Meet the Cast & Crew of Sweeney Todd: Alison Lawrence

"We have a more modern setting, physical theatre, lots of great choreography and all the high production values we strive for every year"

'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' runs from Thursday 15th September until Saturday 17th at the Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Woking - tickets are going fast. You can book now at our box office (and still get your choice of performance & seat!)

Alison!

Your Name: Alison Lawrence    

Your role: Director

Tell us about your role: I am the one with the pen and paper, encouraging, motivating, designing, devising and generally worrying about the whole thing!

Your favourite line from the show: Mrs loves -  'Thats all very well' – it’s so funny after Sweeney's ultra-emotional epiphany – Classic

Everyone knows something of the Sweeney Todd story, but what extra do you we will we get from the Simply version of this Sondheim telling? This really is quite a different production - we have a more modern setting, physical theatre, lots of great choreography and all the high production values we strive for every year - The ensemble have mainly all been principals with us or elsewhere before so they really are top notch and are the bedrock of the show, topped off by our wonderful principals!

What’s your favourite song in the show and why? Almost all of Anthony's! – ‘Johanna’ such a beautiful melody and feeling ...

What other shows have you done? Dozens - directed almost all the Simply shows since we started in 2008 - everything from ‘A Streetcar named Desire’ to ‘Rent’ and ‘Abigail’s Party’ through to ‘Forbidden Planet’.

Has anything ever happened to you, on-stage, that wasn’t in the script? Lots - now I spend my time trying to spot the ensemble parts building without me knowing - Two of the ensemble in this are meant to play dominoes at one point-  they were miming Jenga at last night's rehearsal !

What musical moment first made you think, “I want to do that!”? In terms of directing, watching a live Broadway feed of into the woods in 1988 -  I didn't really get involved in theatre until a few years later, as I was a musician, but I loved it and 25 years later directed it with Simply, which was a dream come true

What are you enjoying most about being part of Simply Theatre? New People, new ideas, getting to put on the shows I love or discover, with such talented casts and creative teams we are all really proud of what we achieve

What else do you do besides singing, dancing & acting? I work in IT! so need some escape from that - and this is the perfect antidote!