April 29, 2015 – The Virginia Opera took a gamble by staging its landmark production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical theater blockbuster Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as the opening show for its 40th anniversary season, which began last fall. Happily, the gamble paid off–big time.
“We had a spectacular opening with Sweeney Todd,” says the operas principal conductor and artistic advisor, Adam Turner. “We had a great audience turnout. It was beyond our wildest dreams.”
Younger people who had never experienced opera were lured in by the show. “Now they are coming back and enjoying what we are putting onstage. It was thrilling to see so many 20-something and 30-something faces in the audience. We are growing that audience base,” says Turner. Last year, we learned what our audiences want to see. Their reaction to Sweeney Todd blew us away.”
The opera will end its season with the Italian classic La Traviata, directed by Lillian Groag. “She has directed at least one show a year for the last 20 years,” says Turner. “She has had extraordinary success on our stage.”
The show was the second production performed when the opera began in 1975. “It honors our 40-year legacy,” explains Turner. “It’s one of the great masterpieces of the repertoire. It’s a true story, so people can identify with all of the trials and tribulations of the characters.” Vaopera.org
-by Joan Tuppance