Ballads in the style of street singers, catchy melodies, and impressive duets brilliantly underscore the bloodthirsty events. "Sweeney Todd" has won numerous awards and was made into a highly successful film in 2007. Following the last production in Koblenz in the 2009/2010 season, it is now time for Sondheim's great musical classic to return after more than 15 years – this time in the impressive setting of Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.
The setting for this "black operetta" (Sondheim) is Victorian London—for barber Sweeney Todd, a den of iniquity, an abyss where the dregs of society gather. That is why he slits his customers' throats with sharp razors and sends the corpses through a trapdoor to his landlady, Mrs. Lovett, who uses them to make delicious and sought-after meat pies. The hero of this gruesome story has a perfectly plausible motive for his misdeeds: A corrupt judge had once stolen his wife and child and then thrown him into prison for 15 years, even though he was innocent. After his release, Sweeney Todd seeks revenge on his fellow human beings. But eventually, Sweeney Todd recognizes his own wife, his beloved Lucy, the only woman in the world who still loves his poisoned heart, in a beggar woman he has killed. And because Mrs. Lovett lied and led him to believe that Lucy was dead, he will take revenge on her as well.
Premiere July 4,
Additional performances: July 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12, 2026
