Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Be all that as it may, you still have one of the greatest scores ever penned, sung by performers who can rise to its musical demands and with a distinguished Todd as its anchor. There is a counter for meat pies. There is a history here of what matters in our town."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...In Theo Ubique's ambitious staging, director Fred Anzevino's cast delivers a chamber version of the show, economically packed into the No Exit Cafe's ultra-intimate Rogers Park confines. There are problems, but the cast attacks the material with apt ferociousness. And in Philip Torre's brooding, ghoulish Sweeney Todd, Anzevino has a baritone worthy of the epic role."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Director Fred Anzevino encourages the 13 cast members and four musicians to use every available square inch in the room—even the hall leading to the bathrooms. The result is electrifying and terrifying. The close quarters amp up the show’s pathos; it's hard not to feel characters' pain when they’re only an arm’s length away. Philip Torres is truly disturbing as the homicidal Sweeney. And Jacquelyne Jones’s Mrs. Lovett seems so real, and so worthy of love, you easily forgive her for baking Sweeney’s victims into her meat pies."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Philip Torre stars as the titular Demon Barber of Fleet Street. On top of a sternum-rattling bass. Torre brings a rough crudeness to his Todd that befits the jagged path of destruction he wreaks. His Sweeney starts as a big, sad-eyed lug, but when he turns to the dark side, he almost turns into Jason Voorhees: a lumbering, slashing death machine."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...As TheoUbique prepares to leave its home at No Exit Café in Rogers Park, heading further North to the border ( Evanston side of Howard Street), they are doing a production that will definitely leave its mark! Their production of “Sweeney Todd :The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is an absolutely amazing one, to say the least."
WTTW - Highly Recommended
"...Talk about going out with a bang. Before it moves to a new home (and before it presents a farewell revue of its greatest hits in the magical 55-seat Rogers Park storefront space it has inhabited for the past 14 years) Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre is presenting one final full-blown musical – a blazing, fully immersive production of the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler classic, “Sweeney Todd.”"
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd and be prepared to shiver and cheer. Theo Ubique, under the inspired guidance of Fred Anzevino, is unquestionably a storefront theatre company that continually tops itself with every new production. This may be the theatre’s swan song in the No Exit Cafe, but the company will undoubtedly be just as grand next season in their new Evanston home. Fred Anzevino has assembled for this production a topnotch cast of musical actors, made even better by the contributions of a gifted production team. And, as usual, the audience may choose from a selection of delicious food and beverages, to make the evening a true dinner theatre event."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Highly Recommended
"...Musical theatre aficionados really don't know Stephen Sondheim's macabre masterpiece, Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street until...
...they experience the terror from a perch smack dab in the middle of Fleet Street or in the waiting line for one of Mrs. Lovett's meat pies (sans a Waitress-like theatrical aroma, thank God);"
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...Theo Ubique’s Sweeney Todd is an unforgettable, captivating production, one of the best you’ll see of a play that somehow seems to work even better in small scale than it does in large scale. Though the propinquity of the setting forces some concessions (an unseen furnace and a far less elaborate than usual barber chair chief among them), it more than makes up for this in the intimate connection of performers and audience. I simply believed this production more than most I’ve seen of this show, and that’s a high compliment."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...Once again, a small local company in Chicago mounts the rostrum of great theatre! Theo Ubique, in its final musical performances to be held at the No Exit Café, has set itself a high standard and succeeded. The quality of singing (very little electronic amplification) and acting in the troupe was consistent throughout the performance. The dual villainy of the beadle and the judge, played by Kevin Webb and John Leen respectively, bookended the source of Todd’s tragedy, along with the innocent Johanna (Cecilia Iole), his daughter, and Anthony, her love (Nathan Carroll). These four actors helped spin the tension tightly and created a suffocatingly appropriate mood throughout the play."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...However insane the plot may sound, the production more than makes up for it with the operatic/crescendo like music which nicely fills in the gaping plot holes. Adding to the fun is Director Fred Anzevino's decision to skip the stage altogether. The material instead is staged in the aisles, the rafters, everywhere it seems but directly in front of the audience. Handled by a lesser cast this might run the risk of being more campy than entertaining. But here it is downright transformative."
BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended
"...With countless Broadway World Chicago and Jeff nominations, the company, under the watchful eye of artistic director Fred Anzevino (who also directs this production; Jeremy Remey is the music director), has proven time and time again that they are more than capable of raising the expectation of what is obtainable in an intimate, storefront theater. SWEENEY is no exception."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Theo Ubique’s production of “Sweeney Todd,” their last at No Exit Cafe, has its problems. The cast is not particularly inclusive. The question of “why now?” seems to go unanswered, outside of the company’s desire to stage Sondheim’s masterpiece in their longtime home. The intimacy of the staging does not always equal the emotional intimacy that this story demands of its actors. The relationship between Sweeney Todd (masterfully sung by Philip Torre) and Mrs. Lovett (a solid performance Jacquelyne Jones) never quite rises to the score’s volatility."
