Mon River Arts Youth Theatre to stage ‘Sweeney Todd’
The show will debut at the Grand Theatre in Elizabeth 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Mon River Arts Youth Theatre will step into the shadows of Victorian London, where justice is crooked, revenge is brewing and the pies are … questionable.
The student actors will present the musical thriller, Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street School Edition” at Grand Theatre, 207 S. Second Ave., in downtown Elizabeth.
Performances will be 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with 2 p.m. matinees Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets will have a flat rate of $15 for all performance dates.
Tickets are available at monriverarts.org or call 412405-8425 Sweeney Todd follows the story of an exiled barber who returns to Victorian-era London seeking revenge on the corrupt judge who ruined his family and falsely imprisoned him. He teams up with a local pie shop owner to murder customers and bake them into meat pies.
This special school edition has been masterfully adapted, working directly with Sondheim to retain the dark wit and grand scope of the original work, with a few lyric and key changes to facilitate high school productions.
Emily Palma, director for Mon River Arts Youth Theater, shares a special connection to the play. She watched the Tim Burton adaptation while in high school, inspiring her to get involved with the musical.
Palma said there were many challenges the actors had to overcome to prepare for the musical due to the complex character switches.
She said that helped them develop valuable skills for future work in the theatre industry.
“There were a couple choices of shows for this summer, and we really loved ‘Sweeney Todd’ because it’s such a challenging show for students, specifically with character development and vocals,” she said. “We thought it would be a great idea to challenge the students with something different than what we did last year.”
Palma said the students embraced the challenges during rehearsals, where they were observant and attentive to the instructions of the directors on the team.
The complexity of the characters in the play is one of several aspects of Sondheim’s work that Palma is passionate about. It is dedication to a complex production that motivates Palma to continue her work with Mon River Arts since she first started as an assistant director for the Penguin Project four years ago.
“The dynamics of the characters, each character, whether it’s the title character Sweeney Todd or an ensemble member, each one has their own ins and outs and a multitude of scenes that they’re in where they have to be a different type of person,” she said. “You could be a customer at a shop or later at a lunatic asylum, where they have to really flip the switch really quick.”
The Penguin Project was established in early 2023, where it held its inaugural supportive theater program and staged its first-ever production, “Annie Jr.”
The Penguin Project is a program for students with disabilities to perform in their own show. They’re assigned a peer mentor that helps them memorize lines, vocals and choreography, interact with sets effectively and learn different aspects of the theatre industry that accommodates their health needs. Palma started her work at Mon River arts through the program, where she then was able to lead last year’s summer teen show “Newsies Junior.”
Cast List
Liam Miller as Sweeney Todd; Will Benedum as Anthony Hope; Sage Dasta as a Beggar Woman; Morgan Kaufman as Mrs. Lovett; Dominic Sager as Judge Turpin/Featured Bass; Owen Manz as The Beadle; Hannah Damiani as Johanna; Logan Frantz as Tobias Ragg; Vincent Visconti as Pirelli; Oliver Moore, ensemble/ Jonas Fogg/featured tenor; Cashlin Harbour, ensemble/ Birdseller; Adam Shipley, ensemble/policemen/featured tenor; Benjamin Waugaman, ensemble/Man with Cap; Alessa Cavalancia, Regan Sedar and Sophia Gidel as ensemble/featured dance/ dance captains; Kylie Kern, Harlow Spalla, Elaina Maners, and Andrea Stoyanova as ensemble/featured dancers; Nora Gregory, ensemble/ featured dance/featured mezzo; Mollie Gregory and Emily Harmon, ensemble/ featured dance/featured sopranos; Hayden van Mastrigt and Josh Gregory, ensemble/ featured baritones; Elijah Needham, ensemble/boy sentenced to death; Emma Hawkins, Emilia Sager, Zoey Steligo, Adeline Ripley, ensemble members.
