Stage Review - Ingvar! A Musical Furniture Saga (Latitude Theatre)

Stage Review - Ingvar! A Musical Furniture Saga
Presented By: Latitude Theatre @ TPS Center Theatre - Seattle, WA
Show Run: July 26 - August 24, 2025
Date Reviewed: Saturday, July 26, 2025 (Opening Night)
Run Time: 2 Hours, 15 Minutes (including a 15-minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

You’d think I would have learned by now. Never judge a book by its cover and never judge a play, or in this case a musical, by its title. When I first saw that Ingvar! A Musical Furniture Saga was coming to the stage, my first inclination was to think “Ok, this will be fun, farcical, and nothing more than just some summer fluff”. The story of Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of that Swedish staple of American consumerism IKEA, is surely just a musical without any substance, something meant to present fan service to those of us who have grown up purchasing mid-range quality furniture in flat boxes that we take home to curse at during its assembly. What I found, though, after seeing the Latitude Theatre production on stage this past opening Saturday, was honestly quite the opposite. Ingvar! A Musical Furniture Saga is a smart and satirical look at the store’s complicated founder, told with humor that sits on top of, though never suppresses, its underlying messages, messages that include the dangers of capitalism run amok, consumerism with a fervor that borders on religious worship, the balance of progress and sacrifice, and the myth of the perfect self-made man, but rather we’re all complicated humans that can easily be led astray by the attraction of power. Ingvar! is at the same time a history lesson and a modern day parable that is important to our current time, when the value of a person is judged largely by the amount of money and “things” that they own, well at least in some powerful circles. It presents a caricature of a Sweden that many point to as fact, poking fun at both what IKEA and its home country have sold as their cultural reality, and it does all of this with a cornucopia of musical styles, from Scandinavian folk to musical theatre satire, from minimalistic melodies to large choral numbers, all performed magically by a cast of supremely talented vocalists and actors. What I originally perceived as a write-off fun night at the theatre, I now declare to be the theatrical event of the summer, it’s something everyone should see and, indeed, experience.

The path that Ingvar! took to get here wasn’t an easy one, nor a quick one. Writers Erik Gedeon and Klas Abrahamsson were approached by a theatre in Germany over 15 years ago to write a play with a Scandinavian theme, and over a lunch meeting came up with the idea for the first version of Ingvar!. Strangely enough, the first production of the musical was a translation, from Swedish, which the pair wrote the piece in, to German. It wasn’t until a little later that it premiered in their native Sweden, and later still when Ann Henning Jocelyn was approached by her agent to prepare a translation into English, 2018 to be precise. Fast forward seven years and the world premiere of the English translation is running on stage right here in Seattle, presented by Latitude Theatre, directed by the company’s Artistic Director Christopher Kidder-Mostrom, and running through August 24. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Christoper, Ann, and Klas to talk about the history of the musical, the translation, and this current production in the latest episode of Behind the Curtain with The Sound on Stage (scheduled to be released on Thursday, July 31), where each go into much greater detail about their work than I’ve covered here. Each part of the Ingvar!’s creation and growth is fascinating and I implore you to watch the interview to learn more about it.

The story itself begins with a group of stockbrokers facing their collective loss of hope after a collapse in the market. In an attempt to raise some hope from the ashes, they turn to the one person they know who personifies perseverance and the success it can bring, Ingvar Kamprad. The group recreates his story, from the arrival of his grandparents into Småland, Sweden, through his modest birth, a childhood in which he shows the first signs of the future entrepreneur the world came to know, and finally the creation of IKEA and his leadership of the company. The narrative, which is entirely sung through, by the way, calling on influences from opera and musicals such as Les MIs, as an example, presents a complex individual, someone who publicly presents one version of himself, while at the same time maintaining a less than altruistic life behind the scenes. He’s part innovator and part salesman, and fully responsible for building one of the most popular brands in the world. The actors in Ingvar! A Musical Furniture Saga are called upon to play any number of parts in support of the lead character, from the aforementioned investors, to Ingvar’s relatives, his employees, and even pieces of inexpensively manufactured furniture, each with a different personality and each requiring the actors to perform challenging vocals while understanding how to deliver the satirical and playful tone of the musical.

The cast that Christopher has assembled for this production has some true superstars in it, starting with Ingvar himself, Brian Pucheu. Brian is so good as the title character, a layered and complicated man who is so interested in being good that he loses sight of what is right. He’s hilarious in portraying Ingvar as a baby, determined in the presentation of his youthful and budding entrepreneurship, and a master in conveying the cunning innovativeness of the man who created and grew IKEA to what we all know it is today. His singing is superb, but some of his best moments are in the background while the ensemble of office workers and pieces of furniture dance around him. He interacts with the chairs and bookcases, creatively represented through Kilah Williams’ functional and sturdy costumes, in a natural, fun, and sometimes uncomfortably comedic way. Overall, Brian’s is a top notch lead performance that brings the audience into the character of Ingvar, has them cheering him on, later questioning their allegiance to him, and finally coming to an understanding of this complex, driven, and flawed human.

