 1973?). By the end, there's very few characters left to root for (if we ever were in their corners to begin with); like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory or more recently Hades Town, it's not until after the curtain call that you might realize just how dark it actually gets. And yet, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street remains a crowd pleaser. There's something about watching a man torn apart by grief enjoy the temporary pleasure of revenge only to see his evil deeds catch up with him...it's more comeuppance than most bad guys get in the real world, at least. And the production couldn't be better timed: add this to your Halloween in Chicago to-do list.

Highly recommended - Kokandy Production's 'Sweeney Todd' at Chopin Theatre. Sarz Maxwell, BuzzCenterStage.com

"Oy ... where to begin with Stephen Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD?

Let's begin with what one sees first: the venue. Chopin Theatre opened in 1918 at the Polonia Triangle in Wicker Park. Over 100 years the building has variously housed (among other things) a bank, a thrift shop, and a discotheque.  In 1990, Zygmunt and Lela Headd Dyrkacz purchased The Chopin, and restored it to accommodate two remarkable theaters, the Main and the smaller Studio in the basement. For SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET the entire theater is part of the set; as you walk down the stairs you descend into 19th century London.

The seating is a motley collection of Victorian divans and chairs, giving the sense of a less-than-opulent home parlor. The seats are placed round a circular stage with a raised octagonal platform at its centre -we later see that the platform revolves. This is one of the many contrivances that Scenic & Lighting Designer G "Max" Maxin IV (h/h) uses to showcase the masterful company. He is assisted by Andrew Lund (h/th, Asst Director), Jakob Abderhalden (h/h; Props & Scenic Décor), Scenic Painter David Geinosky (h/h), Sound Designer Mike Patrick (h/h) and Lynsy Folckomer (sh/h, Sound Engineer). 

‘Masterful company' is a major understatement.  The casting used by Kokandy Producing Artistic Director Derek Van Barham (h/h) and Casting Associate Roman Sanchez (h/h) is diverse and inventive, and the ingenious choreography utilizes every inch of the limited space. I already mentioned the carousel stage.... I guess that makes it Theatre in the Round-and-Round, yeah?

From a purely mechanical standpoint, SWEENEY TODD is ... I believe the technical term is ‘a real bitch'. Sondheim loves to challenge actors with his complex music and lyrics; the ensemble of eight roars out countless alliterative tongue-twisters - rapidly, at maximum volume, and in unison. Getting this right ain't easy, but it's delivered flawlessly by the ensemble: Joel Arreola, Brittney Brown, Ethan Carlson, Stephanie Chiodraws, Christopher Johnson, Nikki Krzebiot, Daniel Rausch, and understudy Nathan Kabara (stepping in for Charlie Mann).

The show begins with a welcome and a warning from Quinn Rigg who, with a swoosh of his cloak (costumer Rachel Sypniewski (s/h) uses cloaks very effectively) transforms into Adolfo Pirell, pivoting and whirling through a terrific performance. Kevin Webb and Caitlin Jackson star as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett. Both give truly outstanding performances as partners in clipping and culinary crime. Jackson has a miraculous voice, as do Isabel Cecilia Garcia (Beggar Woman) and Ryan Stajmiger (Anthony Hope). Christopher Johnson is Judge Turpin, Josiah Haugen plays Beadle Bamford, and I want to give a special shoutout to Patrick O'Keefe, who plays Tobias Ragg with frolicsome charisma [two words I don't often use together]. His voice soars in "Not While I'm Around".

The intensity and vitality of this production is stunning. I was exhausted at the end, and I never left my seat! while the players danced, leapt, capered and whirled continuously, belting out rapid and complex lyrics, all in perfect time with a dozen castmates. Just incredible. 

Sydney Genco (sh/h) designed splendidly macabre makeup; Keith Ryan (h/h) matched her sinister mastery with his wigs. Scot Kokandy (h/h) is Executive Producer, Assisted by Erik Strebig (th/th). Nick Sula is Music Director, with Vivica Powell (sh/h) as Assistant Choreographer; Intimacy Choreographer is Kirsten Balty (th/th) and, because it's TODD SWEENEY, we need Jon Beal (h/h) as Violence Director. Stage Manager is Drew Donnelly (h/h), with Assistant Kendyl Meyer (th/th). 

Stephen Sondheim created SWEENEY TODD (music and lyrics; book by Hugh Wheeler) in 1976 as a musical play. But beware! this is not "My Fair Lady"! Prepare to be disturbed, as SWEENEY TODD delves the nether portions of civilization [sorry, I can't help it - SWEENEY TODD evokes melodramatic phrases like this!].  

The character of Sweeney Todd originated in 1846 as a villain in the penny dreadful serial "The String of Pearls." In Sondheim's play, Todd is driven mad by venal and lascivious Judge Turpin's sentence. His lunacy is re-channeled by Mrs. Lovett (maker of The Worst Pies in London), but she can't alter the course of his mania. His obsession for revenge is levied on London's greedy populace; still, Todd can't find atonement while his foe yet lives. 

SWEENEY TODD is germane to both Yom Kippur and Halloween, but it is not a holiday celebration!  I left the theater stunned and deeply troubled, with at least Six of the Seven Deadly Sins roiling in my head.  

My turmoil is offset, however, by my appreciation of a magnificent piece of musical theater, brilliantly produced and superbly played by a cast whose acting ability is matched only by their musical genius.

OK, time to give my thesaurus a rest ... go see SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, and we'll see how you fare with the superlatives"

From Kokandy Productions - Kokandy continues its 10th anniversary season with a revival of Stephen Sondheim's macabre masterpiece Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, featuring music and lyrics by Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, direction and choreography by Producing Artistic Director Derek Van Barham and music direction by Nick Sula.

An infamous tale, Sweeney Todd, an unjustly exiled barber, returns to nineteenth century London, seeking vengeance against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife. The road to revenge leads Todd to Mrs. Lovett, a resourceful proprietress of a failing pie shop. Mrs. Lovett's luck sharply shifts when Todd's thirst for blood inspires the integration of an ingredient into her meat pies that has the people of London hungry for more. Stephen Sondheim's and Hugh Wheeler's tasty, thrilling, theatrical treat has simultaneously shocked, awed and delighted audiences around the world.

Kokandy Producing Artistic Director Derek Van Barham comments, "For our 10th anniversary season, it felt important to celebrate with a master of the musical form-and it doesn't get much better than Sondheim. It will be fun to take on another tale of revenge, but this time with a twist on class. Whereas Cruel Intentions allows the elite to wreak havoc, no one is safe in Sweeney Todd, where those above will serve those down below. Another show of the flesh, this will be a dark delight for the Halloween season, a Sweeney you can smell and taste and feel."