Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the brilliant Tony Award-winning musical thriller by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler (book), opens at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre on July 14. This deliciously macabre and witty tale of a throat-slitting barber and his enterprising accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, who grinds his victims into meat pies, runs through August 6. Clive Cholerton directs and Emmanuel Schvartzman, making his PBD debut, is the musical director.
The musical was inspired by Christopher Bond’s play of the same name, which was a retelling of a British melodrama that dates back to 1847. The character of Sweeney Todd first appeared in 1846, introduced in a story called The String of Pearls that was serialized in a British penny dreadful for 18 weeks. That story was then adapted for the stage, and Sweeney Todd became part of British culture. During the ensuing 125 years, there were various theatrical productions, two silent movies, a 1936 film, and a 1959 ballet.
One of Sondheim’s goals from a dramatic standpoint was to not kill a character when the audience was expecting that person to be killed – and to kill someone when the audience wasn’t expecting it to happen. The audience’s expectations rise and fall with his score, which ranges from hauntingly beautiful to funny and clever to hair-raising.
Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30PM
Friday and Saturday at 8PM. Matinees are Wednesday
Saturday, and Sunday at 2PM.
Individual tickets are $67 (including opening night), preview tickets are $46, and those 18-40 years old pay their age.
Student tickets are available for $15; tickets for educators are half price with proper ID (other restrictions apply).
Group rates for 20 or more are also available.
Don & Ann Brown Theatre
201 Clematis Street
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
www.palmbeachdramaworks.org.
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