 Patti
LuPone and Michael Cerveris star in Sweeney Todd.
photo
by Nigel Parry
The factory
whistle shrills on Broadway when the Londoners of Fleet Street return
in a new revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber
of Fleet Street, Oct. 3.
John Doyle,
who staged the original London run, directs the musical which will
open on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Nov. 3.
Sweeney Todd
features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh
Wheeler, drawing from the play by Christopher Bond (itself based
on characters created by British journalist George Dibden-Pitt,
who adapted his 1830s penny dreadful tale into a popular stage melodrama).
The story follows a vengeful barber (Sweeney) in Victorian England
and his neighbor (Lovett) who owns a pie shop that becomes popular
due to a surplus of fresh meat.
This unique
staging casts actor-musicians to retell the story of the Demon Barber
of Fleet Street and company. A cast of ten (with no ensemble) perform
on various instruments ranging from flute, trumpet and clarinet
to cello, accordion and bass in addition to their acting and singing
duties.
Tony Award winner
Michael Cerveris (Assassins) will star in the title role opposite
Tony Award winner Patti LuPone (Evita) as the lovable meatpie-maker
Mrs. Lovett — her first Broadway musical role in 17 years
— for the new Broadway revival.
Cerveris and
LuPone will be joined in the ten-member ensemble by John Arbo (musician
on Good Vibrations) as Jonas Fogg, Donna Lynne Champlin (Hollywood
Arms, James Joyce's The Dead) as Pirelli, Manoel Felciano (Shockheaded
Peter, Brooklyn) as Tobias Ragg, Alexander Gemignani (Assassins)
as The Beadle, Mark Jacoby ( Man of La Mancha, Show Boat) as Judge
Turpin and Broadway newcomers Diana DiMarzio (as Beggar Woman),
Benjamin Magnuson (as Anthony Hope) and Lauren Molina (as Johanna).
The instrument
assignment is as follows: The Beadle - keyboard/trumpet, Beggar
Woman - clarinet, Anthony - cello/ keyboard, Johanna - cello/penny
whistle, Jonas Fogg - bass, Tobias - violin/clarinet/keyboard, Pirelli
- accordion/keyboard/flute, Judge Turpin - trumpet/orchestra bells/
percussion, Mrs. Lovett- tuba/orchestra bells/ percussion and Sweeney
Todd - guitar/orchestra bells/percussion.
A Best Actress
(Musical) Tony Award winner for her turn in Evita, LuPone was last
seen in a musical on Broadway (ironically as Reno Sweeney) in the
1988 revival of Anything Goes — for which she was Tony-nominated.
The actress has remained in the New York spotlight with appearances
in the New York Philharmonic's Candide concert, the City Center
Encores! run of Cole Porter's Can-Can, as well as non-musical turn
for Broadway’s Noises Off, The Old Neighborhood, Master Class
and her concerts Patti LuPone on Broadway and Matters of the Heart.
Cerveris won
a Tony Award for his turn as Booth in the 2004 revival of Stephen
Sondheim's Assassins. The actor has appeared Off-Broadway in Wintertime
and Fifth of July and also earned a Tony Award nomination for his
Broadway debut as the title role in The Who's Tommy. Other stage
credits include Passion, Titanic and the title role in Hedwig and
the Angry Inch.
Tom Viertel,
Steven Baruch, Marc Routh and Richard Frankel will present Sweeney
Todd with the Ambassador Theatre Group (which co-produced the run
with The Watermill Theatre at the West End's New Ambassador Theatre),
Adam Kenwright & Tulchin/Bartner/Bagert Productions for the
new Broadway staging.
Director Doyle
provides his own scenic and costume design with a creative team
that also features Richard G. Jones (lighting), Dan Moses Schreier
(sound), Paul Huntley (hair and wig). David Loud serves as resident
music supervisor, John Miller is music coordinator. Musical supervision
and orchestrations are by Sarah Travis.
Nonesuch —
the company that has previously released Sondheim's Saturday Night,
The Frogs/Evening Primrose, Into The Woods and Bounce — will
put forth the new cast recording for the production. Details and
dates are forthcoming.
The songlist
includes "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," "No Place
Like London," "The Barber and His Wife," "The
Worst Pies in London," "Poor Thing," "My Friends,"
"Green Finch and Linnet Bird," "Ah, Miss," "Johanna,"
"Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir," "The Contest,"
"Wait," "Kiss Me," "Ladies in Their Sensitivities,"
"Quartet," "Pretty Women," "Epiphany,"
"A Little Priest," "God, That’s Good!,"
"Johanna," "By the Sea," "Not While I’m
Around," "Parlor Songs," "City on Fire!,"
"Final Sequence" and "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd."
Tickets for
Sweeney Todd at the Eugene O'Neill, 230 West 49 St. are on sale
by calling (212) 239-6200 or via the link below. For more information,
visit www.sweeneytoddonbroadway.com.
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