Christopher Chew and Amelia Broome to Star in SWEENEY TODD at The Lyric Stage; Cast Announced!

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston's 2014-15 Season begins September 5 with Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece SWEENEY TODD, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The musical thriller runs September 5 through October 11, 2014. The opening is set for September 7 at 3 p.m.

SWEENEY TODD features Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and Book by Hugh Wheeler. The Lyric Stage's production is directed by Spiro Veloudos with music director Jonathan Goldberg.

Stephen Sondheim's Tony-Award winning Sweeney Todd, a macabre musical thriller, blends Sondheim's characteristic wit with a sweeping and hauntingly beautiful score, grisly humor, and chilling drama. Set against the backdrop of the shadowy back alleys and side streets of 19th-century London, the musical follows disgraced barber Sweeney Todd on his quest for vengeance after years of unjust imprisonment and exile. With the aid of Mrs. Lovett, the proprietor of failing pie shop, Sweeney sets out to avenge the terrible wrongs done to him and his family.

Single tickets for Sweeney Todd go on sale August 1, 2014. Season subscriptions are on sale now. The Lyric Stage is located at 140 Clarendon Street, Copley Square, Boston, MA 02116. Tickets start at $25; Seniors - $10 off regular price; Student rush - $10. Group rates available. Box Office: 617-585-5678 or online at lyricstage.com. For more about The Lyric Stage, visit lyricstage.com/blog, facebook.com/LyricStageBoston or follow the theater on Instagram: @lyricstageboston.

SWEENEY TODD PRINCIPLE CAST:

Remo Airaldi* (The Beadle) is making his Lyric Stage debut. He has appeared in over sixty productions at the American Repertory Theater, including Lilly's Revenge, Cabaret, Endgame, Oliver Twist (also at Theatre for a New Audience and Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Island of Slaves (IRNE Award-Outstanding Actor), The Miser, Henry IV and V, Waiting for Godot. Other credits: Six productions with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company including this summer's Twelfth Night, The Hound of the Baskervilles (Central Square Theater), Camino Real, Eight by Tenn, No Exit (Hartford Stage), and productions at La Jolla Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, Cirque du Soleil, American Conservatory Theater, Walnut Street Theatre, Prince Music Theater, Actors' Theatre of Louisville, Serious Fun Festival, Moscow Art Theatre, and Taipei International Arts Festival. He is a Lecturer in Dramatic Arts at Harvard University and was the Monan Professor in Theatre Arts at Boston College.

Rishi Basu (Jonas Fogg, Ensemble) returns to The Lyric Stage after appearing in last season's The Mikado and On the Town. Recent credits include Into the Woods, The Grand Duke, The Sorcerer, The Secret Garden, Ruddigore (MITGSP), Rent, Freakshow, The Pillowman, Oliver, An Ideal Husband, And Then There Were None, and Gypsy (Footlight Club), Unspoken Arrangements (Quanapowitt Players), Hair, The Pirates of Penzance (Turtle Lane Playhouse), and Othello (Swanstage Co.). Additionally, he has sung with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the Boston Camerata, and as soloist with the UMass Boston Symphony Orchestra. Originally from Rochester, NY, Rishi studied Economics at Harvard University where he sang with the Harvard Glee Club, the University Choir, and played violin with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra and Bach Society.

Amelia Broome* (Mrs. Lovett) previously appeared at The Lyric Stage in Rich Girl and Kiss Me, Kate. Recent area roles include: Maria Callas in Master Class (New Rep), Spring Awakening, My Old Lady (Gloucester Stage), Steel Magnolias (Next Door Theatre), Next Fall, Adding Machine: a Musical, The Light in the Piazza (IRNE Award, Best Actress), Jerry Springer: The Opera, (SpeakEasy Stage), Two Wives in India (Boston Playwrights' Theatre), I Can't Imagine Tomorrow (Tennessee Williams Festival/ Provincetown), Tea at Five (Worcester Foothills). Film credits include Edge of Darkness. She holds an M.F.A. from Boston University and is currently on the acting faculty at Emerson College. Originally from Georgia, Ms. Broome resides in Wilmington with her husband, John Silberman.

Christopher Chew* (Sweeney Todd) returns to The Lyric Stage having appeared in Working, Man of La Mancha, Urinetown: The Musical, Shakespeare in Hollywood, A Little Night Music (IRNE Award, Best Actor), Sunday in the Park with George, It's All True, Side Show, and The Spitfire Grill. Other Boston area credits include productions at SpeakEasy Stage, Wheelock Family Theater, Hanover Theater, Stoneham Theater, Worcester Foothills Theater, The American Stage Festival, North Shore Music Theater, The Huntington Theater, CentaStage, and the Village Theater Project of which he was a founding member. Christopher earned his B.F.A. in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.A.T. in English from Fitchburg State University, and an Ed.D. from Northeastern University.

Meghan LaFlam (Johanna) is making her Lyric Stage debut. Her recent credits include Spring Awakening (Gloucester Stage Company), The Weaver of Raveloe (A.R.T.'s Oberon), Company (Boston Conservatory). Meghan is a rising senior Musical Theater major at The Boston Conservatory. Originally from New Jersey, she has just returned from London where she studied Shakespearean Acting at R.A.D.A.

