Broadway alums Nik Walker and Donna Lynne Champlin will star in Hangar Theatre’s upcoming production of Sweeney Todd this summer. Walker (Hamilton) will play the revenge-seeking barber while Champlin (Billy Elliott) dons the flour (and human)-encrusted apron of Mrs. Lovett.
The news comes after a casting notice went live in April seeking BIPOC performers for certain roles. Iranian-American writer and director Sanaz Ghajar will helm the staging, which begins July 22 at the Ithaca, New York, venue. "We are actively re-envisioning how this world is populated. Sweeney Todd is a revenge tragedy about the human instinct to survive despite being set-up to fail. Sweeney has no choice but to achieve justice through violence, but in a world where revenge is the only option, there is no real liberation," a director's note read.
Additional casting and creatives will be announced at a later date.
This isn't the first time the Champlin has appeared in the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical. She played Adolpho Pirelli in the 2005 Broadway revival, directed by Jonn Doyle and starring Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone.
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