The Theatre Company Presents...
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

DATES:
Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 7:30pm
Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 2:00pm
Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 7:30pm
Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 2:00pm

Ticket prices for Members: $8 for adults; $6 for students and senior citizens (with valid ID); and $4 for children 12 and under.
Ticket prices for Non-Members: $10 for adults; $8 for students and senior citizens (with valid ID); and $5 for children 12 and under.

Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond. Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway at the Uris Theatre on March 1, 1979 and ran for 557 performances, starring Len Cariou as Sweeney Todd and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett.

The musical tells the story of Benjamin Barker, alias Sweeney Todd, who returns to London in 1846, after 15 years' transportation on false charges. When he learns from his former landlady Mrs. Lovett that his wife poisoned herself after being raped by the judge who wrongly transported him (Judge Turpin by name), he vows revenge.

A feature film adaptation of Sweeney Todd was released in 2007 with Tim Burton as director. It starred Johnny Depp as Todd (Depp received an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe award for his performance), Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin, and Sacha Baron Cohen as Signor Pirelli. The film received high acclaim from critics and theatregoers and also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy.

Stephen Sondheim believes that Sweeney Todd is a story of revenge and how it consumes a vengeful person. He has asserted, "…what the show is really about is obsession…" and, without revenge, obsession has marked the casting process for The Theatre Company's local production of the play. Through over a week of auditions and callbacks, our director, Jamie Taylor (2011 E. Michael Bishop Award recipient, director of South Pacific), had to sort through dozens of excellent singers and actors to find the cast that he believes will present his vision of the play on the Lyric Theater stage. Taylor posted the following to The Theatre Company's Facebook group:

"Thank You to eveyone who auditioned for Sweeney Todd! We had a tremendous amount of talent that came into the Lyric on all three nights of auditions. As a director, this has definitely been my hardest round of auditions as eveyone gave their all. All but three of the main eight characters have been cast, and I will be notifying eveyone else during the evening, tomorrow, and the days to follow. Here is how the main characters have been cast so far:

• Sweeney Todd - Cameron Carlton
• Mrs Lovett - Julianna Stefanski
• Judge Turpin - Bill Edwards
• Anthony - Dillon Sweeten
• Johanna - Hannah Whorton
• Tobias (Tobi) - Drew McCormick
• Beedle Banford - Clark Middleton
• Adolphus Pirelli - Clint Jones
• Lucy (crazy beggar woman) - Roz Slavik

"I am in the process of notifying the rest of the chorus, and will have the final cast list done after the next round of auditions has determined the final main characters. Thanks again for your time and patience through this grueling process!"

Sweeney Todd will be performed on the Lyric stage on two successive Saturdays and Sundays—the 24th and 25th of March and the 31st of March and 1st of April, 2012. This web page is in its infancy, so be sure to check back for more information as the time for the play draws nearer. To read frequent updates from The Theatre Company of Harrison, also be sure to join the TC group on Facebook!