Sweeney Todd

8th-12th April 2014

The ultimate musical horror story, Sweeney Todd tells the tale of the fabled Demon Barber of Fleet Street, who, having made it back to London after being bundled off to Australia on false pretences, seeks revenge on all those who wronged him.

His partner in crime, Mrs Lovett, runs a pie shop, but finds meat hard to come by - until Todd finds himself with his first victim on his hands, and what a waste it would be merely to bury all that fresh meat ...

One of Stephen Sondheim's best-loved scores, combined with a play of love, hate, infatuation, intrigue and revenge, Sweeney Todd is an wonderful piece of musical theatre - truly a show not to be missed!

The Sweeney Todd Cast

Sweeney Todd was Directed by Yvonne Chadwell and Musically Directed by Brian D Steel. The principal cast was as follows:

Standing Ovations and Rave Reviews!

HAODS' 2014 production of Sweeney Todd was receieved with standing ovations every night and rave reviews from NODA and the local press. Please click on the images to the right to see what the papers said ...

... and this was NODA:

Director - Yvonne Chadwell
Musical Director - Brian D Steel
Review Author - Jose Harrison

"Director Yvonne Chadwell promised a dark visceral interpretation of this musical and that was exactly what we got. As Musical Director, Brian did an excellent job. The music was well sung and played at a lively tempo so the pace of the piece was good. The set was a two level construction with an appropriate backing for the story. Lighting was good and effective, adding atmosphere to the piece. The musical began with all the cast in a freeze behind a gauze demonstrating vividly Sweeney's tortured past. This was an exciting and rather frightening opening which set the scene for the rest of the musical very effectively. Andrew Donovan was a very convincing and believable Sweeney. He sang well with a rich and expressive voice and the ability to vary the tone and delivery. His performance had an emotional strength which was very compelling. Nikki Bristow as Mrs Lovett was also well cast. She gave her character so many dimensions - her greed and sexuality came over well and her voice was good adding much to the character. Their duets were very powerful. Both these actors ably demonstrated the degeneration and corruption of the characters. Gus Quintero-Fryatt as Anthony had an expressive voice and gave an exceptional performance. He was well partnered by Holly Diamond as Johanna. She too sang well but gave a somewhat restrained interpretation of the character. Chris Shanks as the Judge looked impressive and sang with conviction and Chris Dale as the Beadle was thoroughly believable. Ros Hall gave an outstanding performance as the Beggar woman. Her facial expressions, physical movement backed by a strong singing voice, made this a very compelling performance. Stephen Gadd as Pirelli was successfully able to add a lightness and humour to the mood and Cameron Rowell gave a first class performance as young Tobias. The rest of the cast who were superbly costumed added to the Victorian atmosphere supporting their principals very convincingly. There were some very good set pieces, especially the barber's chair and disposal of the bodies which drew much applause from the audience. There is no doubt that Yvonne and Brian had a specific vision for this musical and successfully brought that vision to life."