Live Theatre Will Return to NJCU in November with Hair-Raising Performances of Sweeney Todd
JERSEY CITY, N.J. | Live theatre will return to New Jersey City University (NJCU) this November for six performances when the NJCU Musical Theatre presents one of the most infamous and dark musicals ever written — Sweeney Todd —at the NJCU Center for the Arts Westside Theatre, running from Friday, November 12 through Sunday, November 21.
The audience is sure to experience quite a fright with this Stephen Sondheim musical, which boasts "revenge, love, lust, corruption and cannibalism, all before intermission!"
Public show time on November 12, 13, 19 and 20 is 8 p.m. Show time on November 14 and 21 is 3 p.m. General admission tickets are $25, and $10 for students and senior citizens. Tickets are free for NJCU Music, Dance and Theatre students with their student ID. Tickets may be purchased at boxoffice@njcu.edu or by calling (201) 200-2429. For more information, visit the NJCU Center for the Arts website at njcu.edu/arts.
Sweeney Todd is the unsettling tale of a Victorian-era barber who returns home to London after 15 years of exile to take revenge on the lecherous judge who framed him, ravaged his young wife and ruined his life. When revenge eludes him, Sweeney swears vengeance on the entire human race, murdering as many people as he can, while his business associate Mrs. Lovett bakes the bodies into meat pies and sells them to the unsuspecting public. Perhaps composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s most perfect score, Sweeney Todd is lush, operatic, and full of soaring beauty, pitch-black comedy and stunning terror. It’s one of the signal achievements of the American musical theater of the last 50 years, and it’s the high water mark of Sondheim’s six remarkable collaborations with director Harold Prince.
The director of Sweeney Todd is NJCU's Area Coordinator of Musical Theatre Studies Marc G. Dalio, who is an internationally known actor, musician and director.
Important Performance Notes:
* Parental Advisory: Mature material; not suitable for children.
** All attendees must adhere to the NJCU Theater COVID-19 Protocols:
https://www.njcu.edu/community/center-arts/njcu-theater-covid-19-protocols
Cast:
Sweeney Todd – Jordan Owens
Mrs. Lovett – Caylen Cara Enriquez Montemayor
Tobias – Justin Reed
Judge Turpin – Byron Flores Jr.
Johanna – Jessica Garcia
Anthony – Damon Porter
The Beadle – Joshua Rosenthal
The Beggar Woman – Emily Tunney
Jonas Fogg – Adam Halecki
Parelli – Jason Concepcion
Ensemble:
Manny Encarnacion
Moses Garcia
Qawiyya Haqq
Katie Harrigan
Jonathan Jarvis
Kaileen Santiago
Ryanne Soriano
Gabby Stanowski
Olivia Ventura
Facts and Credits:
- Music and lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim (b.1930)
- Book by Hugh Wheeler
- From an Adaptation by: Christopher Bond
- Originally directed on Broadway by: Harold Prince
- Orchestrations by: Jonathan Tunick
- Originally Produced on Broadway by: Richard Barr, Charles Woodward, Robert Fryer, Mary Lea Johnson, Martin Richards
- In Association with Dean and Judy Manos
- First performance: March 1, 1979, The Uris Theatre, NYC
About The NJCU Center for the Arts
The NJCU Center for the Arts brings the University's cultural offerings together under one creative umbrella. With New York City just across the river, the NJCU Center for the Arts is a cultural hub of New Jersey, hosting guest artists and speakers in the performing, visual, film, and literary arts, alongside student presentations.
About NJCU:
New Jersey City University is an institution of higher learning with an audacious goal: the development of our students, our city, our communities, our state, and the world beyond. We are a game-changing force for our students and their families. Whether our students are enrolled in one of our 50 undergraduate, 28 graduate or three doctoral programs, NJCU provides an affordable, diverse environment, and an exceptionally supportive faculty—all of which prepares them to be critical thinkers in a global landscape.
We’re also changing the game for our city, our communities, and our state. As the educational anchor institution in Jersey City, we’ve established partnerships to ensure the area’s growth directly benefits our students and community members. We seek to improve the lives of everyone in the Garden State, whether creating a home for the arts, bringing educational programs to K-12 students, offering bachelor’s degrees in partnership with community colleges, or providing professional development opportunities for adults.
At NJCU, we’re not just educating minds, we’re nourishing souls and lifting communities. We’re changing the game.
Contact:
Ira Thor, Senior Director of University Communications and Media Relations | ithor@njcu.edu | 201-200-3301