SWEENEY TODD Comes To The City of Cleveland Heights and Cain Park 6/11-27

The City of Cleveland Heights and Cain Park proudly announce that Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by Hugh Wheeler) opens Cain Park's 2010 season in the Alma Theater June 11-27 (preview June 10). Paul Gurgol, founder/artistic director of Kalliope Stage, directs this 1979 Tony Award-winning musical thriller with music direction by Jodie Ricci.

Sweeney Todd runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 7pm with 2pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays in the 262-seat Alma Theater. Tickets are $15 for the June 10 preview and matinees; $22 center and $20 sides in advance for all other performances. Tickets are now on sale at Ticketmaster (online, outlets, 800-745-3000). The Cain Park Ticket Office opens June 5.

After fifteen hard years of exile for a crime he did not commit, Benjamin Barker, now Sweeney Todd (Benjamin Czarnota), returns to London with shipmate Anthony (Chris McCarrell) to find his wife dead and his daughter, Johanna (Valerie Reaper), in the hands of the evil Judge Turpin (Nick Koesters). Vowing revenge, Todd goes on a murderous rampage of London. With the help of Mrs. Lovett (Patty Lohr), he opens a barbershop where he lures his victims before casually ending their lives with a flick of his razor across their necks. The cast also includes Pirelli (John Paul Boukis), Beggar Woman (Amiee Collier), The Beadle (Bob Russell), Tobias (Max Joseph) and the Ensemble (Aaron R. Dunn, Megan Elk, Heather Jane Farr, Trey Gilpin, Lydia Hall, Codie Higer, and Boe Wank). [Brief background on cast members follows at the end.]

Set and lighting design is provided by 2010 Cain Park Artistic Director Russ Borski with costume design by Terry Pieritz and sound design by Richard Ingraham. Beth McGee is dialect coach and the production is stage managed by Adrienne Brockway.

Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway at the Uris Theater on March 1, 1979 and ran for 557 performances, directed by Harold Prince and starring Len Cariou as Sweeney Todd and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett. It won three Tony awards (Best Musical, Book, Original Score), four Drama Desk awards (Outstanding Musical, Book, Lyrics, and Music) and the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. There were two Broadway revivals (1989 and 2005) as well as Tim Burton's 2007 motion picture starring Johnny Depp in the title role. This is the second time Cain Park is allowing The Demon Barber of Fleet Street to set up shop in the Alma Theater; Fran Soeder directed Cliff Bemis (Playhouse Square's Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and current Broadway/television actor) in the title role in 1982.

During his five-year tenure as founder and artistic director of Kalliope Stage in Cleveland Heights, Paul Gurgol presented five regional premieres and the world premiere of a new musical, Coming to America, as well as three full-staged original productions. Opera News hailed "[his] incisive, clear direction [of Opera Cleveland's 2007 production of A Little Night Music] helped the singing actors capture the precise timing that all Sondheim comedies demand. The performance was a triumph." His most recent production of Fiddler on the Roof at Beck Center for the Arts "faithfully preserved the original's warmth and humanity" (Scene Magazine) and "[achieved] impact with endearing integrity" (The Plain Dealer).

Jodie Ricci is a professor of music theory at Baldwin-Wallace College and was music director for Cain Park's productions of Oliver! (directed by Fred Sternfeld) and the area premiere of Harold and Maude: An Intimate Musical (directed by Victoria Bussert). Her music theater experience also includes work with Jack Lee, Larry Hartzell, McLeod Theater Company, The North Star Players and the Butler Musical Theater Guild.

Cain Park, a municipally owned and operated summer arts park and one of the nation's oldest landmark outdoor theatres entering its 72nd season, is produced by the City of Cleveland Heights and is located on Superior Road between Lee and South Taylor.

Cain Park 2010 season sponsors include The Friends of Cain Park, Cleveland.com, and Intercontinental Hotels, Cleveland. The 2010 Cain Park season is supported by the Ohio Arts Council.

SWEENEY TODD CAST BACKGROUND
John Paul Boukis (Pirelli) performed extensively at Kalliope Stage (Dear World, The Wild Party, Cabaret, A Little Night Music) as well as in Anything Goes and The Robber Bridegroom at Cain Park. He wrote the music, book and lyrics for Famous Son, which will have a concert reading at Cain Park on June 22.

