High school actors make the cut with 'Sweeney Todd' production

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is making an appearance at UNC’s Center for Dramatic Art this weekend.

PlayMakers’ Summer Youth Conservatory will perform the musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” to conclude its five-week summer theater intensive program.

Tim Scales — founder of the arts marketing company Wagon Wheel Arts, which has been working with PlayMakers — said the high school students who put on the show are from around the Triangle area, and they all have a passion for theater.

Scales also said he thought the conservatory was an ideal training ground for students aspiring to become theater professionals.

“This is a professional production, and the fact that it is high school students doesn’t mean it is kids putting on a play,” Scales said. “It shows in the work on stage and professionalism of the people involved.”

Scales said the theater-intensive students were split into two groups — acting and theater tech.

Jenny Wales, PlayMakers’ education manager, led the production.

She said the tech students worked to build the set, hang lights and design and create costumes for the production.

“The theater tech students are on the front lines — really producing everything to create the show under adult supervision,” Wales said.

She also said the staff was looking for a challenging piece for students to work on, and “Sweeney Todd” fit the bill.

“Our goal is to give them something to sink their teeth into,” she said.

“(Sweeney Todd) is an incredibly difficult and complicated show. It is exciting to get to tackle something that is a musical masterpiece.”

She said the most challenging things about preparation were the logistics during rehearsals.

“It is less a challenge than it is a thrilling time for us all,” she said.

Wales also said she enjoyed witnessing the improvements the students made throughout the program.

“Watching students become more focused in their artistry as well as their technical ability is hands down the most rewarding part,” Wales said.

Chloe Lucente, who graduated from Chapel Hill High School in June, plays the character of Johanna, who is Benjamin “Sweeney Todd” Barker’s daughter.

She said she has loved learning to work with different types of people.

“It was really fun putting it all together, and the final product sounds really cool,” she said.

Lucente said the show has helped her grow as an actor.

“(I have) definitely been learning outside of my comfort zone,” she said.

“I have had to stretch myself and go forward and not look back.”

Wales said this production is not only a great experience for the students, but it will also be enriching for the audience members, as well.

“It is going to be a really exciting opportunity for people in the area to see high school students tackle a professional production,” she said.

Contact the desk editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.