This tasty, thrilling, theatrical treat by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler has simultaneously shocked, awed and delighted audiences across the world. The show’s Broadway premiere received eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Seeking vengeance for crimes committed against him, Sweeney Todd returns to London, where the road to revenge leads him to Mrs. Lovett, a resourceful proprietress of a failing pie shop, above which he opens a new barber practice. Mrs. Lovett’s luck sharply shifts when Todd’s thirst for blood inspires the integration of an ingredient into her meat pies that has the people of London lining up... and the carnage has only just begun!

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

Please note that this production is rated PG-13 due to mature content, which includes scenes of physical and sexual violence, along with theatrical fog and a gunshot effect.

About the production

For just the third time in more than two decades, the Department of Theatre and Dance at Appalachian State University will join forces with the Hayes School of Music for a production that showcases their combined talents.

James Douthit, dean of Appalachian's Hayes School of Music, is pleased to see the the students and faculty working jointly to make the production a reality.

“This collaboration with the Department of Theatre and Dance offers our students the opportunity to participate in the production of a musical with their colleagues who are pursuing their interests and passions in those arts,” he remarked. “The infusion of Hayes School of Music into this project allows students in theatre and dance the opportunity to work with student and faculty musicians. The combined efforts yield a production not to be missed.”

Keith Martin, the John M. Blackburn Distinguished Professor of Theatre, is stage director for the production, which involves 105 Appalachian students onstage, in the pit or behind the scenes, including 45 on the production crew, 31 in the orchestra and 29 cast members. The show is even larger than the last collaborative effort four years ago, “Kiss Me, Kate!”

“This musical was first proposed for production by our students, and it is always a pleasure to work with them on a show they really want to do,” said Martin, while noting that final approval of the selection was made jointly by the Department of Theatre and Dance and the Hayes School of Music.

Dr. Mélisse Brunet, assistant professor and director of orchestral activities, is the music director and conductor, Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera Dr. Gennard Lombardozzi serves as vocal coach and Dance Studies Professor Dr. Ray Miller is the choreographer. Theatre faculty members Mike Helms, John Marty and Sue Williams are designing the sets, lights and costumes, respectively, Matt Tyson is the technical director and Jennifer Ackland is the costume shop supervisor.

Appalachian theatre design/technology majors holding prominent production responsibilities are stage manager Christina Donovan, a senior from Cary; sound designer Rachel Scherer, a senior from Athens, Ohio; properties designers Morgan Patterson, a senior from Mooresville and Roxanne Waddell, a junior from Winston-Salem; make up designer and assistant costume designer Newman Jones, a senior from Rocky Mount; assistant lighting designer Tim Travis, a senior from Durham; assistant technical director John Bell, a junior from Fuquay-Varina; and master electrician Lizzy Vazquez, a senior from Creedmoor. Holli Benfield, a junior general theatre major from Greensboro, is assistant stage director and junior dance major Sabrina Furchess from Lexington is serving as assistant choreographer and dance captain.

The title role of Sweeney Todd is being played by Joshua Hobbs, a junior music industry studies major from Boone with senior music education major Sidney Ginn, also from Boone, as his leading lady, Mrs. Lovett. Sophomore theatre performance majors Sophie Weiner and Devon Bucey, both from Charlotte, portray the ill-fated lovers Johanna and Anthony. The role of the villainous Judge Turpin and his trusted Beadle are played by sophomores Richard Moore, a theatre performance major from Charlotte, and Trevor Neal, a music performance major from Greensboro. Junior Roy Dale Cox, a political science and theatre performance double major from Birmingham, Alabama plays the role of Adolfo Pirelli, while sophomore Zoe Dean, a theatre performance major from Carthage, plays Pirelli’s able assistant, Tobias. Senior theatre performance major Mackenzie Smith from Concord, portrays the pivotal role of the Beggar Woman.

Inside the World of “Sweeney Todd”

A Look at Dramaturgy in Theatre

April 6, 2018

A team of student dramaturgs, working under the tutelage of Dr. Derek Davidson, assistant professor of theatre arts, has been hard at work for more than a year leading up to the production of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

Read the story