Former EastEnder Kacey Ainsworth will play the resourceful Mrs Lovett opposite Liam Tobin’s Demon Barber in the Liverpool Everyman’s re-imagined production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s multi-award-winning musical thriller Sweeney Todd in April.
The actress who first found fame as Little Mo in the BBC soap and is currently appearing in her fourth series of ITV’s Grantchester will make her Everyman debut in the production which will be directed by Nick Bagnall.
Also joining the previously announced Tobin (Paint Your Wagon, Everyman, The Book of Mormon, Broadway) will be returning Everyman company member Dean Nolan.
Nolan, who previously appeared in the Everyman 2017 productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Romeo & Juliet and Conquest of the South, will play rival barber Pirelli.
Fresh from appearing in the Royal Court’s production of Scouse Cinderella, Paul Duckworth (Paint Your Wagon, Othello, Everyman 2018) will return to play Judge Turpin.
Taking on the role of The Beadle, Merseyside actor Mark Rice-Oxley will make his first appearance at the Everyman since performing in the 2014.
One of the stars of the 2017 UK touring production of The Jungle Book, Keziah Joseph will play Johanna Barker while the role of Tobias will be played by Shiv Rabheru (Everyone’s Talking About Jamie, Apollo Theatre) and Anthony will be played by Bryan Parry (TV’s Hollyoaks). One more actor is still to be announced.
Running from 12 April until 18 May 2019, Everyman’s version of the hit show has a creative team that includes set and costume designer Michael Vale, musical director Tarek Merchant, sound designer Ian Davies, assistant set and costume designer Kirsty Barlow and casting director Sophie Parrot.
Nick Bagnall, associate director at Everyman and Playhouse, said: “I’m really excited to be working with this group of actors for Sweeney Todd. It will be great to see old Company members, as well as some new faces, on the Everyman stage.
“It’s a show that packs a real political punch and the music is incredible, but also the story’s so fascinating – it’s gruesome, dangerous, dark and funny.
“Most productions of Sweeney Todd have around 25 to 30 cast members, but our ensemble will include just nine talented actors who can sing for this production. Adding to the fact that we will be performing it in the round, this will be a stripped-back, rough, hard-edged, soulful and a show tailor-made for Everyman audiences.”
Based on Christopher Bond’s 1973 play Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning show debuted in the West End in 1980.
Consisting of 14 actors and a team of three in-house directors and three designers, the Everyman Company’s first season began in 2017 with a successful version of the musical theatre classic Fiddler on the Roof.
Angela Thomas
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.