Jackie Maxwell concludes her 14-year tenure as the Shaw Festival's Artistic Director with SWEENEY TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - A Musical Thriller, by legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim. Previews of her production of this compelling musical thriller, with its unusual take on the notion of "eat or be eaten", began its limited run July 17 - with additional matinees already added for October 18 and 19.
Judith Bowden's set and costumes, based on striking images of industrial London, and lighting design by Alan Brodie create a visually haunting continuum between the dimly lit ambiance of 19th-century and contemporary London. Musical director Paul Sportelli conducts the brilliantly complex musical score and sound design by John Lott completes the Fleet Street soundscape. Valerie Moore's choreography interprets and re-imagines the movement of this world.
Exiled for 15 years from family and foe, Sweeney Todd (Benedict Campbell) - a barber by trade - returns to London with the assistance of young sailor Anthony Hope (Jeff Irving). Unbeknowst to them, they are about to become inextricably linked in a tale of love and vengeance with Johanna (Kristi Frank), a beautiful girl, under the care of a corrupt judge (Marcus Nance), who sings through her barred window; a beggar woman with a mysterious secret (Patty Jamieson) and Mrs. Lovett (Corrine Koslo), an irrepressible pie-maker, who puts Sweeney on an irrevocable road to revenge.
SWEENEY TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street also features the talents of Kyle Blair as Adolfo Pirelli, Andrew Broderick as Tobias Ragg and Jay Turvey as The Beadle, with David Ball, Jahlen Barnes, Tess Benger, Starr Domingue, Aaron Ferguson, Charlie Gallant, Billy Lake, Emily Lukasik, Robert Markus, Julain Molnar, Jacqueline Thair, Kelly Wong and Jenny L. Wright.
SWEENEY TODD is on stage at the
Festival Theatre (10 Queen's Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake) from July 17 to October 19 (opening July 30).
The Shaw Festival's 2016 season is on stage April 9 through October 30. The playbill features
Alice in Wonderland,
A Woman of No Importance,
SWEENEY TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,
Uncle Vanya,
"Master Harold" ...and the Boys,
The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God,
Our Town,
Mrs Warren's Profession,
Engaged, and
The Dance of Death.
Tickets for the Shaw Festival's 2016 Season are available through the Box Office at 1-800-511-7429 or online at www.shawfest.com.
The Shaw Festival is a theatre company inspired by the work of Bernard Shaw. The Festival produces plays from and about his era along with contemporary plays that share Shaw's provocative exploration of society and celebration of humanity.
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