‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” the inaugural production for the new company, Princeton Festival, features some prominent opera talent, but do not ignore the chorus in this production.##M:[more]## Its members include two people who might be your neighbors: Eleanor Kiel and John Andrew Fernandez from West Windsor and Plainsboro. Performances, a lecture, and a concert will take place from Sunday, July 3, to Saturday, July 16, at the Lawrenceville School campus off Route 206 in Lawrenceville. For information visit www.princetonfestival.org.
This is Kiel’s second production of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” Last year she played the young Joanna in Actor’s Net. In this production, she notes, the chorus functions as narrators and commentators. “We are on stage throughout the show playing different characters. This is a much more difficult role than playing Joanna.” Indeed, the chorus members portray street people, party people, and even people in an insane asylum.
Born and raised in Minneapolis, Kiel began playing piano when she was 3 1/2 on a piano that happened to be in the house when her parents bought it. “A big part of my life was a musical upbringing,” she says. During high school she was in musicals and began taking vocal lessons as a senior.
Her parents are retired teachers. Her mother taught English and is now running a hospitality house for street people. Her father, who taught French and English, is busy gardening. “As a kid I learned to volunteer at shelters,” she says. “When I was growing up kids did not do as many activities as they do now.”
Kiel has recently begun studying dance. “It’s the last piece of the puzzle,” she says. She is working on ballet and tap with Danielle Tucci-Jurago at the Downstage Center Dance Studio. Her voice instructor is Patricia Bartlett. She is the director of music ministries, conductor, organist, pianist, and cantor at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Lawrenceville. She also teaches private voice lessons.
A soprano, past roles include Miss Jones in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” at Kelsey, Martha Jefferson in “1776” at Actors’ Net, and the narrator in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in Minneapolis.
“We met on our first day of college in a music theory class,” says Kiel of West Windsor of her husband Micah. They were both music majors at the College of St. Benedict in St. Cloud, Minnesota. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music with a major in vocal performance and a concentration in acting. When they moved to West Windsor five years ago, she pursued her master’s in vocal performance form Rutgers University. He is studying for his doctorate at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Micah plays guitar and was active on stage in their college days. “I hope to convince him to return to the stage,” she says.
Sweeney Todd is a fascinating character,” says Fernandez. “His cold and scheming plans are driven by his hurt. Many people feel that they have been wronged by a judicial system but his means of revenge are morally questionable.” A baritone in the chorus, this is his first connection with Sweeney Todd.
Raised in Swarthmore. He began singing as a child in the Philadelphia Children’s Choir and has been singing professionally for close to five years. A graduate of Westminster Choir College, he is now pursuing his graduate degree there. Last year he had the lead male role in “Hansel and Gretel” at Westminster and was in the chorus of “Aida” with Opera Company of Philadelphia. He is a soloist with Lauda Chamber Singers, a group based in South Jersey.
He has also played the Count in “Marriage of Figaro” and has been part of Spoleto Festival for three years. In August he travels to Italy to portray Leontes in an adaptation of “A Winter’s Tale” with International Opera Theater.
“It is really beneficial for me to watch Sweeney Todd’s character development as I play a lot of the roles with the same type of character,” says Fernandez, who works in the library at Westminster while studying. More than three-quarters of his income comes from singing as a chorus member or soloist.
“The score is more complicated than I thought it would be but I love the story,” he says.”I’m a sucker for a revenge story and it’s the perfect story for an opera.”
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Princeton Festival, Kirby Arts Center, Route 206, Lawrenceville, 800-595-4849. Steven Sondheim musical thriller is the premiere performance for the new company. Featured actors include Harry Dworchak, bass-baritone, Kathryn Cowdrick, mezzo-soprano; and John Easterlin. Pre-performance picnics and opening night champagne reception available. Tickets, $25 to $75. Sunday, July 3, 3 p.m.; Saturdays, July 9 and 16, 8 p.m.; and Friday, July 15, 8 p.m.
Concordia Chamber Players, Princeton Festival, Kirby Arts Center, Route 206, Lawrenceville, 800-595-4849. Concert features music of Schumann, Brahms, and Janacek. $30. Friday, July 8, 8 p.m.
From Temple Bar to Newgate Jail: The True Tale of Sweeney Todd, Princeton Festival, Noyes History Center, Lawrenceville School, Route 206, Lawrenceville, 800-595-4849. Crime historian Mark Gribben presents a lecture on the historic Sweeney Todd. Free. Saturday, July 9, 4:30 p.m.
