Posted: Monday, November 11, 2013

The University of Evansville Departments of Theatre and Music proudly present the classic Tony Award-winning musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, opening at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 15, in UE’s Shanklin Theatre. Additional performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 16, 21, 22, 23 and at 2:00 p.m. on Nov. 17 and 24.

Exploring the dark side of the 19th-century English social system, this masterful musical thriller, adapted by Christopher Bond, was a smashing success in its 1979 Broadway debut, garnering eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book to Hugh Wheeler, and Best Original Score to Stephen Sondheim. Audiences continue to be drawn to the antics of the vengeful barber and his creepily resourceful neighbor, as they hauntingly plot to slice through London’s upper crust.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is directed by R. Scott Lank, Professor of Theatre, and features an 9-person student orchestra, led by musical director Gregory B. Rike, Professor of Music. Associate Professor of Theatre Eric Renschler, serves as the scenic designer; Professor of Theatre Patti McCrory is the costume designer; Assistant Professor of Theatre Stephen Boulmetis is the lighting designer; Professor of Theatre Diane Brewer is the dramaturg; guest artist Richard Ingraham is the sound designer; Taylor Ely, a senior from San Antonio, Texas, serves as the associate scenic designer; Jessica Haswell, a senior from Marietta, Georgia serves as the associate costume designer; and Hannah Cypress Staelin-Lefsky, a senior from Fort Collins, Colo., serves as the associate lighting designer.

The cast features Austin Lauer, a senior from Louisville, Ky., as Sweeney Todd and Kelsey Miller, a senior from Evansville, Ind., as his pie-baking accomplice, Mrs. Lovett. TJ Baldassare, a sophomore from Westminster, Colo., and Oriana Lada, a junior from St. Paul, Minn., play the young lovers, Anthony and Johanna. Other leading characters in the 22-member cast include Grace Theobald, a sophomore from Louisville, Ky., as Tobias Ragg; Brandon Maldonando, a senior from Lewis Center, Ohio as Judge Turpin; and Robin Coppock, a junior from Richland, Wash., as Adolfo Pirelli.

Ticket prices are $17 for adults and $15 for senior adults, students and UE faculty. UE students may obtain one free student rush ticket beginning at 12 noon on the day of the performance they wish to attend. Three-play subscriptions for the Shanklin Theatre season are available for $33.50 for adults and $29.00 for senior adults. Including the musical Sweeney Todd, a season subscription also include Compleat Female Stage Beauty, by Jeffrey Hatcher, Feb. 21 through March 2, and As You Like It by William Shakespeare, Apr. 4 through 13. Tickets may be purchased by calling (812) 488–2031, Monday through Friday, 12 noon to 5 p.m.

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