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Sweeney Todd premiers at Miller

Sept. 18, 2008

KALAMAZOO--The musical "Sweeney Todd," which inspired the Tim Burton and Johnny Depp movie by the same name, makes its area debut at 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, at Western Michigan University's Miller Auditorium.

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," is based on the 19th-century legend of a London barber driven to a life of crime after a malevolent judge takes his wife and child from him. Sweeney's plan for revenge includes a cutthroat partnership with his crafty neighbor Mrs. Lovett, an enterprising businesswoman who soon is producing the tastiest meat pies in London.

With music and lyrics by Tony Award-winner Stephen Sondheim, the production has been hailed by critics including the Wall Street Journal, which said: "The greatest musical of the past half-century has returned in a staging of the utmost force and originality."

The production opened on Broadway in 2005, where it won the Drama League, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for the best revival of a musical, and was given a special citation by the New York Drama Critics Circle. It arrived on Broadway from a highly successful London engagement originally staged by the Watermill Theatre.

Tickets for "Sweeney Todd" at Miller Auditorium are on sale now and range from $25 to $50. They are available by calling (269) 387-2300 or (800) 228-9858, online at millerauditorium.com, or by visiting the Miller Auditorium Ticket Office or Epic Center Box Office in downtown Kalamazoo. Groups of 20 or more should call (269) 387-2312 for special discounts.

Media contact: Tracey Lawie (269) 387-2309, tracey.lawie@wmich.edu

WMU News
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