BWW Q&A: Tara Kromer Talks SWEENEY TODD At Athens Theatre

Prepare for a dark journey through the sinister streets of Victorian London with Sweeney Todd. Follow the vengeful barber as he seeks justice, aided by the cunning Mrs. Lovett and her rather… unique meat-pie business. Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece weaves a twisted tale of love, revenge, and morality, brought to life by hauntingly beautiful music. Equal parts chilling and captivating, Sweeney Todd will leave you spellbound—and maybe a bit wary of your next shave…

Content Advisory: This show is rated R for adult content, mature themes, and stage violence. The production also contains loud sound effects, including gunshots, and uses theatrical fog and haze. Recommended for adult audiences only.

Tara Kromer is a multidisciplinary theatre artist with a directing focus who berings nearly two decades of professional experience to their work in the field of live entertainment. Tara's work as a director is primarily focused on plays and musicals that celebrate the experience of marginalized identities. With a background in stage management and technical theatre, Tara has extensive experience in the areas of Sound Design, Props Design and fabrication, and Puppetry. Other productions at the Athens Theatre include Wait Until Dark, Greater Tuna, Driving Miss Daisy, Little Shop of Horrors, Into the Woods, Ragtime, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Catch Tara's upcoming productions of Goosebumps The Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium at Orlando Family Stage this Fall, The Bacchae at TheatreUCF, and POTUS and Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Theatre West End in Sanford in the spring of 2026.

What drew you to direct Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Athens Theatre?

I’ve been drawn to Sweeney Todd since the late ’90s, when I first saw the Angela Lansbury and George Hearn production that had been filmed in the early ’80s. Having already fallen in love with Sondheim through Into the Woods, I was captivated by the way Sweeney took his musical complexity and applied it to an even darker, more macabre world. It quickly became one of my favorite shows. So when Frank Ramirez—my longtime friend and mentor, and now Artistic Director at the Athens—asked me to direct this production, it was an immediate “Yes!” Not only is this a bucket-list title, but the Athens is where I got my start as a director a decade ago with Wait Until Dark. Returning here with a piece this thrilling feels like both a homecoming and a dream realized.

How does your background in stage management and technical theatre influence your approach to directing this production?

Sweeney Todd is a technically complex show with a large ensemble, so even before rehearsals began, I drew on my background in stage management and technical theatre to map out the production. While many directors come from acting backgrounds, my experience as a stage manager trained me to both zoom in on fine details— creating clear staging and moments with the actors, and historical accuracy with costumes and props—and to zoom out to see the larger picture: how staging, scenery, and music work together to shape the audience’s experience. That foundation gives me a leg up in navigating a complex piece like this, ensuring the story remains clear, emotionally evocative, and marrying the work of the cast with the elements of design.

How are you incorporating elements of Sound Design, Props Design and fabrication, and Puppetry in this show?

Luckily, most of the time when I take on the role of the director of a production, I'm fortunate to have collaborators who take on all of most of the design work needed to bring the story to life. The Athens has provided me with an outstanding creative team: Alberto Meza, our sound designer, is adding some great industrial-revolution-era ambiance and jarring sound effects to the show, and our scenic and props designer, Tori Oakes, is making sure that all of the scenic elements and props reflect the late-1800s time period that the show is set in. Having my own experience in these areas of design definitely gives me a shorthand when communicating with my collaborators, and I am always happy to have talented folks on my team tending to these design areas so that my time can be focused on the staging and bringing all of the areas of design (lights-sound-scenery-costumes-props-special effects) together as a cohesive whole to create the world that my work in rehearsal with the performers will come to life within.

Given your focus on celebrating marginalized identities, how does this play into your interpretation of Sweeney Todd?

At its heart, Sweeney Todd is about survival in a world where power and corruption strip people of agency. Benjamin Barker loses everything to a Judge who bends justice to his own desires, a story that still resonates whenever families are torn apart and the powerless are left without recourse. I’m especially drawn to the women in this piece, whose survival is even more precarious. Lucy and Johanna are left vulnerable, the Beggar Woman scrapes by however she can, and Mrs. Lovett forges her own path as a rare independent woman of her time. Each embodies resilience within a system stacked against them. My interpretation highlights these voices. Sweeney Todd reminds us of the human cost when justice fails and challenges us to consider how far marginalized communities can be pushed before revenge/violence/retaliation is the only logical recourse left to choose.

Can you talk about how the themes of grief, injustice, and exile in Sweeney Todd resonate with contemporary audiences?

Sweeney Todd is steeped in grief, injustice, and exile—Benjamin Barker torn from his family by a corrupt system, stripped of identity and belonging, much like those still displaced or silenced today. The play shows how grief reshapes people: some are broken, some contort themselves to survive, and some turn their pain into violence. Exile here is not only physical but emotional, as Todd, Lucy, and Johanna, are all cast out of the lives they once knew. It ultimately reminds us that no matter how many hard lessons humankind learns from the consequences of injustice, as long as we allow powerful individuals to bend the rules to cater to their own self-interest, those who hold less power will continue to suffer unjustly.

Why must audiences come and see the show?