Seeking a singing serial killer at Sheffield Cathedral

But this May sees the Demon Barber of Fleet Street relocate to South Yorkshire as he takes up residence and plies his bloodthirsty trade at the ancient centre of worship.

Easy Street Theatre Company - the team that brought The Phantom of the Opera to the cathedral last year - return to the venue from May 1 to 4 with a new production of Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical tale of gothic romance and murder, Sweeney Todd.

Easy Street - voted best Youth Theatre in the North East 2020 and 2021 - offers Sheffield's young creative talent the finest professional-grade theatrical training.

With 50 members, each year the company performs two large budget shows at some of Sheffield's most prestigious theatres.

Previous productions have included Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Footloose, West Side Story Sister Act, Chicago, Grease Back to the 80s - winner of the 2021 NODA Best Youth Theatre award - Disney’s Frozen and We Will Rock You.

And director Sallianne Foster-Major admit’s that Sondheim’s dark and disturbing operatic take on the Penny Dreadful tale of the the vengeful barber and his partner-in-crime, the sinister pie-maker Mrs Lovett, will be the company’s biggest challenge, both musically and dramatically.

“When you’re working on a show like Phantom of the Opera or We Will Rock You, you’re actually working with a version that has been authorised specifically for a younger cast,” she said.

“In the case of Sweeney Todd, however, we have decided that our production will be exactly as Sondheim wrote it, which is going to be a massive undertaking for our cast but one we are confident they will rise to.

“We pride ourselves on training young people in all aspects of musical theatre and many of our past students have continued to study theatre at some of the UK's most prestigious drama institutions including Guildford School of Acting, Performance Preparation Academy and The London School of Musical Theatre.”

Once again, the Easy Street production team will include Musical Director Gareth Lloyd and choreographer Amanda Tyas, working with a cast of around 30 young actors, singers and dancers and an orchestra of more than 20 student and professional musicians.

“Even though Phantom of the Opera presented us with incredible production trials - including a chandelier that had to fall to the floor every performance and the whole business of getting an elephant into the cathedral - Sweeney Todd takes the company to a whole new level of technical and musical complexity,” said Sallianne.

“Once again, though, we have drawn together an outstanding cast made up of some great young talent, all of whom are enjoying taking on the challenge of Sondheim’s lush but intense score and the gruesome story.

“And on a more practical level, I just have to make sure we don’t leave blood stains on the cathedral floor!”

For more information or to book seats for Sweeney Todd at Sheffield Cathedral visit https://stagestubs.com/easy-street-theatre-company-2/sweeney-todd-the-demon-barber-of-fleet-street

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