Revenge will be delicious in the final production of Vancouver Opera’s 2014-2015 season: Stephen Sondheim’s brilliantly thrilling Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, onstage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for 6 performances April 25 – May 3, 2015.
This innovative new production redefines the conventions of opera: Maestro Jonathan Darlington and the 26-piece orchestra will be placed in full view on stage, and some of the action will spill over to floor level at the front of the theatre. The sensational bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, renowned for his operatic roles in works by Verdi and Wagner, returns to VO for the first time since he sang John the Baptist in Salome, in 2009, to make his role debut as the demon barber. He is joined by his real-life wife, acclaimed mezzo-soprano Luretta Bybee, as Mrs. Lovett. Award-winning theatre director Kim Collier, who recently helmed the Arts Club Theatre’s St. Joan, has conceived the new production and directs the action.
Vancouver Opera’s Sweeney Todd
Saturday, April 25 • 7:30pm
Sunday, April 26 • 2:00pm matinée
Thursday, April 30 • 7:30pm
Friday, May 1 • 7:30pm
Saturday, May 2 • 7:30pm
Sunday, May 3 • 2:00pm matinée
All performances take place at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, corner of Georgia and Hamilton Streets, Vancouver, B.C.
Sweeney Todd will be sung in English with lyrics projected above the stage. Approximate running time: 2 hours 45 minutes (including one intermission)
Tickets are available exclusively through the Vancouver Opera Ticket Centre: 604-683-0222 orwww.vancouveropera.ca. Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted. Special pricing for groups of 10 or more is available by phone.
Follow Vancouver Opera on Twitter and Facebook for exclusive offers such as VO’s Get O.U.T (Opera Under 35) program, with $35 tickets for patrons aged under 35.
The role of Sweeney Todd will be sung by New Orleans-based bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, internationally recognized as an outstanding singing actor and one of the most prominent Wagnerian singers of our day. Continuing his reign as a leading interpreter of the god Wotan, he recently sang the role for the Metropolitan Opera’s Ring Cycle in Robert Lepage’s landmark production. Having performed the role of Jochanaan in Salome with San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and with Vancouver Opera in 2009, Mr. Grimsley will be making his Dallas Opera début in that role this season. VO’s Sweeney Todd will mark his long-awaited début as the sadistically demonic barber.
