Sweeney Todd is a complicated and dramatic musical by one of America’s most accomplished composers. But more than that, it is the twisted tale of a tortured soul enacting an elaborate revenge scheme.
Theatre of Gadsden and Gadsden State Community College are staging Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the tale of the Victorian-era murderer of those who came for a haircut and a shave, for performances from Sept. 25 to Oct. 4.
It is, the musical’s director Skylar Wheat said, perhaps the most challenging musical involving Sondheim’s most difficult character.
“When I stepped into this [role], on every page there was another puzzle,” Wheat stated.
Jason Wright, who grew up in Anniston, plays the title character. It is his first role with Theatre of Gadsden, but not his first musical.
“This is a daunting task,” Wright said. “I have not played a villain like this. Sweeney is a very particular type of character. Everyone has been wronged in some way in their lifetime and wanted to get justice. I try to approach Sweeney not as a madman, but as everyman.”
Wright said he’s done opera at Jacksonville State, which prepared him in some ways for the technical challenges of the role.
Amanda Hunter, a Gadsden native, plays Sweeney’s business associate Mrs. Lovett, who bakes the barber’s victims into the meat pies that she sells to unsuspecting customers. For her, the music is the bigger challenge.
Hunter said she played in the musical when she was 17, and Sweeney Todd marks a kind of comeback for her, as it is her first show in about 15 years.
“This is not the same youthful brain that used to memorize all these things,” she stated, “but jumping back in has been like riding a bike. I’m excited to stretch myself.”
She got back into theatre because of her friendship with Wheat. She also wanted the chance to work with Wright.
“It’s a very difficult and complex show — and very rewarding,” Hunter said.
She sees Mrs. Lovett as wanting to assuage some of Sweeney’s rage but in “her own way, whether that may be helpful or not.”
“She has her own goals, but she sees the darkness that’s overtaking Sweeney.”
The show runs from Sept. 25 through Oct. 4 at Wallace Hall on the Gadsden State Community College campus. To get more information or tickets, visit the website at www.theatreofgadsden.org.
Article submitted by Theater of Gadsden.