Davron S. Monroe* (Adolfo Pirelli) is returning to The Lyric Stage after having appeared in One Man, Two Guvnors, The Mikado, Avenue Q, and Ain't Misbehavin'. Musical theatre credits include: Godspell (Moonbox Productions), Hairspray (Reagle Music Theatre), Dreamgirls, Jesus Christ Superstar, Children of Eden, Songs for a New World (premiere, Key West Symphony, Broadway Across America), Smokey Joe's Café, Cinderella, Streakin'!, a '70s musical revue, Sweet Charity, Brigadoon, and Show Boat. Cabaret: The All Night Strut. Opera: fully staged or concert/scene productions of Carmen, Treemonisha, Porgy and Bess, La finta giardiniera, Rigoletto, Lucia di Lammermoor, La fille du régiment, L'élisir d'amore, Così fan tutte, Die Fledermaus, The Tailor of Gloucester, The Gondoliers, Aida, and Die Zauberflöte. Mr. Monroe premiered the role of Thomas Edison in Juventas's New Music Group production of Light and Power. He has also appeared with many orchestral and vocal organizations such the First Church UU, Belmont, the Brevard Music Center (finalist, Orlando Opera's Heinz Rehfuss Singing Actor Awards), Disney Entertainment's Voices of Liberty, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Key West Symphony (young artist), Houston Ebony Opera Guild, The New England Spiritual Ensemble, New England Voices, the Longy School Orchestra, and many other organizations throughout the greater Boston area.

Sam Simahk* (Anthony Hope) previously appeared at The Lyric Stage in Into the Woods and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other credits include: Miss Saigon (Starlight Theatre), The King and I (Ocean State Theatre), Miss Saigon, (Ogunquit Playhouse), Grease!, (Seacoast Repertory Theatre), and Carousel, Thoroughly Modern Millie, (Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre). Born and raised in Ashburnham MA, Sam is a proud graduate of Emerson College and member of AEA.

Paul Soper* (Judge Turpin) is making his Lyric Stage debut. Paul made his operatic debut in Manon with Houston Grand Opera, and has sung with Boston Lyric Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Naples (FL) and the National Touring Company of New York City Opera. This past season saw Mr. Soper jump in at the last moment to sing the title role of Rachminoff's Aleko with Commonwealth Lyric Theater, to critical acclaim. Other local opera credits of past seasons include Tosca and Don Pasquale (Cape Cod Opera), The Merry Widow and Cosi fan Tutte (Opera Providence), Xerxes (Connecticut Early Music Festival) and Lucia di Lammermoor (Commonwealth Opera). Recent concert and theater credits include Noye's Fludde (Falmouth Chorale), Bach's St. John Passion (Pioneer Valley), Drawn to Death: A Three Panel Opera (American Repertory Theater), The Light in the Piazza (SpeakEasy Stage) and Sweeney Todd (Next Door Theater). Paul is a frequent guest soloist with Boston's Intermezzo Chamber Opera, the Shakespeare Concerts at Jordan Hall, and Chamber Opera of Boston. Twice a Music Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival, Mr. Soper is also a long-time member of Opera-to-Go, New England's interactive and improvisational opera outreach program.

Phil Tayler* (Tobias Ragg) appeared at The Lyric Stage this season in Working and previously in Stones in His Pockets, On the Town, Avenue Q (Elliot Norton, Best Ensemble, W.I.S.E. Award), Big River, Kiss Me, Kate, and Follies. Regional: Carrie, the Musical (SpeakEasy Stage), Spring Awakening (Gloucester Stage), Big River (Arvada Center), Hair (New London Barn Playhouse). Boston-area (select): the title role in Floyd Collins, Of Mice and Men (Moonbox Productions), Marry Me A Little (New Repertory Theatre); LES MISERABLES (Reagle Music Theatre); other Boston-area companies Phil has worked with include Whistler in the Dark, Huntington Theatre Company, Swiss Stage, German Stage, Stoneham Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, Marblehead Little Theatre, Salem Theatre Company, Fiddlehead Theatre Company, Turtle Lane Playhouse, and Orfeo Group. Directing credits: Killer Joe, Dirty Story (The Boston Conservatory). TV: High School Stories (MTV 2). Phil can also be seen in Douglas Farwell Productions commercial One Liner for Hooker Beer, a micro-brewery based in CT. Look for him this spring as Billy Nolan in Carrie the Musical at SpeakEasy Stage.

Lisa Yuen* (Beggar Woman) previously appeared at The Lyric Stage in Into the Woods and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. 7.5 years on Broadway: . . . Spelling Bee (Original Broadway Company), Miss Saigon. National tours: The King and I, Flower Drum Song, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Pirates of Penzance. Lisa has performed Off-Broadway (Second Stage and York Theatre), in over 40 regional productions nationwide (including Paper Mill Playhouse, The MUNY, PCLO, Sacramento Music Circus), at Carnegie Hall, and at Lincoln Center. TV and film credits include Woody Allen's upcoming film, Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, All My Children (23 episodes as "Rachael"), As the World Turns (8 episodes), Body of Proof, Today Show, and The Martha Stewart Show. Local theatres include North Shore Music Theatre, Theatre by the Sea, Wheelock Family Theatre, New Rep, Fiddlehead, and Foothills Theatre. Lisa sends big love to her husband, Kevin, their two-year-old twins, and her mom, Vanita. B.A. from UCLA.

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THE 2014-15 SEASON ALSO INCLUDES:

DEAR ELIZABETH

by Sarah Ruhl, directed by A. Nora Long, Sept. 5 - Oct. 11

THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST'S WIFE

by Charles Busch, directed by Larry Coen, Oct. 17 - Nov. 9

RED HOT PATRIOT: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins

by Margaret and Allison Engel, directed by Spiro Veloudos, Jan. 2-31

featuring Karen MacDonald as Molly Ivins

INTIMATE APPAREL

by Lynn Nottage, directed by Summer L. Williams, Feb. 13 - Mar. 14

LIGHT UP THE SKY

by Moss Hart, directed by Scott Edmiston, May 8 - Jun. 6

plus one more show to be announced soon.

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