Philip Quast will join Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel in the cast of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street when the musical thriller arrives at the London Coliseum next year.
The three-time Olivier Award winner, whose musical theatre credits include London productions of The Fix, Sunday In The Park With George and South Pacific, all of which earned him those prestigious accolades, will play Judge Turpin in the production.
The actor returns to the role of the self-righteous judge who causes Sweeney to seek his deadly vengeance following his performance in the New York Philharmonic’s production at the Lincoln Center earlier this year. He is reunited with his co-stars Terfel and Thompson as the title character and his pie-making sidekick.
Set in Victorian London, the musical follows the eponymous barber as he seeks revenge on what he sees as a merciless world by murdering customers and baking their bodies into pies with the help of his romantically inclined landlady Mrs Lovett.
Featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by High Wheeler, Sweeney Todd is the first production in a major long-term partnership between ENO and the GradeLinnit Company, which aims to bring world class musical theatre productions to the London Coliseum.
Directed by Lonny Price, Sweeney Todd will play from 30 March to 12 April at the venue. Full casting for the production is still to be announced.