Baruch, Frankel, Routh and Viertel Mince Meat for Upcoming Broadway Sweeney Todd | Playbill

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News Baruch, Frankel, Routh and Viertel Mince Meat for Upcoming Broadway Sweeney Todd The recent London staging of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd will make it to Broadway this fall under the auspices of Steven Baruch, Thomas Viertel, Marc Routh and Richard Frankel, not the Roundabout Theatre Company as was expected.

Ambassadors Theatre Group will co-present the work which they recently co produced with The Watermill Theatre at the West End's New Ambassador Theatre. Adam Kenwright & Maidstone Productions are also attached to present.

Director John Doyle — who staged the London run — will rejoin musical director arranger Sarah Travis for the work slated to begin previews stateside in September and open in October.

Though the Roundabout never confirmed the production, a casting notice revealed the company was expected to present the new take on the Sondheim work.

The unique staging casts — as Roundabout's Cabaret revival did — actor-musicians to retell the story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and company. A cast of nine actors (with no ensemble) will be required to perform on instruments ranging from flute, trumpets and clarinets to piano and double bass. Casting will be announced shortly, according to a release.

The new staging of Sweeney Todd — which features music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler — uses the adaptation by Christopher Bond. The story follows a vengeful barber in Victorian England and his neighbor who owns a pie shop that has recently come into favor due to a surplus of meat pies. The work made its Broadway debut Feb. 6, 1979 starring Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury — both earned Tony Awards for their turns. Harold Prince directed the 1979 Tony Award winner for Best Musical. The work was also seen in Washington, D.C. as part of the Kennedy Center's Sondheim Celebration with stars Brian Stokes Mitchell and Christine Baranski. Mitchell has gone on the record as wanting to play Todd on Broadway.

The producing team of Steven Baruch, Richard Frankel, Marc Routh and Thomas Viertel (whose last names interchangeably identify the group) will present the musical. The team have had their hands in recent Broadway stagings of The Producers, Hairspray and Little Shop of Horrors.

 
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