Just in time for Halloween, Kokandy Productions, in partnership with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, presents SWEENEY TODD IN CONCERT, a one-night event on Saturday, October 19, 2024 at 7:30 pm at Governors State University’s Center for Performing Arts, 1 University Parkway in University Park, Illinois. Tickets ($45 - $90) are available at govst.edu/SweeneyTodd. The concert staging of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s macabre masterpiece features much of the cast from Kokandy’s original production, which received six Jeff Awards, including Best Musical.
The cast includes Brittney Brown (Mrs. Lovett), Ismael Garcia (Beggar Woman), Josiah Haugen (Beadle Bamford), Christopher Johnson (Judge Turpin), Chamaya Moody (Johanna), Patrick O'Keefe (Jeff Award winner, Tobias Rigg), Quinn Rigg (Adolfo Pirelli), Ryan Stajmiger (Anthony Hope) and Kevin Webb (Jeff Award winner, Sweeney Todd). The returning ensemble includes Ethan Carlson, Tyler DeLoatch, Andrew Greiche, Charlie Mann, Nikki Krzebiot, Daniel Rausch and Angela Yu.
Kevin Webb in Kokandy Productions’ revival of Sweeney Todd. Photo by Evan Hanover.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has become a bloody, worldwide success since being awarded eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical for its Broadway premiere. An infamous tale, Sweeney Todd, an unjustly exiled barber, returns to nineteenth century London, seeking vengeance against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife. The road to revenge leads Todd to Mrs. Lovett, a resourceful proprietress of a failing pie shop. Mrs. Lovett’s luck sharply shifts when Todd’s thirst for blood inspires the integration of an ingredient into her meat pies that has the people of London hungry for more. Stephen Sondheim’s and Hugh Wheeler’s tasty, thrilling, theatrical treat has simultaneously shocked, awed and delighted audiences around the world.
Producing Artistic Director Derek Van Barham says, "We always welcome the chance to take another trip to Fleet Street. What an exhilarating opportunity to work with the Illinois Philharmonic, hearing Sondheim's score with a full orchestra. Music director Nick Sula and I are excited to reunite with our cast, and to hear the air be filled with thrilling, terrifying, masterful music!”
About Kokandy Productions
Founded in 2010, Kokandy Productions seeks to leverage the heightened reality of musical theater to tell complex and challenging stories, with a focus on contributing to the development of Chicago-based musical theater artists, and raising the profile of Chicago's non-Equity musical theater community.
The company's artistic staff is comprised of Derek Van Barham (Producing Artistic Director), Scot T. Kokandy (Executive Producer) and Adrian Abel Azevedo & Leda Hoffman (Artistic Associates). The Board of Directors includes Preston Cropp, Allison Hendrix, Scot T. Kokandy, and Katie Svaicer.
For additional information, visit www.kokandyproductions.com.