Summer may still be raging here in Michigan, but soon, the rainy streets of London will descend on Rochester as Avon Players Theatre presents the opening show to its 2024-2025 season: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street! The chilling musical by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler (book) is a classic, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1979.
Having been revived numerous times since its debut, including the most recent Broadway run with Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford (closing with Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster), and posed for a national tour come 2025, now is the perfect time for Avon Players to bring this story alive. With about two weeks left to rehearsal before the show arrives, I spoke with stars Mario Simone and Joy Oetjens, who play Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett, respectively, about their time in this musical!
[Note: The interview below may have been lightly edited for clarity. Warning for mild spoilers from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]
Interview with Mario Simone (Sweeney Todd)
Brian Kitson: What has your experience with Sweeney Todd been before being cast in the show?
Mario Simone: Yes, so I’m a huge Stephen Sondheim nerd, so I’ve been listening to Sweeney Todd for a while now, and then, obviously, through hearing the original recording, and then, you know, the Johnny Depp movie, and then, obviously this revival that has happened over the past few years, so I got to see that on Broadway. Yeah. So, just a huge, huge Sondheim fan, and because of that, a huge Sweeney fan.
Brian Kitson: That’s awesome. How has your relationship changed with the story and the character since being cast?
Mario Simone: Oh, geez, it’s, it’s very, it’s been a fun journey to go from like just observing the story to now, like trying to make myself be a part of the story, and especially with a character like Sweeney, who is so just damaged, I guess could be a good word for it,
Brian Kitson: severe trauma…
Mario Simone: severely traumatized. So it’s very interesting, like now looking at it from a different perspective, of you gotta now, you have to live it more than just experience kind of the sad tale.
Brian Kitson: Who is Sweeney to you?
Mario Simone: Sweeney to me… So he’s a guy who loves his family more than life itself. And in that love, he may take it a little too far. And obviously, he’s been wronged throughout most of his life, especially as we’ve seen the show, you know, the prior 15 years preceding the events of the play. And in that love for his family and wanting to bring them justice, this is a man that reaches a breaking point and snaps, and just nothing else matters other than the vengeance that he thinks is going to bring him peace, and obviously, without spoiling things in seeking that vengeance he, you know, shatters everything that he holds, you know, near and dear to himself.
Brian Kitson: For sure. So, how do you get into the psyche of that character? Because he’s pretty dark.
Mario Simone: Yes, it is. It’s really weird. I gotta give myself a little pep talk. It’s like, okay, you’re this is not you. But you also have to find the pieces that you can attach to. So, you know, I’m a very family-oriented guy, so I don’t know if I would take it as far as Sweeney, but like, I love my family, and I would do anything for them. So I find I link to, I try to, you know, latch on to little things and let that influence the other parts that are just, you know, abnormal and otherworldly, and, you know, I’m not a murderer
Brian Kitson: You’re not getting lost in the character.
Mario Simone: Exactly.
Brian Kitson: What has been challenging, surprising, or rewarding about your time as Sweeney Todd?
Mario Simone: I will say something that’s very challenging right now is the balance of this character. I mean, it’s one of the more vocally challenging parts in terms of going from acting to yelling to singing beautifully, but also singing, making it terrifying. So it’s been really rewarding in that regard, challenging myself and finding out that, hey, I can do this, and I just got to put in a little bit of work. And, you know, it’s turning out to be a good character and a lot of fun. I’m really enjoying it, but it is definitely, it is definitely a lot of work up there
Brian Kitson: I could imagine. And what are the three words you would use to describe the musical Sweeney Todd?
Mario Simone: Um… haunting, beautiful… And, hmm, I almost want to say, like, eternal.
Brian Kitson: okay!
Mario Simone: yeah, it’s just, it’s something that has transcended, obviously, generations, and still, in a way, you know, through the revivals there, it’s still touching people, even after, you know, Sondheim’s passing and, yeah, it’s something that I think, regardless of who sees it or what stage of life you’re in, there’s something for everybody, and that’s something that, I think, is going to live on for a very long time, and it will always, you know, always be able to connect to people, even in the weird way that it does because it’s a ridiculous story. There is a little bit of realism in there as well. And I think people will find that and be able to catch that bit.
Interview with Joy Oetjens (Mrs. Lovett)
Brian Kitson: All right, so what was your experience with Sweeney Todd before being cast in the show?
Joy Oetjens: I love Steven Sondheim. Sweeney Todd is probably one of the less familiar musicals to me, but I know I liked it; I liked the story, I liked the music, and I knew it was a big challenge.
Brian Kitson: Sure. What’s been your favorite Stephen Sondheim show?
Joy Oetjens: Well, you know what I have to tell you, I’ve done Into the Woods and Company, and Into The Woods has been one of my favorite musicals of all time, I think, until I got cast in this one. This one is beating the rest now.
Brian Kitson: Oh, I love Company. It’s one of my favorites. Who’d you play?
Joy Oetjens: Joanne!
Brian Kitson: Perfect! How has your relationship changed with the story and the character since you’ve been cast in Sweeney Todd?
Joy Oetjens: I just love it. I am absolutely in love with the story. I’m in love with all the nuances of the characters. I absolutely adore the music, and I’m just finding, you know, is I read the script and the dialog and really just found more and more ways that Mrs. Lovett is just sick and wrong and devious, and it’s a lot of fun.
Brian Kitson: She is, but she also has a weirdly big heart in a way, you know,
Joy Oetjens: Yeah, in a weird way, yeah, like-
Brian Kitson: in a very messed up way, but
Joy Oetjens: yes.
Brian Kitson: Can you tell us who your character is to you?
Joy Oetjens: The character, Mrs. Lovett is a woman who is very strong. Very commanding. She definitely knows what she wants. She is unhappy with being a poor widow in a failing pie shop, and the minute Sweeney Todd walks in that shop, she sees all of her chances turn around.
Brian Kitson: What’s your process for getting into character? Because you have a tough role, with the accent and a lot of singing, what’s your process?
Joy Oetjens: Little bit everything. A lot of reading and analyzing the script, and more so the lyrics than the dialog. There’s this much dialog, and, you know, that many lyrics, and she has a million words at 100 miles an hour all the time, so just analyzing what she’s saying and thinking of her motivation for everything and her relationships with the other characters. And then, of course, there’s practicing the dialog, the dialect, and the singing as well.
Brian Kitson: How do you separate yourself from past iterations? Because this has been around for a long time. You’ve probably seen multiple different actors go through this role. How do you make it your own?
Joy Oetjens: You know, I did look at, you know, Angela Lansbury and, of course, Annaleigh Ashford, and everybody, and I’ve looked at the other performances, and, you know, saw what I like, and then what I didn’t like, and then stopped looking at them, and just kind of made it me.
Brian Kitson: I love that. What has been challenging or surprising about this process for you?
Joy Oetjens: Breathing, breathing, breathing. She, um,
Brian Kitson: It doesn’t happen often.
Joy Oetjens: I know, right? Well, yeah, she’s very active and physical while singing a million words at 100 miles an hour, and finding places to breathe has been probably my biggest challenge.
Brian Kitson: And what three words would you use to describe Sweeney Todd the Musical?
Joy Oetjens: Oh, wow, dark, thrilling, and just fun.
Don’t miss Sweeney Todd at the Avon Players
