Sweeney Todd

Short North Stage is running Sweeney Todd at the Garden Theater through October 18, with the show having opened on September 24. It's the professional theatre company's latest production, and it's a big one: Stephen Sondheim's music and lyrics, Christopher Bond's adaptation, and direction and choreography by Edward Carignan.

If you're not familiar with the story, it follows Benjamin Barker, who returns to London under the alias Sweeney Todd. He's met by an old friend with a business proposition too delicious to deny, and together he and his partner-in-crime, Mrs. Lovett, embark on a journey driven by obsession, love, and vengeance. It's a macabre tale of murder, and the title gives away the most famous part—the demon barber of Fleet Street.

On stage, Torrey Linder takes the role of Sweeney Todd and Nyla Watson plays Mrs. Lovett. The production is being put on by Short North Stage, Columbus' new professional theatre company, which is based in the Garden Theater on High Street in the Short North Arts District. The venue itself has a long history: it opened in 1920 as the premier showcase north of downtown and, before its current life as a home for professional theatre and cabaret, spent more than 90 years as a vaudeville and movie emporium, a silent movie house, a burlesque hall, and even a church. The company is renovating the building while programming musical theatre, comedy, dance, and popular music throughout the year.

Sweeney Todd runs through October 18 at the Garden Theater in the Short North Arts District.