Musical Thriller ‘Sweeney Todd’ Comes to Campus

10/07/2009 

Broadway's diabolical musical thriller, "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," will be presented by the Performing Arts Department for six shows at the Dowd Fine Arts Center Theatre beginning Oct 23. This acclaimed musical, with book by Hugh Wheeler and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, won all the major awards in 1979 and has been revived on Broadway twice since then.

"Sweeney Todd" has been produced by both theatre and opera companies around the world and was turned into a powerful film by director Tim Burton in 2008 starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman.

Performances are at 8 p.m. on Oct. 23, 24, 30 and 31 with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1. Tickets are on sale at Jodi's Hallmark Shop on Main Street, Cortland, and at the door before each performance.

Prices are $16 for general public, $14 for senior citizens and SUNY faculty and staff and $7 for all students. Because of the subject matter and the graphic violence involved in the tale of Sweeney Todd, the musical is recommended for mature audiences only.

This production is partially funded by The Cortland Fund and the Cortland College Foundation. More information about the musical and this season's other events can be found at www.cortland.edu/performingarts.

Victorian London is in the shadow of the Industrial Revolution as the barber Todd (Doug Robbins) sets out to get revenge for the wrongs done to him by the corrupt Judge Turpin (Skylar Winter). In the process, Todd loses his reason and goes on a killing spree, the victims turned into meat pies for public sale by the crafty Mrs. Lovett (Rebecca Rozzoni). Among the other characters involved in the thriller are the judge's innocent ward Johanna (Kara Howard), the sailor Anthony (Anthony Festa) who loves her, the villainous henchman called the Beadle (John McAvaney), the greedy Italian barber Pirelli (Tim Fuchs), his abused assistant Toby (Ryan McDonald), and the prophetic old Beggar Woman (Kimberly Moore).

The Cortland production is directed and choreographed by Kevin Halpin with musical direction by Richard Montgomery, sets by Howard Lindh, lighting by Joel Pape, costumes by Mark Reynolds and technical direction by Preston Marye.