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Irish Teen Jayne Wisener is Johanna in Sweeney Todd Film
By: BWW News Desk Jan. 02, 2007
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According to the Belfast Telegraph, 19-year old Jayne Wisener will play imperiled ingenue Johanna in Tim Burton/>'s upcoming film version of Sweeney Todd.
Wisener joins the previously announced Johnny Depp/> in the title role, Helena Bonham Carter/> as Mrs. Lovett, Alan Rickman/> as Judge Turpin, and Sacha Baron-Cohen as Pirelli.
Hailing from Coleraine in Ireland, Wisener is a drama student at the Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. "I'm so excited - I still can't believe it. To get the chance to work with such renowned actors is a dream come true. The support and prayer from family and friends has been wonderful...To get to this stage has taken a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck," she stated. Wisener has been performing since the age of five.
According to the article, a spokeswoman for Warner Brothers confirmed the casting.
The film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim/>-Hugh Wheeler classic, directed by />/>Tim Burton/>, will begin filming in February.
Sweeney Todd, which will be a co-production with Warner Bros., marks the 6th collaboration between the Depp and Burton. The previous Burton-Depp films have been Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow.
Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald will partner with Richard Zanuck and John Logan to produce the screenplay adaptation which was written by Logan (The Aviator, Gladiator). A late 2007 release is planned. Paramount will distribute for DreamWorks domestically and Warner Bros. internationally.The Broadway production of Sweeney Todd, with Sondheim's music and lyrics and a book by Wheeler based on the play by Christopher Bond, opened in 1979 and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. "Its mix of the comic, the dramatic and the macabre held together by Sondheim's movie-like score has had hundreds of productions throughout the world," according to press notes. />/>John Doyle/>'s highly acclaimed revival (for which he won a Tony) recently played the Eugene O'Neill Theatre; />/>/>Michael Cer/>veris and Patti LuPone starred.The story of Sweeney Todd is of a wrongfully imprisoned barber in Victorian England who sets out to seek revenge on the judge who imprisoned him. He is helped by Mrs. Lovett/>, who bakes Sweeney's victims into "the worst pies in London."
Photo - Jayne Wisener; picture courtesy of belfasttelegraph.co.uk
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