Josh Groban, Annaleigh Ashford Set Exits From Broadway Hit ‘Sweeney Todd’
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“Sweeney Todd” stars Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford will take their final bows as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Mrs. Lovett in 2024.
They will be exiting the show on Jan. 14, but the latest revival of Stephen Sondheim’s macabre musical “Sweeney Todd” will extend its Broadway run into the spring of 2024. New casting, as well as extension dates, will be announced at a later date.
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“They are finally heading to the seaside. Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford will be departing Fleet Street on January 14, but you still have more chances to brave the chair dearie,” according to a post on the show’s official Instagram account. “Our tale is extending into Spring 2024!”
By the time Groban and Ashford leave “Sweeney Todd,” they will be concluding a 46-week run in the production. Thomas Kail (“Hamilton”) directed the revival, which began performances on Feb. 26 ahead of opening night on March 26, 2023, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. It’s been well received and well attended on Broadway, regularly playing to full crowds and receiving eight Tony Award nominations, including recognition for Groban and Ashford. It took home two statues, for lighting and sound design.
In Variety’s review, critic Naveen Kumar singled out the staging and lead performances. “This lushly orchestrated and opera-scale production proves a magnificent showcase for their respective, jaw-dropping talents,” he wrote. “Groban’s weighted-blanket baritone makes the prospect of reclining in his company and never waking up again seem like a great way to go. And Ashford’s fleet, agile instinct for comedy is like a dippy bird for dopamine.”
“Sweeney Todd,” which opened on Broadway in 1979, has returned for several revivals and was adapted into a 2007 film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp, tells the tale of a vengeful barber and a resourceful pie shop owner. After Sweeney Todd is sent away by a corrupt judge, he returns to London years later seeking his family. He forms an unlikely alliance with Mrs. Lovett, who serves up peculiar pies underneath his shop.
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