Sweeney Todd

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will soon find Randolph Street when Broadway In Chicago presents the new national touring production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street at the Cadillac Palace Theatre from April 23 – May 4.  Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, February 29th at 10:00am by calling 312-902-1400, or going to ticketmaster.com.

This exciting and innovative new production features a multi-talented ensemble of ten actor/musicians, including many who are reprising their roles from the 2006 Tony Award-winning company. 

Sweeney Todd is based on the 19th century legend of a London barber driven to a life of crime after a malevolent judge takes his wife and child from him.  Sweeney’s plan for revenge includes a cutthroat partnership with Mrs. Lovett—an enterprising businesswoman—who is soon producing the tastiest meat pies in London.

Directed and designed by John Doyle, who won the 2006 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for this production, Sweeney Todd features the music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler from an adaptation by Christopher Bond and music supervision and orchestrations by Sarah Travis who won a 2006 Tony Award for Sweeney Todd.

Doyle’s production of Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway in 2005 to universal critical acclaim where it won the Drama League, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, and was awarded a Special Citation by the New York Drama Critics Circle.  It arrived on Broadway from a highly successful London engagement originally staged by the Watermill Theatre, which transferred first to the Trafalgar Studios in London’s West End in July 2004 to wide critical acclaim, then to the New Ambassadors Theatre where it ran for a limited engagement that closed on February 5, 2005.

The original production of Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway at the Uris Theatre (now the Gershwin) on March 1, 1979 in a production directed by Harold Prince.  The musical won eight 1979 Tony Awards including Best Musical of the Year and ran for 557 performances.

Sweeney Todd will have a limited two-week engagement at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph St.) from April 23 – May 4, 2008 and tickets range from $25 - $75.  The performance schedule is as follows: Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 & 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2. On Wednesday, April 30, there is a 2:30 matinee and on Sunday, May 4, there is a 7:30 evening show.