Thirty five years after first staging the musical thriller ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’, the multi award winning Lowestoft Players have chosen to stage the show for a second time for their 2025 spring production.
The storyline is about the grim and legendary tale of Sweeney Todd, a barber, who murdered his customers and then passed them to Mrs Lovett who then cooked the victims into pies during the late 1700s. Although the story is one of the most macabre and sinister to have ever come out of London, it is staged with humour and comedy, has brilliant characters and includes some great musical numbers, including ‘The Worst Pies in London’.
Stephen Wilson who played Sweeney Todd in the Lowestoft Player’s Production in 1990 along with Mrs Lovett (Deanne Dickson). Stephen will Co-Direct the 2025 production.
Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway in 1979 and in the West End in 1980. The music and lyrics were composed by Stephen Sondheim and is considered to possibly be his finest musical score. Sweeney Todd has become a bloody, worldwide success since being awarded eight Tony’s, one of them for Best Musical, for its original Broadway premiere.
The themes of Sweeney Todd include social justice, moral corruption, psychological obsession and trauma, all still topical today. As the show contains mature themes and disturbing imagery, it is recommended for ages 12 and above.
Long standing member of the Lowestoft Players, Stephen Wilson, played the role of Sweeney Todd back in 1990.
“I can’t believe that it’s really 35 years since I played Sweeney Todd” he said.
“It was a truly brilliant character to play and I, along with the rest of the cast, had so much fun. Our audiences had a great time too!”
This time around Stephen, along with his good friend Shirley Hurren, will Co-Direct the production.
