SWEENEY TODD to be Presented at The Jersey Shore Arts Center

NENAproductions Theater Project will conclude its 2025 Season with the award-winning musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler. Directed by Nick Montesano, with Musical Direction by Jeff Brown, Sweeney Todd runs at The Jersey Art Center in the Palaia Theater Fridays and Saturdays, October 10 through 18 at 7:30 PM and Sunday October 19 at 3 PM. $30 General Admission tickets are available online at ticketleap.com .

An indisputable masterpiece by one of America's greatest Broadway composers and lyricists, this is a heart- pounding thriller that delights and amazes. Filled with diabolical humor and extraordinary music, the eight-time Tony Award-winning musical tells the tale of an exiled barber's quest to avenge the wrongs unfairly done to him and his family by a corrupt system of justice. Sweeney Todd is a beautiful, soaring, dark comedy filled with stunning terror that will leave you wanting more!

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is based on the play of the same name by Christopher Bond, which in turn was based on the 1847 penny dreadful The String of Pearls. Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway in 1979 and in the West End in 1980, winning both the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best New Musical. It has been revived regionally, nationally, and internationally many times, most recently on Broadway with Josh Groban in the title role. A film adaptation directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp was released in 2007.

Zachary Love appears in the title role of Sweeney Todd. Meredith Buchholtz co-stars as fellow conspirator Mrs. Lovett, leading a 24 member cast.

Tom Chesek of the Asbury Park press once called director Nick Montesano "a Sondheim expert and aficionado of the first rank." Montesano and Jeff Brown have collaborated on multiple musical productions in the past, most recently NENA's acclaimed productions of The Pirates of Penzance, The Sondheim Tribute Musical, and Hands on a Hardbody.

NENAproductions is the multi NJACT award winning theater company that has been in residence at the Jersey Shore Arts Center for nearly 25 years. The mission of NENAproductions Theater Project is to enrich, educate and entertain our community by providing a superior live theater experience. We shall encourage the imaginative and societal importance of theater through plays, musicals, children's theater, youth educational programs and community outreach efforts.