‘Sweeney Todd’ joins Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s lineup next season

When Kansas City Repertory Theatre announced its coming season earlier this year, one piece of the puzzle was missing: the annual musical. Now the Rep has rounded out the schedule with “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

Artistic director Eric Rosen will direct Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award winner about a vengeful London barber who teams with a deranged cook to create delicious meat pies with a secret horrific ingredient. “Sweeney Todd” will be presented March 23-April 15, 2018, in the Rep’s Spencer Theatre.

Since the play debuted on Broadway in 1979, it has enjoyed New York revivals (including one that opened off-Broadway in March) and Tim Burton’s 2007 film adaptation starring Johnny Depp.

The Rep is in sort of a Sondheim groove: It presented his musical “Sunday in the Park With George” in 2015 and the musical revue “Side by Side by Sondheim” in January.

“ ‘Sweeney Todd’ is the kind of rich, robust musical that will transform anyone into a musical theater fan,” Rosen said in a statement.

The rest of the 2017-18 season:

▪ “Between the Lines,” Sept. 8-Oct. 1, Spencer Theatre at UMKC: A world premiere musical adapting a young-adult novel by Jodi Picoult and daughter Samantha van Leer.

▪ “Fences,” Oct. 13-Nov. 12, Copaken Stage downtown: August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winner about a black family in 1950s Pittsburgh.

▪ “A Christmas Carol,” Nov. 17-Dec. 24, Spencer: The annual holiday tale of Scrooge and redemption. (Not part of the season ticket package.)

▪ A second holiday show will be announced later.

▪ “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” Jan. 26-Feb. 18, 2018, Spencer: An adaptation of the novel that delves into the mind of a boy with autism.

▪ “Sex With Strangers,” March 2-25, 2018, Copaken: Laura Eason’s dramedy about a man and woman stuck at a remote B&B during a snowstorm.

▪ Origin KC: New Works Festival, April 27-May 27, 2018, Copaken: includes “Brother Toad,” an examination of gun violence by KCK playwright Nathan Louis Jackson, and “Welcome to Fear City,” by Kara Lee Corthron, about the roots of hip-hop.

Season subscriptions are available at KCRep.org or by calling 816-235-2700.

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 11:32 AM with the headline "‘Sweeney Todd’ joins Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s lineup next season."