Colleen Winton and Warren Kimmel in Sweeney Todd. Photo by Nicol Spinola.
Vancouver, BC — Just in time for Halloween, The Snapshots Collective presents the ghoulish musical thriller Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street from October 10–31, 2018 at Mrs. Lovett’s Pie Shop in Vancouver’s historic Gastown. In this immersive, site-specific production, audiences will get up close and personal with the demon barber himself. Featuring an incredible cast of accomplished performers, visionary director Chris Adams and award-winning choreographer Nicol Spinola tell the gruesome tale of Sweeney Todd, a tormented man bent on revenge and his unholy alliance with the resourceful pie-maker, Mrs. Lovett. Halloween thrill-seekers will delight in this macabre journey of murder, music, and seriously sinister pies.
“Our production of Sweeney Todd will give audiences a truly unique Halloween experience,” says director Chris Adams. “The production has some shocking surprises that will terrify to your core; however, audiences will be captivated by the incredible singing and acting from start to finish. Tim Burton’s film version of Sweeney featured some incredible costume and set design and we’ve definitely been inspired by his visual aesthetic in our production. I believe that by staging this production within a pie shop, there is no doubt audiences will be drawn into this dark and frightening story of love, loss, and bloody revenge in an undeniably visceral fashion.”
Created by the Tony Award-winning team of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, this masterpiece of musical suspense tells the tale of Sweeney Todd, a barber unjustly imprisoned by the corrupt Judge Turpin who returns to 19th century London after 15 years of Australian imprisonment to take his revenge on the man who took him from his wife and young daughter. Todd’s need for vengeance becomes savagely murderous, and profitable, when he partners with the cunningly clever Mrs. Lovett and opens his new barbershop above her bankrupt meat pie shop. With his busy straight razors and her new “secret” ingredient, their fame grows until Todd comes face to face with the judge. Sondheim’s darkly tuneful score features such classics as ‘Not While I’m Around,’ ‘A Little Priest,’ and ‘Pretty Women.’ Sweeney Todd is an unholy mix of Grand Guignol horror and darkly comic humour.
Sweeney Todd’s cast is made up of a veritable who’s who of the Vancouver theatre scene. Awardwinning actor Warren Kimmel, recently seen as Javert in Arts Club’s Les Miserables (2015), plays the title role. Colleen Winton, seen in countless Vancouver productions, including a scene-stealing turn as Shelly Levene in Classic Chic’s all-female revival of Glengarry Glen Ross (2015), plays the hilariously demented Mrs. Lovett. Alex Nicoll, who appeared in the Arts Club’s production of Once (2018), plays innocent sailor Anthony Hope, who falls in love with the enigmatic Joanna played by Rachel Park, an opera student from the University of British Columbia. Jonathan Winsby, who appeared on Broadway in the Stratford Festival’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar (2012), plays the deceptively charming Adolfo Pirelli.
Rounding out the luminary ensemble are Stephen Aberle as the contemptible Judge Turpin, Damon Calderwood as the snivelling Beadle Bamford, Oliver Castillo as the poor young Tobias, Caitlin Clugston as the secretive beggar woman, Brandyn Eddy as the unfortunate Jonas Fogg, and Jenny Andersen, Erik Gow, Alex Gullason, Vanessa Merenda, Ranae Miller, Kat Palmer, and Julia Ullrich.
Director Adams and choreographer Spinola worked together on Bring On Tomorrow Co’s Ovation-winning production of 13: The Musical (2017). Musical Direction is by Wendy Bross Stuart, who spent 12 seasons with Theatre Under the Stars and has released four albums of Jewish music and written two ethnomusicology books. The creative team includes set designer Sandy Margaret, lighting designer Andie Lloyd, costume designer Emily Fraser, and fight directors Mike Kovac and Ryan Bolton.