Sierra Stages Presents SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, July 14- August 6

Sierra Stages continues its 2022 Season with "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, playing for four weekends only from July 16 - August 4, 2022 at the historic Nevada Theatre in Nevada City.

Winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, "Sweeney Todd" is an indisputable masterpiece. Set in 19th-century London and laced with brilliant wit, diabolical humor and extraordinary music, this heart-pounding musical thriller tells the tale of an unjustly exiled barber and his quest to avenge the wrongs done to him and his family by a lecherous judge. Aided by the resourceful pie shop proprietress Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney exacts his sweet, razor-sharp revenge.

Performances of "Sweeney Todd" are on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM, and Sundays at 2:00 PM. All seating is reserved for all performances. For the first two performances on July 14 & 15 (previews), tickets are $25 for all seats. Thereafter, ticket prices are $38 (rows A-H) and $32 (rows J-O). Tickets may be purchased with no additional charge online at sierrastages.org and over the phone by calling Sierra Stages at 530.346.3210. Tickets may also be purchased at the door, subject to availability. For groups of 10 of more, Sierra Stages offers a 10% group rate discount (not applicable to previews). $15 Student Rush tickets (under 25 with a valid student ID) are also sold at the door, subject to availability.

"I have been wanting to do 'Sweeney Todd' ever since I saw the original production several times on Broadway in 1979 and several times in Boston (the first stop on the national tour) in 1981," says music director Ken Getz. "Over the past 40 years, I have seen many other productions of the show and have been steadily working up the nerve to take on the challenge to music direct the show. I finally decided to take it on following our production of 'Cabaret'-an entertaining musical with dark themes-in the summer of 2019. We scheduled 'Sweeney Todd' for the summer of 2020 because I was convinced that we had the talent in our community do justice to the show." Getz adds, "We put together a fantastic cast, production staff and orchestra, and had begun production planning and music rehearsals when COVID-19 struck and uprooted everyone's plans for live theater in 2020. After much consideration of our ability to safely rehearse and present a large musical indoors in the summer of 2022, we decided to move forward with most of the same cast, orchestra and production staff." "Sweeney Todd" is the seventh Sondheim musical presented by Sierra Stages over the past 14 years, following "Side by Side by Sondheim", "Into the Woods", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", "Marry Me A Little", "Company" and "Assassins".

"Sweeney Todd" is directed by Robert Rossman, with music direction by Ken Getz. The cast includes 21 Nevada County actors: Trish Adair, Casey Burke, Christi Colombo, Micah Cone, Heidi Grass, Rebekah Martino, Robert Merchant, Sara Noah, Robert Rossman, Anthony Andino, Audrey Delgado, Rebekah Freeman, Nancy Haffey, Cosmo Merryweather, Ken Miele, Isabella Moore, Tasa Proberts, Kevin Lucas-Ross, Kimberly Shepard, Sam Uelmen, and Kim Wellman. The "Sweeney" orchestra includes local musicians Ken Getz, John Frantz, Ryan Goodpastor, Marni Johnson, Colin Matthewson, Nancy McRay, Steve Nicholson, Kirsti Powell, Dave Riddles, Alexandra Roedder, and Zoe Schlussel. Scenic design is by Teresa Shea, lighting design is by Erin Beatie and Devin Cameron, costume design is by Paulette Sand-Gilbert, sound design is by Greg Cameron, and stage managers are Michele Nesbit and Jilline Henderson.

"Sweeney Todd" is the 43rd full production by Sierra Stages since its establishment as a nonprofit, tax-exempt community theater 14 years ago in 2008. In addition to the 43 full productions, Sierra Stages has partnered with the Miners Foundry Cultural Center since 2013 to present over 40 play readings as part of our "Theater by the Book" play reading series. Sierra Stages is grateful to the Nevada County community for the tremendous financial and other support we have received over the past 14 years. For more information about Sierra Stages, please visit sierrastages.org.

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