Director's Notes (excerpt)

I guess you could say that I was naive to stage this show, blissfully unaware from the outset of the enormous challenges that lay ahead.

The idea to do Sweeney Todd started when I saw Lynda Milligan in The Producers in Christchurch--only playing a tiny role--but I knew immediately that we had to do this show together.  Turns out it's also Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday this year, so the stars aligned, and once I got Ross Girven signed on, that was that.  Then in the six months it took to cast this show, I managed to collect and convince the extraordinary team of performers you see tonight to come along for the ride.

It's been an electric time working on this show with such powerful and insightful actors, and I'd like to thank them for such hard work and dedication.

Working on Sweeney Todd has been a real thrill--a dream, which has somehow unforled and I have to pinch myself at times to mae sure this is really happening.