The long-awaited Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street original cast album is released digitally September 8. The new recording of the Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler revival was originally announced last April. A physical release date has not yet been set.
Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford star in the revival, which continues its run at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it opened March 26. Read reviews for the production here.
Since the cast album's official announcement, several tracks have been released as sneak peeks, including the titular "Ballad of Sweeney Todd," "Johanna," "Not While I'm Around," and more. (Though Jordan Fisher has since departed from the production, he is featured on the album.) Stream the full album on Spotify below:
The 2023 revival features Jonathan Tunick's full, 26-piece orchestration for the first time on Broadway since the 1979 original production, under the music supervision of three-time Tony winner Alex Lacamoire. The cast album, released by Warner Music Group’s Arts Music and Reprise Records, is produced by Lacamoire and co-produced by Thomas Kail.
The album is the fifth commercially released English-language recording of the Sondheim musical, following the 1979 original, a 2000 live concert recording with the New York Philharmonic, the 2005 John Doyle-directed Broadway revival, and a 2012 West End revival album. Tim Burton's 2007 screen adaptation also released a soundtrack (though it notably did not include Sondheim's entire score).
The current Broadway cast also includes Daniel Yearwood as Anthony, Gaten Matarazzo (Stranger Things) as Tobias, Tony Award winner and Laurence Olivier Award nominee Ruthie Ann Miles (The King and I) as Beggar Woman, Maria Bilbao (On Your Feet!) as Johanna, Jamie Jackson (The Last Ship) as Judge Turpin, John Rapson (Les Misérables) as Beadle Bamford, and Nicholas Christopher (Hamilton) as Pirelli.
READ: Josh Groban Knows He's Not Your Typical Pick For Sweeney Todd
The ensemble includes Galyana Castillo, Jonathan Christopher, Taeler Cyrus, Timothy Hughes, Paul-Jordan Jansen, Alicia Kaori, Raymond J. Lee, Patricia Phillips, Samantha Pollino, Lexi Rabadi, Nathan Salstone, Kristie Dale Sanders, Stephen Tewksbury, Daniel Torres, Felix Torrez-Ponce, and DeLaney Westfall.
Rounding out the company are swings Dwayne Cooper, Kyrie Courter, Michael Kuhn, Megan Ort, Mia Pinero, and Hennessy Winkler; and standby Jeanna De Waal.
Based on the Christopher Bond play of the same name, Sweeney Todd centers on its titular barber who seeks revenge on a corrupt judge and turns to murder, with neighbor and accomplice Mrs. Lovett ultimately discovering they can dispose of the evidence by serving up the most unsettling meat pies to the people of London.
The original production, which debuted on Broadway in 1979, won eight 1980 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, along with Best Actor and Actress nods for original stars Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. The work has gone on to be regarded by many as one of Sondheim's masterpieces, with its epic, operatic scale letting it be equally at home on the musical theatre stage as it is at the opera house. The musical was revived on Broadway in 1989 and 2005, and Off-Broadway in 2017, all presenting the work on a smaller scale with dramatically smaller orchestrations. A film adaptation, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, was released in 2007.
The production features choreography by Steven Hoggett, scenic design by Mimi Lien, costume design by Emilio Sosa, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Nevin Steinberg, special effects design by Jeremy Chernick, and wig, hair, and make-up design by J. Jared Janas. Casting is by The Telsey Office, and Baseline Theatrical's Nick Lugo and James Hickey serve as general managers. Cody Renard Richard is production stage manager.
Visit SweeneyToddBroadway.com.
See the cast of Sweeney Todd in the recording studio for the Broadway revival cast album below.
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