'Sweeney Todd' in Greenville Jan. 22-27

GREENVILLE - The national tour of John Doyle's Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, will play in Greenville from Jan. 22- 27at the Peace Center.

The touring production of Doyle's revolutionary re-imagining of the musical will star Judy Kaye (Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!) as Mrs. Lovett and David Hess as the demon barber himself, Sweeney Todd.

This exciting and innovative new production features a multi-talented ensemble of 10 talented actor/musicians, five from the 2006 Tony Award-winning Broadway company.

Sweeney Todd 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 Mrs. Lovett - an enterprising businesswoman who is soon producing the tastiest meat pies in London.

Directed and designed by Doyle, Sweeney Todd features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler from an adaptation by Christopher Bond and music supervision and orchestrations by Sarah Travis, who won a 2006 Tony Award for Sweeney Todd. The creative team includes lighting designer Richard Jones, and sound designer Dan Moses Schreier.

Doyle's production of Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway in 2005 to universal critical acclaim where it won the Drama League, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, and was awarded 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, which transferred first to the Trafalgar Studios in London's West End in July 2004 to wide critical acclaim, then to the New Ambassadors Theatre, where it ran for a limited engagement that closed on Feb. 5, 2005.

Judy Kaye appeared in Sweeney Todd on Broadway last summer as Mrs. Lovett. David Hess's Broadway credits include Sweeney Todd and Annie Get Your Gun.

The original production of Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway at the Uris Theatre (now the Gershwin) on March 1, 1979, in a production directed by Harold Prince. The musical won eight 1979 Tony Awards, including Best Musical of the Year.

A Dreamworks Pictures version of Sweeney Todd, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, was released on Dec.21.

The tour is being produced by Thomas Viertel, Steven Baruch, Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, Ambassador Theatre Group, Adam Kenwright, Tulchin/Bartner/ Bagert and Live Nation.

Sweeney Todd is part of The Greenville News Broadway series and is sponsored by WYFF4 and Fairway Outdoor Advertising.

Tickets to Sweeney Todd at The Peace Center are $45- $65. Call 864-467-3000 or order online, www.peacecenter. org. For groups of 20 or more, call 864-679-9201 or groups@peacecenter.org .