Asheville
Community Theatre is opening its 71st season with a musical
masterpiece: Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. This dark and macabre
musical is a portrait of revenge and psychosis told through a musical score
that is nothing short of genius. Asheville Community Theatre’s production of Sweeney
Todd is directed by Jerry Crouch with music direction by Lenora Thom. Sweeney
Todd opens October 7, 2016 and runs through October 30, 2016 with
performances Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 pm and Sunday afternoons at
2:30 pm. Tickets are available online at www.ashevilletheatre.org, over the
phone at 828-254-1320, or in person at the Asheville Community Theatre Box
Office.
This
production will be the first time ACT has produced Sweeney Todd. Director
Jerry Crouch was thrilled to be asked to direct. “I grabbed the LP of Sweeney
Todd the second it hit the record stores in 1979. I knew I was
listening to Broadway history by then and still - arguably - the most famous
Broadway composer, Stephen Sondheim,” said Crouch. “Sweeney Todd offers a
delicious delights of high powered vocals and lower comedy. In between is some
of the most beautiful music to ever grace a Broadway stage.”
The
character of Sweeney Todd is based on an urban legend. Sweeney Todd is London's
mythical murderous “Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and first appeared as a
character in 19th century serials and stories.
“The
mere mention of Sweeney Todd in England is what “The Boogeyman” is to American
kids. He is meant to scare kids into better behavior,” said Crouch. “Massive
research has never turned up any basis in fact for a “real Sweeney Todd” by
that name or any other serial killer who slit the throats of his victims and
used their flesh for meat pies.”
In
the musical, the unjustly imprisoned Sweeney Todd returns to England bent on
revenge against the corrupt judge who sentenced him – a revenge that turns
indiscriminately murderous. He opens a popular new barber practice above a
failing pie shop, and he meets the resourceful proprietress, Mrs. Lovett, who
soon becomes his accomplice when she realizes that adding a new ingredient to
her meat pies has the people of London lining up for more. This Tony
Award-winning musical features one of Sondheim’s darkest and most intricate
scores.
Jerry
Crouch and Lenora Thom are the perfect team to helm Sweeney Todd. Over the
years the partnership of Crouch and Thom have thrilled and entertained ACT and
Asheville audiences to the show-stopping Broadway tunes of Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys & Dolls, Annie Get Your Gun
and Cabaret. They have clocked in
over one hundred musical productions between them.
For
Sweeney
Todd, 78 actors auditioned and Crouch and Thom selected a cast of 34. About
half of the cast is new to the ACT stage, including Steve Parkin who stars as
Sweeney Todd. Parkin has a background in opera and theatre and describes this
as his own "bucket list dream role." After starring in last season’s The Man Who Came to Dinner, Christy
Montesdeoca is making her ACT musical debut as Mrs. Lovett.
Rehearsals
for Sweeney
Todd began in mid-August. Thom and Crouch agree that the secret to a
successful musical is hitting the ground running with two solid weeks of music
(under Thom's sharp eared tutelage) – and for Sweeney Todd, this
includes the nine principals and the chorus of 25. When actors are free from
those music intensives, Crouch is busy staging the songs and scenes in another
part of the theatre.
For Opening Weekend, tickets have been slashed! The Slashed
Ticket is $20.00 for adults, seniors, and students for all three Opening
Weekend performances. Other Opening
Weekend perks include complimentary champagne on Opening Night, complimentary
chocolate on Saturday night, and a talk-back with the cast and crew after the
Sunday matinee.
For
more information about Sweeney Todd or about Asheville
Community Theatre, please visit www.ashevilletheatre.org.
AT A GLANCE
What: Sweeney Todd; Music and lyrics by Stephen
Sondheim; Book by Hugh Wheeler; Based on an adaptation by Christopher Bond
Who: Directed by Jerry Crouch with musical
direction by Lenora Thom
When: October 7-30, 2016; performances Friday and
Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm, Sunday afternoons at 2:30 pm
Where: Asheville Community Theatre, 35 East Walnut St., Asheville, NC 28801
Tickets: $25 Adults, $22
Seniors/Students, $15 Under 17
$20 Slashed Ticket: Opening Weekend Only
Asheville
Community Theatre Box Office
35 East Walnut Street
Downtown Asheville
828.254.1320
Or online
at www.ashevilletheatre.org
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