Regional NewsNik Walker and Donna Lynne Champlin Will Lead Sweeney Todd at Hangar TheatrePerformances will begin July 22 in Ithaca, New York.
By
Dan Meyer
June 07, 2021
Nik Walker and Donna Lynne Champlin
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.
0
of
Celebrate More Than 40 Years of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd on Broadway
Celebrate More Than 40 Years of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd on Broadway
Henry 6, a two-play condensation of Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III, will also make its world premiere during their Summer Shakespeare Festival.