Amiee Collier (Beggar Woman) was most recently seen in Into the Woods at Tri-C West and as Fruma Sarah in Beck Center's Fiddler on the Roof directed by Paul Gurgol. She's also appeared in Respect: A Musical Journey, the world premiere of Discordia at Cleveland Public Theater, and Sunday in the Park with George at Lakeland Theatre.

Benjamin Czarnota (Sweeney Todd) was Mr. Webb in the world premiere of Our Town at Indiana University Opera Theater and has performed with Wichita Grand Opera and Janiel Opera Company. He was Marcus Lycus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Porthouse Theater and is currently on the voice faculty at Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music.
Aaron R. Dunn (Ensemble) is a student at Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music and has performed there in Orpheus in the Underworld, Too Many Sopranos, Parade, and Our Town. Last summer he performed in I Pagliacci and The Tenderland at Sugar Creek Symphony and Song.
Megan Elk (Ensemble/Understudy Beggar Woman) recently received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Mary Shelley in New World Performance Laboratory's international touring production of Frankenstein. She currently serves as co-artistic director of The Downtown Upstairs Performance Project in Akron.

Heather Jane Farr (Ensemble/Understudy Johanna) has performed at Magical Theatre Co., Kalliope Stage, Beck Center, Mercury Summer Stock, Cain Park and Great Lakes Theater Festival. She was recently accepted into the Musical Theatre program at Sheridan College in Canada.
Trey Gilpin (Ensemble/Fogg/Understudy Beadle) was Sparky in Forever Plaid at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, LeFou in Disney's Beauty and the Beast at The Fine Arts Association, Bill Jukes in Peter Pan at Beck Center and Adolphus Cusins in Major Barbara at Pew Fine Arts Center in Pennsylvania.
Lydia Hall (Ensemble) is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory and has performed with Opera Cleveland, Happy Ending Lyric Players, Cleveland Public Theater, Boston Opera Collaborative and Grand Valley Opera Theatre. She was most recently seen in Baby, directed by Fred Sternfeld, and Side By Side By Sondheim, directed by Sarah May, at True North.

Codie Higer (Ensemble) was Charlotte in the Ohio premiere of Thirteen at Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory, where she also performed in Rent (school edition), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Into the Woods, and The Laramie Project. She is currently performing as Wendy Jo in Footloose at University School.

Max Joseph (Tobias) is a graduate of Solon High School and will be entering the Boston Conservatory in the musical theatre program this fall. Past credits include Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, Seussical The Musical at Stagecrafters Theatre and All Shook Up at Solon Center for the Arts.
Nick Koesters (Judge Turpin) has performed at Dobama Theatre, PlayhouseSquare, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Opera Cleveland, Actor's Summit, Cleveland Public Theatre, Beck Center for the Arts and will be returning to Porthouse Theatre this summer as Albert in Bye Bye Birdie.
Patty Lohr (Mrs. Lovett) most recently played her clarinet as The Beggar Woman in the final National Tour of John Doyle's revival of Sweeney Todd. No stranger to Cain Park, she was a tribe member in Hair, Stephanie in Nine and Nancy in Oliver! Other regional credits include the regional premiere of Brooklyn: The Musical (Brooklyn) at PlayhouseSquare and Hurricane: A New Musical (Ghost Ensemble) at the 2009 New York Music Festival.

Chris McCarrell (Anthony) was last seen in Chess at PlayhouseSquare and The Wild Party at Baldwin-Wallace College. He was Lewis in Pippin and Dodger in Oliver! At Cain Park. A graduate of University School, Chris is in the Music Theatre program at Baldwin-Wallace College.
Valerie Reaper (Johanna) played the same role in productions of Sweeney Todd at Columbus Children's Theatre and Wright State University. Currently a WSU musical theatre major, Valerie has also performed Columbia in The Rocky Horror Show and Woman 1 in Songs for a New World.
Bob Russell (Beadle/Understudy Sweeney Todd) has performed at Carousel Dinner Theatre, Huron Playhouse, Porthouse Theatre, Cleveland State University Factory Theatre and at Cain Park as Bill Sykes in Oliver!

Boe Wank (Ensemble/Understudy Pirelli) was most recently an ensemble member in Chess at PlayhouseSquare and is in the Music Theatre program at Baldwin-Wallace College. He has also performed at Findlay Light Opera and University of Findlay SummerStock.