General News
13 March, 2025
Dark musical set to hit DMSC stage
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is in its last five weeks of rehearsals before the musical hits the stage at Dimboola Memorial Secondary College.
Fully funding the production through their The Forbidden Forest, Shane and Kylie Harman said they were happy with how rehearsals were going at the moment.
"It's just flying along," Mr Harman said.
"Everything is all on track and we've hit all the targets we set out.
"Now we're getting into all the fine-tuning."
Based on the book by Hugh Wheeler, the 1979 musical follows Sweeney Todd who returns home to London and opens a barber shop above Mrs Lovett's pie shop.
The story soon takes a deadly turn and he begins a murderous rampage, killing his customers to keep up with the demand of Mrs Lovett's corpse pies.
Mr Harman said the 15 cast members were all from the Wimmera, with one member commuting from Casterton.
"It was a very tough casting because it was a challenge to find people," he said.
With theatre companies spread across the region, interested actors and actresses were tied up with other shows and were unable to commit entirely.
"We started to target people for certain characters," he said.
They then had to wait until harvest season was over to commence rehearsals for the production.
Mr and Ms Harman have created all of the sets themselves, aiming to bring back the "old school" production feel.
"Most productions now are focused on technology and lighting," Mr Harman said.
"We're bringing it back to focus on the performance itself."
Locals Barb Jeffries and Jo Hornby have lent a helping hand with costumes for the Victorian 19th-century adaptation.
To align with the concept of the Wimmera Steampunk Festival, the production will have a touch of steampunk and the "19th-century Victorian" feel.
Mr Harman said he had been involved in the performing arts either through music or theatre since the age of 14.
While they lived in Maryborough around eight years ago, the Harmans began their own theatre company called HSP, with which they staged Frankenstein, Mouse Trap and Sweeney Todd.
There are 650 tickets on sale through TryBooking, of which 100 are already sold.
Limited tickets will be available at the door, for cash payment only.
On the night, the kiosk will be operating, again for cash-only sales.
"Expect an intense and well-rehearsed show," Mr Harman said.
"The cast are very passionate and enthusiastic about the production."
Performance dates are Wednesday April 9 at 7pm, Thursday April 10 at 7pm, Friday April 11 at 7pm and Sunday April 13 at 1pm.
Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1301530
