The acclaimed Tooting Arts Club production of Sweeney Todd, which was originally staged in Harrington’s Pie And Mash Shop, will hope to cut it in the West End when it moves to Shaftesbury Avenue this spring.
The intimate production of Stephen Sondheim’s grisly musical will run from 12 March to 16 May in a pop-up space in the heart of Theatreland, 39-45 Shaftesbury Avenue, while its previous home at London’s oldest pie and mash shop is refurbished.
The production, which debuted last October, stars London stage regulars Jeremy Secomb and Siobhan McCarthy as the barbaric barber with revenge on his mind and his pastry-pounding, cadaver-cooking companion. The cast also includes Zoe Doano, Kiara Jay, Ian Mowat, Nadim Naaman, Duncan Smith and Joseph Taylor.
Talking about the transfer, which is staged by special arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh, Producer Rachel Edwards said: “Putting Sweeney Todd on at Harrington’s last year was a remarkable adventure. The project sums up exactly what Tooting Arts Club (TAC) is about – creating inventive work that is born out exciting collaborations with people at the heart of the local community. To be able to share the project with a wider audience is a dream come true. The stars have aligned for us and through word of mouth, the incredible support of Stephen Sondheim and Cameron Mackintosh we are able to make it happen all over again.”
TAC’s bijou production of the macabre musical, which will be performed by candlelight and offer audiences that chance to buy a pre-show pie supper to nibble on tentatively, joins the grander scale English National Opera production as the second Sweeney show to play in the West End this spring.
The ENO offering, which stars Bryn Terfel, Emma Thompson and Philip Quast, runs at the London Coliseum from 30 March to 10 April.