Drury Lane Sweeney Todd (Chicago)

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 1:23pm

Anyone see it? Wondering if I should add this to an upcoming Chicago trip.

[figaroindy]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 1:44pm

I'll see it tomorrow night - got great reviews in the Chicago Tribune, but I also heard some negatives from a friend in the city whose already seen it. (I'm in Indianapolis, it requires a road trip for me!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 1:45pm

I made the trek out to Drury Lane once and left at intermission. Never had a desire to return. If you're visiting Chicago, it requires a car drive to the suburbs.

Posted: 9/1/11 at 1:52pm

Matt, Drury Lane has had a pretty thorough shake-up in the last couple years- Their production of Ragtime last year was electrifying- I saw it twice and wish I'd been able to do more. I am going To Sweeney this weekend.

(Oh wait- I saw a dismal Aida there this spring- no one is perfect I guess.)

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 2:05pm

"If you're visiting Chicago, it requires a car drive to the suburbs."


That's my basic issue: I would need to rent a car. If the performance is worth it, I will.

Posted: 9/1/11 at 2:07pm

Only you can decide- the reviews have been pretty rapturous
Now playing (click on reviews)

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 2:48pm

I thought the production was great except for Gregg Edelman, who was severely miscast. He's a talented guy, but was lost at sea with the role. I was very disappointed. The direction, design, and the rest of the cast was fantastic however. But not having a compelling performance of the title character almost killed it.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 3:06pm

After sitting through David Hess' performance, I don't think I can take another sub-par Sweeney. If Edelman can't live up to the role, I may have to pass.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 3:27pm

Ever since the Bailiwick production of Parade (also a darling of the critics and won sevreal Jeff citations), I lost faith in Chicago critics. I'm not trying to be a Negative Nelly, but I just got burned on too many raves for really bad productions. I'll never forget the review of the Light Opera Works production of 110 in the Shade that claimed how the (then) upcoming Broadway production starring Audra McDonald couldn't possibly be any better. But I did love the production of Ragtime at the Apollo Theatre. I enjoyed it more than the original Broadway production, actually. But the show I saw at Drury Lane was also praised by the Tribune and it was BAD community theatre, at best.

My advice is, if you like the video clips and want to see a conventional staging of Sweeney, then rent a car and go. Unless there was a show I felt I needed to see that would probably never come around again, I doubt I'd go back out there. My one experience was enough to keep me away for a VERY long time.

Posted: 9/1/11 at 3:35pm

Here here Jimmy.

What was the show that turned you against Drury Lane, Matt?

[FosseFan]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 4:05pm

I am seeing the show this Saturday. I have friends who have seen it and some have loved it and some not so much.

I was a little surprised to see that there are two shows on Saturday night, one at 5 pm and another at 8:30. Do both Liz and Gregg play both performances on nights like that? I know 2 shows a day are nothing new, but 2 performances so close together in such demanding roles. If so, great dedication to their craft!

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 5:34pm

Well, the Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett understudies are both revered Chicago theater actors. Actually, if it wasn't for Drury Lane's new "policy" of using New York actors for the leads, they'd be playing the roles.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 5:52pm

Joe - It was Curtains. I saw the show on Broadway and loved it. I took my parents to see it at Drury Lane and we all couldn't wait to get out of there. It was tragic.

[broadwaydanwi]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 8:30pm

Who are the understudies, and do they regularly go on during the weekends? I'm thinking about seeing this show over Labor Day weekend, and I would like to know if I will be seeing understudies instead of Gregg and Liz.

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:27pm

Gotcha. Yeah I skipped that. The only bad thing I saw was Aida and I am still not sure that was their fault. The Radames looked like a gay porn ad.

And I don't think the understudies usually go on. At least, there has never been a regular policy of it.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:50pm

I saw this a couple weeks ago and loved it. Gregg Edelman was weak as Sweeney for most of the first act, but he was much better in the second. I think he was trying to show that Sweeney was dead until the epiphany when he came alive, but his "dead" Sweeney had more of a "neutral" attitude than a dark, brooding quality. Liz McCartney was great as Mrs Lovett. The ensemble and supporting roles are all outstanding, and Rachel Rockwell, who I think is just brilliant, used a mostly traditional staging (using the box on wheels thing, which usually annoys me, but didn't in this production) while bringing in some new ideas that I loved. This production seemed to be geared more toward the audience member who hasn't seen the show before (of which there were many at the performance I saw) but it still worked really well for me, knowing the show quite well. Gregg Edelman isn't perfect, but just about everything else in this production is. It's extremely well sung and played. Gregg Edelman was a weak actor in this role (although a fantastic singer), but it almost doesn't matter because everything else about this production is so great.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 10:10pm

I agree that Edelman's complacent Sweeney worked better in the second act. Still, if you're doing Hamlet, and your Hamlet is weak, you've got one giant hole in your production. I feel like that's what happened here. However, for the record, I think Edelman has been very good in other roles--just not this one.

