WLOS GOES DARK WITH SWEENEY TODD

WEXFORD Light Opera Society has announced Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Stephen Sondheim as its show for 2018.

One of the darkest musicals ever written, Sweeney Todd: A Musical Thriller is the unsettling tale of a Victorian-era barber who returns home to London after fifteen years of exile to take revenge on the corrupt judge who 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 an unsuspecting public.

Regarded as composer/lyricist Sondheim’s most perfect score, Sweeney Todd is lush, operatic and full of soaring, pitch-black comedy and stunning terror.

The choice has proved a bit with Wexford Light Opera Society fans who are already looking forward to the show which will run at the National Opera House from Monday, April 30 to Saturday, May 5 next year.

The director will be Vivian Coates; musical director Fintan Cleary; choreographer, Nicole McDonald and chorus mistress, Eithne Corrigan.

New members intending to audition for either chorus or principal parts may register their interest by emailing the society on info@wlos.ie or by contacting any committee member.

An information night will be held on November 7 with principal and chorus auditions due to take place on December 2.

The Light Opera Society will hold its AGM soon and rehearsals will start thereafter for its major fundraiser for Sweeney Todd, ‘Hits from the Musicals’ which will be held in Clayton Whites Hotel from Monday, October 30 to Thursday, November 2 as part of Wexford Festival Opera fringe programme.