Virginia Arts Festival season begins with the gore and humor of Sondheim’s ‘Sweeney Todd’
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Virginia Arts Festival opens its 2024 season this weekend with a menu of savory, human meat pies.
Opera singers and Broadway soloists will perform a concert of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” on Saturday at Chrysler Hall. It is the festival’s 27th season.
The eight-time Tony-winning musical has been a constant on the stage since it premiered in 1979.
Sweeney Todd has spent 15 years in exile for a crime he did not commit and he returns to Victorian-era London seeking revenge against Judge Turpin. But, his animosity extends beyond the judge. The barber lets loose his rage on the world, slitting clients’ throats and depositing their bodies with his accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, who makes them into pies to sell.
The Norfolk cast will include about 10 singers with Rod Gilfry performing the Demon Barber. Last year, Gilfry performed in “Dead Man Walking” at the Metropolitan Opera.
Donna Lynne Champlin, who has appeared on television shows including “The Good Wife” and “Law and Order,” will play Lovett, and Turpin will be sung by Chuck Cooper who has also appeared on shows including “The Good Wife,” “Nurse Jackie” and “House of Cards.”
The Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will accompany the singers.
Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8138, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com
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If you go
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Blvd., Norfolk
Tickets: Start at $29.25
Details: vafest.org
