Madison Lyric Stage will present Stephen Sondheim’s musical thriller Sweeney Todd, Thursday through Sunday, June 9 to 19, inside a brand-new deluxe tent on the grounds of Madison’s Deacon John Grave House, 581 Boston Post Road, Madison.

With music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler, Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a dark, yet often humorous, musical extravaganza. Sweeney Todd, whose real name is Benjamin Barker, uses his new alias to resume work in his barber shop above Mrs. Lovett’s struggling pie shop after being wrongfully sentenced to life imprisonment. After swearing vengeance against the judge that tore his family apart, Todd and Lovett plot a unique plan that leads them down a dangerous, thrilling path, with deadly consequences.

Sweeney Todd was Stephen Sondheim’s 10th Broadway production. It is generally considered his masterpiece, a melodic and theatrically bold work that has been produced in theaters large and small and numerous opera houses. The original 1979 Broadway production won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It features such well-known songs as “Not While I’m Around,” “Pretty Women,” and “Johanna.”

“We all continue to mourn the loss of the great Stephen Sondheim, who passed away late last year,” says Marc Deaton, artistic director of Madison Lyric Stage. “With his legacy in mind, it is my desire to present a Sweeney Todd that is frightening and gruesome, funny, and meaningful, with the highest standard of musical integrity we can muster.”

Leading a cast of 18, Deaton stars as the knife-wielding Sweeney Todd, with Val Moranto as the meat-pie-making Mrs. Lovett. Deaton also directs and Kelly Horsted serves as music director.

Sweeney Todd also features Ralph Buonocore as the Judge, Rebecca Ellis as the Beggar Woman, Alexis Kurtz as Johanna, Sonny Capaccio as Anthony, Matt Landry-McWilliams as Tobias, Allison Lindsay as Pirelli, and Daniel Kamalic as the Beadle.

Tickets are $55 and can be purchased by visiting madisonlyricstage.org or by calling 203-215-6329..

The Madison Lyric Stage 2022 season continues in July with Stephen Schwartz’s musical Pippin, and Edward Albee’s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in September.

Madison Lyric Stage is supported in part by gifts from Chase, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Guilford Savings Bank, the Maureen E. and Peter F. Dalton Fund of The Madison Foundation, the New Alliance Foundation and the Rotary Club of Madison, along with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Support has also been provided from CT Humanities, with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts from the Connecticut State Legislature, as well as from the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, which received support from the National Endowment for the Arts – American Rescue Plan Act program.

Madison Lyric Stage is an award-winning, non-profit arts collective serving the Connecticut shoreline. Its mission is to expand participation in the arts by presenting accessible, inclusive and affordable professional-quality opera, musical theater and drama.

For more information about Madison Lyric Stage, visit madisonlyricstage.org.