Get Ready For The Closest Shave You’ll Ever Know!

Local cast prepare for arrival of West End stars as Sweeney Todd rehearsals get underway at DUCTAC

After three years of hit productions, Spotlight Academy at DUCTAC is returning in April 2013 with another classic show, Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s musical thriller Sweeney Todd. The academy has become known for producing acclaimed new versions of classic musicals that combine the talents of the very best UAE-based performers with professional musical theatre stars from around the globe. Sweeney Todd comes hot on the heels of this summer’s sell-out production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS, last year’s critically acclaimed production of West Side Story and 2010’s smashhit Hairspray. Sweeney Todd will once again give the very best local performers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work, rehearse and perform alongside some of the UK and USA’s leading theatrical stars, under the direction of a team of top international creatives.

First performed on Broadway in 1979, Sweeney Todd is a rare example of a musical thriller. Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s chilling, suspenseful, heart-pounding masterpiece of murderous barber-ism and culinary crime tells the infamous tale of the unjustly exiled barber who returns to 19th century London seeking revenge upon the evil judge Turpin who framed him for a crime he didn’t commit. His thirst for revenge expands to include his unfortunate customers, and the resourceful proprietress of the pie shop downstairs, Mrs. Lovett, who soon has the people of London lining up in droves with her mysterious new meat pie recipe.

Film fans will be familiar with Tim Burton’s multi award winning 2007 movie version of the musical, which starred Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd and Helena Bonham Carter and Mrs Lovett.

The Dubai production will star West-End veteran Simeon Truby as Sweeney Todd, who will be joining the cast fresh from his time performing in the award-winning production of the show at the Adelphi Theatre in London where he performed alongside Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton. Theatre fans are sure to recognise Natacza Boon, who will play Mrs. Lovett, as she starred in last year’s sell-out production of CATS at DUCTAC. Simeon and Natacza will be joined by four other fantastic performers from London’s West End, including Nic Gibney (Evita) as Pirelli, George Ure (Wicked) as Tobias, Stephen Arden (Spring Awakening) as Anthony and Simeon’s fellow cast member from Sweeney Todd on London’s West End, John McManus as Beadle Bamford.

Other principal roles in the production will also be taken by Dubai-based performers who have previously worked in professional theatre, including Pauline Milroy as Johanna and Eliza Raum as the Beggar Woman, (both of whom have recently starred in DUCTAC’s sell-out production of Love, Loss and What I Wore), and local actor Edward Prophet, who will take on the role of Judge Turpin.

The cast have now begun a series of intensive theatre workshops and rehearsals which will take place during weekends throughout March, before the full-time academy begins on 23rd March and runs until 8th April. The workshops will culminate in five public performances of Sweeney Todd in DUCTAC’s magnificent Centrepoint Theatre from 9th - 13th April 2013. Preparations for the showare designed to run in exactly the same way as the preparation period for a professional West End production, giving Dubai’s aspiring musical theatre stars the chance to see exactly what it takes to be a professional performer.

Tickets are now on sale at www.timeouttickets.com and through the DUCTAC Box Office.

For more information please visit www.ductac.org or call 04 341 4777.

Sweeney Todd
Dates: Tuesday 9th - Saturday 13th April 2013
Venue: Centrepoint Theatre, DUCTAC, Mall of the Emirates
Price: AED 130 - 175
Time: 8pm
Contact: 341 4777 or box.office@ductac.org

Emirate:  Dubai

Date: Mar 12, 2013

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