Knoxville Symphony Orchestra to perform with Clarence Brown Theatre -- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

KNOXVILLE -- The Tony Award winning musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will take the stage at the Clarence Brown Theatre on August 30, 2012 with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO) performing the accompanying music.

The musical will star TV and music actress Dale Dickey, a Knoxville resident.

Tickets go on sale Monday, July 16. Sweeney Todd will run from August 30 through September 16.

Directed by Clarence Brown Theatre Artistic Director Calvin MacLean with Musical Direction under the baton of KSO Music Director Lucas Richman, the Stephen Sondheim musical tells the story of Benjamin Barker, a London barber wrongly transported to an overseas penal colony so a corrupt judge could seduce his young wife. Returning to London after 15 years, he changes his name to Sweeney Todd and joins forces with Mrs. Lovett, the proprietress of the meat-pie shop underneath his former barber emporium. As Sweeney prepares for the moment he can exact his revenge on the judge, Mrs. Lovett puts his murderous rehearsals to good culinary use. Soon, customers begin lining up in droves for Mrs. Lovett's new, wondrously tasty meat pies while the dregs of London line up for a close shave, compliments of Sweeney Todd.

Dickey will play the role of Mrs. Lovett. Beginning work on Knoxville stages at age nine in The Sound of Music at Hunter Hills until her tenure as a University of Tennessee theatre student in the early 1980's, she performed in over 50 plays. One of her final shows at UT was her favorite, Sweeney Todd in 1983.

Currently appearing as a regular in the HBO series "True Blood," Ms. Dickey has also appeared this past season on CBS' "2 Broke Girls" and Fox TV's "Raising Hope." Last year, she won the role of Best Supporting Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards for her performance in Winter's Bone.

The character of Sweeney Todd will be played by Jeff Austin, a veteran TV/film actor, filmmaker and acting coach. Best known for his movie roles in "Carnivale," "L.A. Confidential," "Armageddon," and "Rocky IV," his numerous TV appearances include "How I Met Your Mother," "King of Queens," "Bones," "NYPD Blue," "NCIS" and "The X Files," to name just a few.

The production is sponsored, in part, by Schaad Companies; the University of Tennessee College of Arts and Sciences: Theresa Lee, Dean; Jim and Natalie Haslam; Twin City Dealerships; ORNL Federal Credit Union.

Show dates and times are August 30-31, September 1, 4-7, 11-14 at 7:30 p.m. and September 2, 9 and 16 at 2:00 p.m.

To purchase tickets for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, call 865-291-3310 or 865-974-5161 or log on to knoxvillesymphony.com or clarencebrowntheatre.com.

Published July 10, 2012