It's theater tradition to "attend the tale of Sweeney Todd," but in the upcoming University of Pittsburgh production, Mrs. Lovett gets her due as well.
"I'm interested in that this woman should have sold those razors 10 years ago, and were it not for these razors, the character of Sweeney Todd could not have been created so quickly," said Lisa Jackson-Schebetta, who is directing her first Pitt Repertory Theatre production, which opens Thursday.
"I'm very much interested in what she wants and what she's willing to sacrifice to get that. We've really mined their relationship, their darkness."
Dark indeed, is composer Stephen Sondheim's classic take on a man betrayed by the judicial system in 18th-century London. When "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" hit Broadway, it took home a slew of Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 1979...