Staged in the round by Glenn Casale, the classic musical thriller of barber-ism and culinary crime began its eight-performance run July 22 at downtown Sacramento's Wells Fargo Pavilion.
A pair of Tony nominees lead the cast. Taking on the title role is Broadway veteran Mark Jacoby, Tony-nominated for his turn as Gaylord Ravenal in the 1995 revival of Show Boat. The leading man's other Broadway credits include Father in the original cast of Ragtime, Padre in the 2002 revival of Man of La Mancha and the title role in Phantom of the Opera. He was most recently seen as Judge Turpin in the minimalist John Doyle-directed revival of Sweeney.
Mary Gordon Murray plays Mrs. Lovett. Previously seen on The Great White Way in Footloose, Into the Woods and I Love My Wife, she received a Tony nomination for her performance as Belle in Little Me.
Also featured are August Emerson as Tobias, Michael G. Hawkins (a veteran of over a dozen Music Circus productions) as Judge Turpin, Heather Lee (Tessie Tura in the 2003 Gypsy revival) as the Beggar Woman, Kevin McMahon as Pirelli, Roland Rusinek (Phantom of the Opera) as The Beadle, Carolann M. Sanita (Maria in Music Circus' West Side Story) as Johanna and Max von Essen (Les Misérables, Jesus Christ Superstar) as Anthony Hope.
Philip Michael Baskerville, Dan Debenport, Michael Dotson, Claybourne Elder, Keith Fortner, Pega Kadkhodaian, Christy Morton, Joël René, Brett Rigby, Natalie Ross, Christine Rowan, Joseph Sark, Stacey Scotte and Maurice Whitfield round out the ensemble. Sacramento's jam-packed summer season will continue with productions of Swing! (July 29-Aug. 3), My Fair Lady (Aug. 5-10), Evita (Aug. 12-17) and Hairspray (Aug. 19-28).
Tickets and information may be found at www.SacramentoMusicCircus.com
Here is a look at the production, which concludes its run July 27:
Photos by Charr Crail