Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel, costars of Sweeney Todd.
Emmy-winning actress Emma Thompson will make her return to the London theatre after 25 years in a musical production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. You’ve probably heard of Thompson from her well-known films, including Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually, Nanny McPhee, and most recently Saving Mr. Banks. Sweeney Todd was made famous to a wider audience when director Tim Burton remade it into a film in 2007 starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter.
Thompson will perform at English National Opera’s (ENO) London Coliseum alongside Welsh opera singer Bryn Terfel. Thompson will be playing the part of Mrs. Lovett, the landlady who disposes of Sweeney Todd’s victims by baking them into pies, and Terfel will play the infamous barber of Fleet Street himself, Sweeney Todd. There will be 13 performances between March 30th and April 12th of 2015.
This is not the first time Thompson and Terfel have performed together; they previously starred in productions of Sweeney Todd with the New York Philharmonic at New York’s Lincoln Center in March. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, A Musical Thriller, was met with much acclaim by audiences who attended the New York Philharmonic concert last spring.
Thompsons’s last performance on the London stage was in 1989, when she was in a production of Look Back in Anger, directed by Judi Dench. According to Telegraph UK, Thompson said she wanted to avoid “pointless” thinking about the 25-year time gap. “You’ve really got to keep doing different things, flinging yourself and leaping into the dark otherwise you get a bit samey and people get bored,” she said.
If you’re worried about the potential of fewer operas there is no need to fret. ENO artistic director John Berry has promised that the addition of musicals to the ENO schedule will not interrupt the Opera’s regular programming nor limit opera productions.
Click here to visit the English National Opera’s website for more information about the upcoming shows.
Image: via the English National Opera.