MANSFIELD—The Mansfield Symphony Orchestra has announced a special collaboration with Artistic Director Michael Thomas and a cast of Renaissance Theatre performing artists for their finale concert of the 2022-23 season. On May 6, 2023, the orchestra will present Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert.
Considered by many to be Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a deeply affecting story of love, loss, compassion, and man’s inhumanity to man. The score is both delicate and demonic and is one of the greatest achievements in music history. The show is remembered for its dark humor and bloody carnage, but it is also an intricate weave of deep emotion and extreme violence, where comedy and tragedy coexist in a tense balance. The show’s message about violence and our insensitivity to the suffering around us is particularly poignant in today’s society.
This concert version of Sweeney Todd will be a fully staged production, complete with a full script and score. The cast, which includes guest artists Laura Lewis-Houck as Mrs. Lovett, Mansfield’s Najee Rawls as Sweeney Todd, and Colton Penwell as the Beadle, will move among the musicians and conductor Octavio Mas Arocas as the scenes play out. An ensemble of 40 actor/singers will join Maestro Mas Arocas in this rare opportunity to hear this groundbreaking musical accompanied by a full symphony orchestra.
This very special performance, part of the OhioHealth Symphony Series, will be directed by Mansfield Symphony Orchestra Music Director and Conductor Octavio Mas-Arocas. To purchase tickets to this performance, visit the Renaissance Theatre website, rentickets.org, or visit/call the box office at 419-522-2726, located at 138 Park Avenue West in Mansfield.