One of those pieces of furniture, called Ruth, is played by the incredibly talented Sophia Emanuel. Ruth is actually the IKEA Poäng chair (originally called Poem) in human form, well sort of. It’s Sophia, but wearing the frame of the chair as a costume, and it’s an hysterical portrayal of the one piece that Ingvar Kamprad famously had an affinity for. That affinity is played out by Brian and Sophia through a bit of amusing sexual tension between the man and his chair. But Sophia’s performance in this musical goes far beyond just playing Ruth. The audience’s introduction to her, and particularly her stunningly beautiful voice is immediate and unlike anything that anyone has probably seen on stage here before. The show, and this striking performance, begins with Keening. Keening is an intense form of wailing, a mournful lament that here represents the stockbrokers’ feelings of the loss of hope in the wake of the financial crash, but it’s the perfect application for Sophia’s vast experience as an opera singer. In fact, the show is bookended by this form of intense and powerful lament. It’s a spectacular display of vocal ability, and when the other aspects of her performance are added in, the expressiveness in her character’s mannerisms, her comedic timing and stage presence, it all adds up to a remarkable and memorable turn.

The entire cast that Christopher has assembled here is quite good. Max Lopuszynski brings his usual mastery of character performance, who, like Sophia, plays a piece of furniture (the bookcase Matthew) among so many other characters. Each of these actors, other than Brian, who play multiple characters, are called upon to move in and out of scenes, on and off stage, and they all execute this movement with a good deal of precision. In fact, Christopher’s direction and choreography provide a lot of movement for these actors, and how well it all works speaks to their preparation, as well as their talent. Other highlights in the supporting group include Skye Farrell’s turn as Johannes, a role in which he takes a narrative role for periods within the show, Noah Fletcher as Marcus, in an extremely strong performance showing off his excellent vocal ability, and Caitlin Frances as Judith. I especially like Caitlin’s work here, she brings an incredible presence to bear and a high level of talent that informs every aspect of her performance. The rest of the ensemble is strong as well, including good work from Sofia Ayala (Magdalena), Ankit Madhira (Lucas), Amy Burr (Esther), and Elizabeth Wynn (Lotta). Together this is a group that delivers musically and comedically, while capturing the underlying messages of the story.

Before the show begins, it’s the set that stands out. The stage itself is painted to resemble a stock market graph, its arrow curiously pointed in a downward direction, though when the musical begins, it makes sense. Designed by Jaiden Clark, the overall set contains a nod to Sweden, through its use of blues and yellows, is structured to support the movement that Christopher has designed in the show, and is versatile in how it presents the odd surprise that happens in the show. As the story unfolds, Gwyn Skone’s creative lighting adds to the mood of the scenes throughout, and Amber Granger’s sound work keep a good balance among the actors and the live band. Musically, the entire show is solid, it’s mixture of musical styles is matched only by that of the choreography in the show, which varies from Scandinavian folk-inspired dances to a nod to Les Mis in the closing of the first act. The musical begins with Sophia’s Keening, a solitary performance, transitions into a high-energy ensemble driven show that doesn’t let up until its very end. Klas and Erik have built a solid foundation of the story, Ann has provided a translation that doesn’t lose any of the heart of the original source, and Christopher has designed and has cast a show that brings this layered story to life in such a wonderful way.

Ingvar! A Musical Furniture Saga is the must-see theatrical experience of the summer. There’s no sense in burying the lead when a show is good, and this one most certainly is. The story of IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad took a bit of time to come to American shores, but now that it has in the English translation’s world premiere presented by Latitude Theatre, it could very well populate like IKEA’s stores themselves. The story is extremely entertaining, it’s funny, it’s educational, and it’s smartly constructed in layers that present a different (perhaps) view of the pitfalls of capitalism and consumerism, a perspective that is as important to consider today as it has ever been. Directed by Christopher Kidder-Mostrom, the show has a simple but effective design and cast of superb actors who are talented both vocally and comedically. Ingvar! is a show with a widely relatable story and a performance quality that stands up against anything else out there. I suggest not to just take my word for it, though, see it yourself, you won’t regret it.

Ingvar! A Musical Furniture Saga, presented by Latitude Theatre, runs on the TPS Center Theatre stage through August 24. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://latitudetheatre.org/index.html.

Photo credit: Elizabeth Ogle