Kaye to Star in 'Sweeney' Tour; Boston's BAA Season Set

According to a Broadway Across America Boston 2007/2008 season announcement, Judy Kaye will star as Mrs. Lovett in the previously announced national tour of Sweeney Todd, which will launch at the Colonial Theatre from October 23rd through November 4th, 2007.

The Broadway Across America Boston season will also include Broadway hits Wicked, Mamma Mia!, Spamalot, My Fair Lady, Avenue Q, and The Drowsy Chaperone, as well as Trevor Nunn's My Fair Lady, among other shows.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, the razor-wielding show centers on a barber who seeks revenge upon the man who defiled his wife and stole his daughter. Sweeney hides his crimes with the help of the crafty Mrs. Lovett, who bakes "the worst pies in London."  The revival of Sweeney Todd, on which the national tour is based, ran on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre from November 3rd, 2005 through September 3rd, 2006.  John Doyle (Company) won a Tony Award for his direction of the acclaimed production, in which the actors also serve as the orchestra.  The revival starred Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone, among others.  A film version of Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton, will be released next year.

More casting for the national tour will be announced.  The tour will play engagements in Columbus, Miami, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Portland, Tempe, St. Petersburg and Atlanta, as well.

Kaye, who received a Tony for her work in The Phantom of the Opera and Tony nominations for her performances in Mamma Mia! and Souvenir (which she will soon reprise at the Westport Country Playhouse), previously stepped in for Patti LuPone during the Broadway run of the recent Sweeney Todd revival.  She has also played Mrs. Lovett on numerous other occasions.  Kaye has also appeared on Broadway in Ragtime, Oh, Brother!, The Moony Shapiro Songbook, On the Twentieth Century  and Grease. The Pajama Game, Brigadoon (both at New York City Opera) and Annie Get Your Gun (Paper Mill Playhouse) are among her many regional credits, and she is also an acclaimed concert and recording artist.

Sweeney Todd features music supervision and orchestrations by Sarah Travis, music direction by David Loud, lighting by Richard G. Jones, and sound by Dan Moses Schreier.

The Broadway Across America Boston season is as follows: