Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd, his skin was pale and his eye was odd, and he’s also coming back! According to Deadline, producer Jeffrey Seller and director Thomas Kail, the duo behind Hamilton, are set to revive the Sondheim classic. Currently, the two stars of the show are set to be none other than Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford!
Broadway Journal goes further into detail on the project. Seller is reportedly raising money for the revival, with the intent on testing the waters. The major question is this… can a Sweeney Todd revival float in a world that no longer has Stephen Sondheim?
Josh Groban is currently set to play the titular barber himself. The singer is beloved around the world, his first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum. While he has made several notable appearances in film and television, he is also no stranger to the theater. His debut to that stage was 2003’s Chess, then Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 in 2016. His role in the latter earned him a Tony nomination and an honoree Theatre World Award.
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Annaleigh Ashford is set to play Mrs. Lovett. Ashford has a long career in both the stage and the screen. She is most well known for her role of Betty in Masters of Sex on Showtime. Her major stage credits include 2013’s Kinky Boots and 2015’s You Can’t Take It With You; the first won her a Clarence Derwent Awards and the second earned her a Tony Award for Best Actress!
Kail and Seller go way back with Sweeney Todd. The two were acolytes of director Harold Prince, who directed the original run of Sweeney Todd in 1979! Broadway Journal also confirms that the revival will include a full orchestra for the score. Previous revivals of the production were of a notably smaller scale.
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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was first conceived in the form of penny dreadfuls, notably the story The String of Pearls. The story gave birth to the legendary figure, a barber who murders his customers with a razor. The victims are disposed of by being baked into meat pies by the barber’s partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett, the baker from downstairs.
In 1973, the character was given a more sympathetic role in Christopher Bond’s play. It was here that the demon barber was given a sympathetic backstory. Todd was wrongly convicted of a crime and banished to Australia by a ruthless judge. With Todd away, the judge raped his wife and adopted his daughter. With his family pulled apart, Todd is driven to murder. Bond’s play served as the blueprint for Sondheim’s musical. The show’s book was penned by Hugh Wheeler, with music and lyrics written by Sondheim himself. The first show starred Len Cariou as Todd and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett. The show was a smash hit, taking home eight Tony awards and nine Drama Desk Awards. Sweeney Todd was here to haunt forever!
In 2007, Sweeney Todd was adapted into a film directed by Tim Burton. The film starred Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, with Alan Rickman playing Judge Turpin. The film was well received by critics and audiences alike, winning the Academy Award for Best Art Direction and a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy. Depp also would take home the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
Currently, the hope is to have the show up and ready by spring. Until then, we will have to keep our ears to the door for any more details. Our closest idea to how the show could be is Groban’s special performance from 2015. In the album “Stages” Groban included a medley of the song “Not While I’m Around” from Sweeney Todd and “Children Will Listen” from Into the Woods, another Sondheim show. Groban would perform the medley again in 2020 for the virtual concert Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90’s Birthday Celebration.
