Josh Groban has been sidelined from Broadway's Sweeney Todd due to a sinus infection. The Great Comet star and vocalist reportedly missed the March 16 performance, and now the production has officially announced that he will also be out of the March 17 and March 18 matinee performances. Groban is expected to return to the production for March 18's evening performance at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
Standby Nicholas Christopher, usually appearing as rival barber Pirelli, will take on the role in Groban's absence. In a video posted on Groban's Instagram, the star said, "I never want to let anybody down. And to any fan who has a ticket for tonight, you’re in the most capable hand of the brilliant Nicholas Christopher.” He added that he's "on lots of meds and resting," and that "I can’t wait to get back up there.”
Groban typically shares the stage with Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford, Mrs. Lovett to Groban's Sweeney. The revival, now in previews and opening March 26, features Jonathan Tunick's full, 26-piece orchestration for the first time on Broadway since the 1979 original production, under the baton of three-time Tony winner Alex Lacamoire. Tony-winning Hamilton director Thomas Kail is at the helm.
READ: Josh Groban Knows He's Not Your Typical Pick For Sweeney Todd
The revival also features Jordan Fisher (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen) 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, and John Rapson (Les Misérables) as Beadle Bamford.
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: standby Jeanna De Waal, along with swings Dwayne Cooper, Kyrie Courter, Michael Kuhn, Megan Ort, Mia Pinero, and Hennessy Winkler.
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 Lygo and James Hickney serve as general managers. Cody Renard Richard is production stage manager.
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.
