Sweeney Todd

• Directed by Shawn Roy with UL Lafayette Opera Theatre
• Conducted by Dr. William Hochkeppel with the UL Lafayette Wind Ensemble
• Sets by Shannon Miller (UL Performing Arts Department)
• Costumes by Kendra Weeks (UL Performing Arts Department)
• Co-director and Choreographer: Miguel Ochoa (UL SOM alumni)

UL Lafayette Opera Theatre, Wind Ensemble, and Performing Arts will open Stephen Sondheim’s twisted tale of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Shawn Roy (Sweeney Todd) as the demon barber and Beth Brooks (Mrs. Lovett) as his obsessed accomplice. Truly operatic in scope, Sweeney Todd will make its Lafayette debut with enormous theatrical impact through its powerful music, conducted by William Hochkeppel, and larger-than-life characters.

Created by the Tony Award winning team of Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler (book) and based on an adaptation by Christopher Bond, this masterpiece of suspense invites audiences to attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. While the characters in Sweeney Todd may be shocking, they are also intensely human. Each is seeking love and acceptance in a changing, challenging world. There are the young lovers, Anthony (Ben Adams) and Johanna (Natalie Bodkin); a faux-Italian barber, Pirelli (Sean Cormier); Mrs. Lovett (Brooks), down on her luck and a bit long in the tooth, but ever optimistic that she’ll find love at last; the sinister Judge Turpin (Daniel Palmintier) who turns Todd’s life upside down; and Todd (Roy) himself whose single-minded pursuit of revenge comes face to face with the judge. Can he avenge his family before their dastardly deeds are uncovered?