Very few Tony Award-winning musicals have been bigger Broadway box office flops than Sweeney Todd. Despite one of the finest scores in the business, poignant thematic material, and wickedly sharp wit, the macabre tragicomedy has always been a failure at the gate. Trapped between two groups which consider themselves at opposite ends of the artistic spectrum, Sweeney Todd is a bit too gruesome to appeal to fans of the traditional musical -- i.e. Oklahoma and Guys and Dolls -- but too complex, and -- well -- too musical to appeal to the Stephen King crowd.
Sweeney Todd is a historical thriller based on the 19th-century melodrama about a legendary London criminal. In this modern script, though, Todd is portrayed as a noble figure driven to crime when his wife and child are taken from him by a lecherous judge and Todd himself unjustly imprisoned (his crime, it appears, was innocence). Todd eventually escapes, takes a vow of vengeance, and becomes a grisly scourge of the unprincipled -- "Swing your razor wide, Sweeney!" the chorus thunders in the opening number.
What has he learned during his 15 year incarceration? "We all deserve to die," summarizes Todd in one song. "The lives of the wicked should be made brief. For the rest of us death will be a relief. We all deserve to die." "It's man devouring man," he sings, a question of "who gets eaten and who gets to eat." As it turns out -- despite the many inequalities of 19th-century England -- everybody goes down well with beer.
To that end, Todd forms a partnership with an amoral seller of meat pies. While Todd harvests London's sinners, the pragmatic Mrs. Lovett feeds the bodies to the meat grinder, and then her customers. Both businesses boom, but Todd's single-minded determination eventually leads to a violent end, just at the moment of a potentially joyous reunion.
The theme of social justice pervades the play. The law, represented by the evil judge and profiteering beadle, is evil. Traveling salesmen, and pub life -- whether drinker or owner -- are as ungenerously portrayed. Todd, the lone shining light, is merely a murderer. "Everyone does it, but seldom as well as Sweeney," the cast explains. Bold and reverberating music by Stephen Sondheim parallels this darkness -- The "Ballad of Sweeney Todd" which opens both acts and appears throughout the show, is based on the Dies Irae, the Roman Catholic mass for the dead.
The sheer size of the Broadway staging emphasized the way in which the 19th-century invidual was dwarfed by church, state, and industry. Effective Theatre's production (the smallest I've ever seen), in contrast, highlights the seedy, dark aspects of the period. While a bit of the music's majesty is lost, the small set, the Athenaeum's decayed feel, and piano-only accompaniment (though the pianist is excellent) conjure a potent image of hard times.
Todd is one of the musical theatre's most inspired roles -- and the wonderful music, dark humor, and tragic elegance come together fairly well in Kevin Will's interpretation. Tammy Meneghini's Lovett is one of the best I've experienced, giving a good deal of life to the comic, lower-class barmistress who falls in love with Todd. Elic Ryan Bramlett is perfect as the sailor boy Anthony, who rescues Todd from a shipwreck, and then falls in love with Todd's daughter, Johanna. His innocent enthusiasm is the perfect foil to Todd's grim humor. Carrie Peterson has an excellent voice, but her portrayal of the captive Johanna seems -- if anything -- a bit worldly.
The ensemble acting is strong -- overcoming the drawbacks of a limited cast by recycling characters well, especially in the undead-influenced intra-scene transitions. The cast, which includes a number of music professionals, handles the tricky music very nicely.
Though the Athenaeum's studio theatre cramps both the actors and audience (it holds about 90 very short people), the show is worth seeing. Even in Chicago, a town reknowned for its support of blood & guts theatre, Sweeney Todd sometimes goes years between stagings, so gather your iron-stomached friends, and -- before the jack 'o lanterns of Halloween have faded -- go see one of the classic musical thrillers of all time.
Sweeney Todd runs from through November 30 in the Athenaeum's studio theatre, at 8 pm Fridays and Saturdays, and at 3 pm on Sundays. Tickets are $18. For more information, call (312) 902-1500.
