ArtsWest Announces SWEENEY TODD

ArtsWest is pleased to announce SWEENEY TODD, Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning musical about a tortured man who carves out a bloody path to vengeance, opening at the ArtWest Playhouse and Gallery on June 1.

Performances will run Thursday through Sunday until July 1.
SWEENEY TODD follows an exiled man who, after returning to the city that cast him out, finds refuge in an abandoned attic barbershop. There he forms an unlikely partnership with the woman downstairs, the pie baker Mrs. Lovett, herself an outcast with an axe to grind against the ruling powers.

When the two hatch a gutsy plan for revenge, the powerful elite - who have for years swept the powerless under the rug - are soon swallowed up by the same hungry masses they worked to oppress.

Adding a new dimension to SWEENEY TODD's timeless story is the casting of an incredibly diverse ensemble of Seattle actors, including leads Sweeney Todd (Ben Gonio, NBC's GRIMM, solo show BOUNDLESS AS THE GREEN EARTH) and Mrs. Lovett (Corinna Lapid Munter, 5th Avenue Theatre's THE SOUND OF MUSIC, THE MUSIC MAN). Co-directors Mathew Wright (recently director of ArtsWest's FROZEN and GHOSTS) and Eric Ankrim (ArtsWest's PETER AND THE STARCATCHER) have developed a bold vision for SWEENEY TODD that places race, oppression and power squarely at the forefront of this new telling.

"SWEENEY TODD is all about class structure," explains ArtsWest Artistic Director and SWEENEY TODD co-director Mathew Wright. "On the surface, it's a classic revenge tragedy - which makes it satisfying - but on a deeper level, it explores the weaponizing of power and control and how that intersects with empathy. That's what makes it a piece for our present moment."

Working alongside co-directors Mathew Wright and Eric Ankrim are Music Director Matt Hohensee (VIOLET), Associate Music Director Steven Tran, and Choreographer Trina Mills (AMERICAN IDIOT). Rounding out the Creative Team are Scenic Designer Christopher Mumaw (MOTHERS AND SONS, FROZEN), Costume Designer Siri Nelson (PETER AND THE STARCATCHER) Lighting Designer Tristan Roberson (PETER AND THE STARCATCHER), Sound Designer Kevin Heard (REALLY REALLY) and Props Designer Andrea Spraycar (GHOSTS, FROZEN).

Creative Team Directed by Mathew Wright & Eric Ankrim Music Director - Matt Hohensee Associate Music Director - Steven Tran Choreographer - Trina Mills Stage Manager - Melanie LeDuc Lighting Designer - Tristan Roberson Costume Designer - Siri Nelson Scenic Designer - Christopher Mumaw Sound Designer - Kevin Heard Cast Ben Gonio - Sweeney Todd Corinna Lapid Munter - Mrs. Lovett Jeff Church - Judge Turpin John Han - Tobias Ragg Emilie Hanson - Johanna Barker Jimmie Herrod - Beggar Woman Jon Lee-Vroman - Beadle Bamford Jordan Iosua Taylor - Anthony Hope Nick Watson - Adolfo Pirelli Leslie Wisdom - Jonas Fogg About the Production SWEENEY TODD plays June 1 - July 1, 2017 at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery (4711 California Ave SW, Seattle WA 98116).

Tickets (ranging from $19 - $39.50) may be purchased online at www.artswest.org, by phone at 206.938.0339, or at the Box Office Thurs. - Sat. 2 -7:30pm. Press Information Press tickets are available Opening Weekend, June 1 - 4. Please contact Michael Wallenfels at michaelw@artswest.org to arrange. Photos available by request - Michael Wallenfels- michaelw@artswest.org. Full production photos available by June 5. Photo credit to John McLellan.

About ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery ArtsWest is a vibrant center for both performing and visual arts located in the West Seattle Junction. This 149-seat theatre provides a unique setting for audiences and artists as stories of human emotion unfold in an intimate space. Winner of the American Theatre Wing's 2012 National Theatre Company Award, ArtsWest has produced such diverse work as Evil Dead: The Musical, Little Women, this fall's critically acclaimed production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts and the smash hit Peter and the Starcatcher. ArtsWest produces artistic events that provoke conversation, incite the imagination and use live theater as a powerful agent of change. www.artswest.org

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