Sweeney Todd (2017)

Opening Night: March 1, 2017
Closing: August 13, 2017
Theater: Barrow Street Theatre

Sweeney Todd, an unjustly exiled and imprisoned barber, returns home to Victorian London hungry for revenge. He takes up the tools of his trade again, this time using them to cut throats as well as hair. A neighborhood pie shop proprietress quickly becomes his partner in crime and business. She suggests making meat pies out of Sweeney’s victims, and together the two of them carve out a niche for themselves in the market. Now the Tooting Arts Club is serving up a fresh production of this musical theater classic. This immersive revival has transferred to New York City after a sold-out run in London, where it premiered at Harrington’s Pie and Mash Shop. The Barrow Street Theatre re-creates the pie shop atmosphere, even selling pies on-site. Rest assured, the cook is no relation of Sweeney’s. He is Bill Yosses, a former White House pastry chef whom Obama dubbed “the Crust Master.” With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a musical that never goes stale. It won eight Tony Awards when it debuted on Broadway in 1979. The following year, it opened in the West End. A 2007 film adaptation directed by Tim Burton earned an Academy Award and two Golden Globes.