LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Sweeney Todd: Stephen Sondheim
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The Broadway production of "Sweeney Todd," with Sondheim's music and lyrics and a book by Hugh Wheeler based on the play by Christopher Bond, opened in 1979 and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Its mix of the comic, the dramatic and the macabre held together by Sondheim's movie-like score has had hundreds of productions throughout the world. A highly acclaimed revival is now playing in New York.
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In the character of Sweeney Todd, Bond saw the potential for a tragic figure, although keeping the tone tongue-in-cheek. In a personal interview (1982) Sondheim commented on Bond's character: “Sweeney's Hamlet. They're both eaten up by revenge. Hamlet can't quite take the action, so he is consumed in an existentialist way, Sweeney in a very active way, but they're people who get destroyed by their need for revenge, in both cases justified.” This tragic likeness would not survive critical scrutiny if measured by a strict definition of tragedy, but just the semblance of such qualities raises Bond's play above the level of melodrama.
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As it was originally performed onstage, with all the songs Mr. Sondheim composed for it, “Sweeney Todd” balanced its inherent grisliness with a whimsical vitality. The basic story is a revenger’s tragedy more Jacobean than Victorian, but Mr. Sondheim nonetheless wrings some grim, boisterous comedy out of both the impulse for vengeance and the bustling spirit of commerce. A barber, wronged by a powerful judge, returns to London and sets up shop, cutting throats as well as hair. The bodies of his victims are turned into savory meat pies by Mrs. Lovett, his energetic partner in business and crime. Cannibalism and mass murder as the basis for a hit show — what a perverse and delicious joke.
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LAUREN MOLINA (Johanna) originated the role of Johanna in John Doyle's Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd and is thrilled to be working on this groundbreaking production with new castmembers. She was featured at The Ladies Who Sing Sondheim concert with Barbara Cook and Patti Lupone at the Westport Playhouse. Favorite roles include Gwendolen in Ernest in Love, the Leopard in Just So Stories, and a back-up singer for Sarah Brightman on her La Luna tour. Most recently, Lauren was honored to play a leading role in a new play directed by John Cameron Mitchell. She is ... a singer/songwriter, releasing her first album in 2007, entitled Doo-Be-Doo. She received her BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan and, as an educator, has taught in the theatre department at Marygrove College.
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This is the Tony® Award-winning Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s musical thriller, SWEENEY TODD. The touring production of Doyle’s revolutionary re-imagining of the musical – considered to be Sondheim’s masterpiece – is presented by Dallas Summer Musicals’ Broadway Contemporary Series, starring Judy Kaye (The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!) as Mrs. Lovett and David Hess as the demon barber himself, Sweeney Todd. This exciting and innovative new production features a multi-talented ensemble of ten talented actor/musicians, five from the 2006 Tony® Award-winning Broadway company.
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Tony Award winner Patti LuPone returns to Broadway as Mrs. Lovett in the musical Sweeney Todd. Featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Hugh Wheeler from an adaptation by Christopher Bond, the production is directed and designed by John Doyle, with music supervision and orchestrations by Sarah Travis. Ms. LuPone stars opposite Tony Award winner Michael Cerveris, who plays Sweeney Todd.
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Stephen Sondheim