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Tuesday, September 2, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tennessee Rep Opens 24th Season with Sondheim Musical:
Sweeney Todd Stars Television’s Lane Davies in Title Role

Winner of nine Tony Awards—including Best Musical—runs from October 4 – 18 at TPAC’s Johnson Theater.

Performance Schedule:

October 4– 18 at TPAC’S Johnson Theater
Saturday, October 4, 7:30 PM
Tuesday, October 7, 6:30 PM
Wednesday, October 8, 6:30 PM
Thursday, October 9, 6:30 PM
Friday, October 10, 7:30 PM
Saturday, October 11, 2:30 PM and 7:30 PM
Tuesday, October 14, 6:30 PM
Wednesday, October 15, 6:30 PM
Thursday, October 16, 6:30 PM
Friday, October 17, 7:30 PM
Saturday, October 18, 2:30 PM (signed performance) and 7:30 PM

Tickets: $11.50 - $41.50 (some restrictions apply). Tickets are on sale at the TPAC Box Offices (at 505 Deaderick Street in Downtown Nashville and at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in the Mall at Green Hills) and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets are available by phone or internet order at the following: (615) 255-ARTS, ticketmaster.com" www.ticketmaster.com, or tennesseerep.org

A rare instance of a musical thriller, this chilling, suspenseful, heart-pounding masterpiece of murderous barber-ism and culinary crime tells the infamous tale of the unjustly exiled barber. He returns to 19th century London seeking revenge against the lecherous judge who framed him and ravaged his young wife. Sophisticated, macabre, visceral and uncompromising, Sweeney Todd nevertheless has a great sense of fun, mixing intense drama with howlingly funny moments of dark humor. Audiences have found themselves laughing hysterically one moment and gasping in surprise the next.

“I bet almost anyone who works in the theatre has always wanted to do Sweeney Todd, and I’m no exception,” says Tennessee Rep Producing Artistic Director Rene D. Copeland. “A long time ago, when I first mentioned the show to our wonderful designer, Gary Hoff, he, too, had always wanted to get his hands on it, so it’s been on my list of shows to consider forever. I also always wanted to do it in a smaller theatre, and make it really closed in and immediate, like the way you lean in around the fire to tell a scary story. 

“When we were looking for something exciting to kick the 2008-09 season off in the Johnson Theater, which is a smaller black box theatre, I thought of Sweeney Todd. At the time, the movie was coming out and it seemed like the resurgence of interest in the story through the efforts of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp would make it a great time to bring a whole new generation to this classic American musical. We have terrific actors here to make it a very special experience, and the set design will knock your socks off,” concludes Copeland.

Television’s Lane Davies stars in the title role. Davies is best known for his roles as Mason Capwell on Santa Barbara and Tempus on Lois and Clark, so he is no stranger to playing questionable characters.

Davies says, “I've wanted to play Sweeney since seeing Len Cariou do it in New York back in the late 1970's. Huge, raw emotion tightly contained, then released in explosive and cathartic bursts of appalling violence--what could be more fun? And it's always intriguing to play the ambiguity of a basically good human being driven to madness and mayhem by external circumstances. Revenge is easy for an audience to identify with, which makes the character fun for an audience to identify with, though hopefully serial murder and cannibalism are not in their repertoire.”

The all-star cast also includes Brooke Bryant, Matthew Carlton, Zachary Hess, Maguerite Lowell, Patrick Waller, Sam Whited, Holly Wooten, and Bobby Wyckoff. Martha Wilkinson is featured as Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney Todd’s partner-in-crime.

Producing Artistic Director Rene Copeland and actors Lane Davies and Martha Wilkinson are available for live or taped interviews.

Complimentary seats are available for media representatives at the performances on the following evenings:
Saturday, October 4 at 7:30 PM
Tuesday, October 7 at 6:30 PM

Please contact Pat Patrick at pat@tennesseerep.org" to inquire about availability.