ArtsWest Announce Extension of SWEENEY TODD

In response to strong ticket sales and critical acclaim, ArtsWest will extend the run of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd through Friday, July 7, 2017. The additional performances are scheduled for 7:30pm each evening, with the exception of the 3pm matinee on Sunday, July 2. Tickets for the added performances can be purchased immediately at arstwest.org.

Staged with a small cast in the intimate ArtsWest Playhouse theatre - and co-directed by Mathew Wright and Eric Ankrim - SWEENEY TODD has earned outspoken praise from both audiences and critics: "Staging a distinctive SWEENEY TODD with soul is key...ArtsWest valiantly meets the challenge, grinds it up, and bakes it into an irresistible confection," wrote AdrIan Ryan of CityArts. Misha Berson of the Seattle Times wrote, "plenty taut and tense...a morality tale about how an avenger can be so blinded by retribution that he commits worse deeds than those who done him wrong."

Critics were particularly united in their admiration for the two leading performances - Ben Gonio as the wrathful Sweeney Todd and Corinna Lapid Munter as the conspiring, duplicitous Mrs. Lovett. Again, from Misha Berson of the Seattle Times: "Gonio's robust baritone and glowering ferocity fit the role perfectly...[he] is like a looming thundercloud gathering barometric pressure before a horrific storm." "This is Gonio's breakout moment," wrote Paul Torres of Seattle Gay News, and added that, "Corinna Lapid Munter is absolutely transcendent in her role as dowdy Mrs. Lovett." SWEENEY TODD closes out the 2016-2017 Uncharted Season at ArtsWest, which began with the critically-acclaimed production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts.

In May, ArtsWest announced the 2017-2018 Season, I Am, which will open on September 7 with Ayad Akhtar's THE WHO & THE WHAT.

Creative Team Directed by Mathew Wright & Eric Ankrim Music Director - Matt Hohensee Associate Music Director - Steven Tran Choreographer - Trina Mills Stage Manager - Melanie LeDuc Lighting Designer - Tristan Roberson Costume Designer - Siri Nelson Scenic Designer - Christopher Mumaw Sound Designer - Kevin Heard Cast Ben Gonio - Sweeney Todd Corinna Lapid Munter - Mrs. Lovett Jeff Church - Judge Turpin John Han - Tobias Ragg Emilie Hanson - Johanna Barker Jimmie Herrod - Beggar Woman Jon Lee-Vroman - Beadle Bamford Jordan Iosua Taylor - Anthony Hope Nick Watson - Adolfo Pirelli Leslie Wisdom - Jonas Fogg

About the Production SWEENEY TODD plays June 1 - July 7, 2017 at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery (4711 California Ave SW, Seattle WA 98116). Tickets (ranging from $19 - $39.50) may be purchased online at www.artswest.org, by phone at 206.938.0339, or at the Box Office Thurs. - Sat. 2 -7:30pm.

About ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery ArtsWest is a vibrant center for both performing and visual arts located in the West Seattle Junction. This 149-seat theatre provides a unique setting for audiences and artists as stories of human emotion unfold in an intimate space. Winner of the American Theatre Wing's 2012 National Theatre Company Award, ArtsWest has produced such diverse work as Evil Dead: The Musical, Little Women, this fall's critically acclaimed production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts and the smash hit Peter and the Starcatcher. ArtsWest produces artistic events that provoke conversation, incite the imagination and use live theater as a powerful agent of change. www.artswest.org