Larry Adams and Catherine Lord are the understudies.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 10:52pm

I have to disagree with the Hamlet compmarison--Sweeney, while he holds the title, isn't supposed to carry the show alone, that job is shared with Mrs. Lovett, and Liz McCartney is just amazing in the role. For me, what ultimately makes or breaks Sweeney Todd is how thrilling the end sequence is (I refer to the last twenty minutes, starting with the letter, as the end sequence), and it was as thrilling as ever. That said, I would have preferred to see someone else as Sweeney, but I still thought it was a really strong production, overall. It was very fun, and while Edelman wasn't great for most of the first act, that part really flew by and what often seems like a very long time before intermission (act one runs close to 90 minutes, right?) felt like just an hour. To sum it all up, I don't think the production fell apart because of a somewhat-disappointing Sweeney, because everything else about the production held it together so well.

Slightly off-topic, but I completely agree with JoeKv about Drury Lane--I saw Ragtime there last year and bought tickets to another performance the following week. That was one really outstanding production in nearly every way, deserving of all those Jeff Awards it one. At any rate, this production of Sweeney is leaps and bounds better than those productions of Beauty and the Beast and West Side Story that Broadway in Chicago was charging double the price for.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 11:41am

I liked it, a lot, but it was unpolished and Edelman's Sweeney was underpowered. He was more bothered than filled with vengeful obsessive rage. Still, a fun night.

Posted: 9/4/11 at 10:34pm

Just got back and thought it was amazing. I thought Edelman was great. Sweeney was constantly thinking of revenge- I loved how he & McCartney interacted. No matter what she rattled on about he was off looking into middle distance and he as figuring how to kill the judge. It really worked.

I can't help but contrast this with the revival- Sweeney really is an excellent show. It doesn't need a concept or a gimmick- just cast it well and put on the show. The audience around me was RIVETED. I thought the woman next me was giving birth- she gasped, twitched, leaned, jumped- I saw the tour with in a big house and you could feel the boredom coming off the crowd in waves.

[broadwaydanwi]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 8:36pm

I saw SWEENEY TODD Sunday afternoon, and I thought it was the best production ever on Drury Lane's stage! Gregg and Liz offered new, realistic takes on the leads. I especially loved Sweeney's "customized" barber chair. Instead of using a slide or chute to lower his victims to the bake house, the bottom of his chair fell away and the corpses flew "bottom first" to the floor. The effect was only used twice, and it drew gasps from those in the audience who are familiar with how the task was accomplished in the past. The guys who performed this stunt were given special training, and it was not used with the older actor playing Judge Turpin. After Sweeney killed the Judge, his slumped body remained in the chair. It was also weird to hear a few people in the audience applaud the Judge's demise. After the applause, there was definitely a wave of nervous laughter in the house! This was a SWEENEY TODD I will never forget. Just amazing!

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 10:34pm

I guess Edelman's Sweeney has changed a bit. When I saw it, I understood that he was feeling distanced and never part of the moment with Mrs. Lovett, but it made everything fall flat. Everything he did up until Epiphany was just as if any random person walked up and said the lines clearly.

I didn't notice that about how the bodies fell, but I suppose that makes sense. I appreciated seeing the shadows of the bodies falling down. But that made for awkward moments when you could see Judge Turpin and the ensemble member in the chair at the end of God That's Good walking down the stairs and offstage in blackout. But, broadwaydanwi, I have to ask, did you see Drury Lane's Ragtime? As much as I loved this production of Sweeney, Ragtime was basically perfect.

[broadwaydanwi]

Posted: 9/6/11 at 7:20am

At Drury Lane, I have seen SOMETHING'S AFOOT, 2007; MAME, 2008; CURTAINS, 2009; SUGAR, 2010; and SWEENEY TODD, 2011. I guess I'm in the habit of seeing a yearly show in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois! No, I did not see RAGTIME. I liked all the shows except SUGAR. I did not care for the overall concept of watching a movie being filmed of a musical SOME LIKE IT HOT. The concept got in the way of telling the musical's very funny story.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 9/6/11 at 9:23pm

This is a no-brainer. If you're in the area, get to Oak Terrace somehow and see this show. We saw it Saturday and enjoyed every moment. The only other production of Sweeney we had seen was the tour of the last revival. Being able to see a full-fledged production (with a real orchestra!) was a revelation. Everything about this was topnotch, with McCartney being the standout. I didn't mind Edelman's somewhat sedate performance and just saw it as a different take on the role (his singing was outstanding). I agree that the last 20 minutes was breathtaking.....the entire audience was transfixed.

It is tricky to get there. We didn't want to deal with the astronomical parking rates in Chicago, so opted to take a cab instead of rent a car. Even though it was about 60 bucks one way from downtown, we still considered it a bargain (you can't beat 7th row center tickets for $50!). BTW, is the Drury Lane orchestra always this good?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/6/11 at 10:00pm

After a relatively long stint with Sweeney in the very early 90s (with our own wonderwaiter as Tobias!) including the longest rehearsal period I've ever experienced, I sort of had my fill of the show.

BTW, is the Drury Lane orchestra always this good?

I honestly don't remember. Curtains was a REALLY BAD first exposure to the place and granted, we only saw the first act. Not to mention I was sort of baffled by the rather bizarre suburban "casino" layout of the facilities. The whole experience was just weird. I'm not trying to be so judgmental, but I didn't know what to expect and what I experienced was nothing I could have expected.