Williams Street Rep Stages SWEENEY TODD at the Raue Center, Now thru 11/2

Williams Street Repertory's first full-stage production of the 2013/2014 season opens tonight, October 25, 2013 at 8:00pm. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will run select dates and times through November 2. Performances take place at Raue Center For The Arts located at 26 N. Williams Street in Historic Downtown Crystal Lake, Illinois.

The rare instance 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 against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife. His thirst for blood soon expands to include his unfortunate customers, and the resourceful proprietress of the pie shop downstairs soon has the people of London lining up in droves with her mysterious new meat pie recipe.

Sophisticated, macabre, visceral and uncompromising, Sweeney Todd nevertheless has a great sense of fun, mixing intense drama with howlingly funny moments of dark humor: audiences find themselves laughing hysterically one moment and gasping in surprise the next.

Directing Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Is Mark R Mahallak. A regular to the stage with Williams Street Rep, Mark was most recently seen as Harry in Company and Martin in a staged reading of J.T. Rogers' White People (part of WSR's Contemporary Voices series). Amongst his various and vast directing credits are Chicago, Little Shop of Horrors, and the Chicagoland premiere of Avenue Q. Mark also serves as choreographer for the production.

Bringing to life the iconic pairing of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett are Rob Scharlow and Amanda Flahive.

Additional cast members include Matthias Austin (The Beadle), Christopher Davis (Anthony), Ryan Dooley (Pirelli), Amy Ferraro (Lucy/Beggar Woman), Frank Gaughan (Judge Turpin), Elise LaBarge (Johanna) and Dominic Rescigno (Tobias).

Making up the chorus is Joel Teresa J Arnold, Joel Bennett, Ryan Elliot, Deric Gochenauer, Sarah Jordan, Sarah Weinstein and Kate Wilford.

Behind the scenes, the crew includes Richard Kuranda (Founding Artistic Director) as well as Mike Potts (Music Director), Pat Henderson (Stage Manager), Mike Vandercook (Director of Production), John Dwyer (Production Coordinator/Sound Supervisor) Steven Spera (Technical Manager/Lighting Designer), Stephen H Carmody (Scenic Designer), Aaron Quick (Sound Designer), Jeremy Floyd (Costume Designer), Heather Olcott (Props Master), Sarah Weinstein (Make-Up Design) and Michael Buonincontro (Wig Design).

WSR's third season will include fully mounted productions of It's A Wonderful Life: A Radio Play (November/December 2013), She Loves Me (February 2014) and Barefoot in the Park (May 2014). The company will also continue it's monthly reading series, Get Lit(erary), as well as their new staged playwright series, Contemporary Voices.

Over the past year Raue Center has attracted regional and national attention from media powerhouses like Playbill.com and BroadwayWorld.com.

Tickets start at $25 and group pricing is available! Tickets can be purchased online at WWW.WSREP.ORG, WWW.RAUECENTER.ORG or via the Box Office at 815.356.9212 or 26 N. Williams Street in downtown Crystal Lake.

Williams Street Repertory (WS Rep) is a 501(c)3 non-profit Production Company in-house at Raue Center For The Arts. WS Rep is a theatre company dedicated to sustaining an artistic process of innovative and emotionally charged work, telling diverse stories with an ever growing company of well-respected local, regional and national artists. The inaugural season included The Rocky Horror Show, Santaland Diaries, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and Run to the Capulets, Raise up the Montagues. For additional information, visit wsrep.org, facebook.com/wsrep and twitter.com/wsrep.

Raue Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of all through the arts. For 11 years, they have provided quality programming - striving to make it pertinent, available and affordable to all. As a painstakingly restored, 1920s regional Showcase Theatre named for its benefactor-Lucile Raue-Raue Center has attracted the finest stars, Broadway shows, musicians and artists. Named on the League of Historic American Theatres, Raue Center is one of the finest examples of restored art and decor in the nation. The 750-seat theatre, located in historic, downtown Crystal Lake, is a gathering place for our region's citizens and has become a true destination. For additional information, visit rauecenter.org, facebook.com/RaueCenter and twitter.com/RaueCenter.