Director's Note:
This production will mark the first time that Sweeney Todd will be produced at The Theatre in the Park. What an exciting challenge for all involved!
Sweeney Todd is described by composer Stephen Sondheim, as a musical thriller. It also has a great sense of fun to it, mixing intense drama with hilarious moments of dark humor. Audiences find themselves laughing hysterically in one moment and gasping in surprise in the next.
At the show's core is a challenging musical score of epic proportion. Sondheim's musicals are known for their layers and layers of motifs and meanings. Sweeney Todd is no different. It makes social commentary about who we are as a society, today. This is Sondheim at his best!
The legend of Sweeney Todd means very little in this country, but in native England, Todd is the fictional boggy-man, a cross between the Headless Horseman and Lizzie Borden. Playwright George Pitt's play A String of Pearls or the Fiend of Fleet Street, was first presented in 1847, and the story of the demon barber of Fleet Street has continued to entertain audiences for a century and a half on stage, in film, and in print.
So Please come join us and attend the tale of Sweeney Todd!
We are looking for a talented ensemble of 25 to 35 strong singers/actors to join us on our journey
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
Sweeney Todd/Benjamin Barker
40’s-50’s - Bass-Baritone or Baritone
Morose and brooding, a barber by profession. Returns to London after fifteen years of unjust incarceration in an Australian penal colony to seek revenge first on the corrupt Judge who sent him there, and then simply on whoever proves unfortunate enough to end up in his shop.
Mrs. Nellie Lovett
40’s-50’s - Contralto or Mezzo-Soprano
A cheery and chatty but wholly amoral shopkeeper whose premises and pies are coated in dust and plagued by flies. Would like to be more than merely a landlady to Mr. Todd.
Anthony Hope
20’s-30’s - Baritone or Tenor
A young, naïve sailor who has rescued Todd. He falls in love with Johanna Barker.
Johanna Barker
18-20’s - Soprano
A beautiful young woman. Todd's daughter, but claimed by Judge Turpin as his own ward.
Judge Turpin
40’s-60’s - Bass or Bass-Baritone
A corrupt and depraved official. An upholder of justice who twists the system to serve his own ends.
Tobias Ragg
18-20’s - Tenor
A simple young lad who works first for Pirelli, then for Mrs. Lovett. Does not trust Todd.
Beadle Bamford
40’s-50’s - Tenor/Countertenor
Turpin's right-hand man and accomplice to his crimes.
Beggar Woman/Lucy Barker
40’s-50’s - Mezzo-Soprano
A mad crone with a filthy tongue whose interjections go unheeded. She is eventually revealed to be Lucy Barker, the wife of Sweeney Todd.
Adolfo Pirelli/Danny O'Higgins
30-50 - Tenor
A faux-Italian (truly of Irish descent) flashy barber who attempts to blackmail Todd. As a youngster, worked for Todd for a brief period. (In some productions, can be played by a female but still portrayed as a male character
Additional Ensemble
20’s-60’s - WE need Strong SINGERS!!
Many, many thanks to our 2012 Season Sponsors!
