When performer Meow Meow was offered the role of Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Birmingham Rep she initially hesitated, unsure of whether it was the right time to step into the show’s darkly comic world of murderous revenge.

But the more she thought about it, the more she realised the story has a powerful resonance
for audiences today.

“When they first asked me, I thought ‘do I want to be doing something right now that is so
bloody?’ I mean at points it is just glorying in the gothic horror and I didn’t know if the world
needs that right now,” she says.

“And then I thought about it more and more and thought ‘well it really is a morality tale and
that is something the world needs’. If the world can’t see what is happening in real life then
we’d better do it in a theatre and make it live.”

And so Meow Meow will play Mrs Lovett alongside Ramin Karimloo as Sweeney and David
Bedella as Judge Turpin in the show directed by Birmingham Rep Artistic Director Joe
Sweeney which plays the theatre between 4 July and 15 August.

Written by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, Sweeney Todd premiered on Broadway in
1979 and has been staged in numerous productions in theatres across the world ever since.
It tells the story of Benjamin Barker who is wrongfully sent to a penal colony by Judge Turpin
who is lusting after his wife and daughter.

And when Barker returns to London he is bent on revenge. Changing his name to Sweeney
Todd he sets up a barber shop - but when he pairs up with his neighbour Mrs Lovett, the two
embark on a new business venture. As Sweeney cuts the throats of his customers, Mrs Lovett bakes them into meat pies.

It may all be fantastical but, says Meow Meow, there is a lot of truth in the characters and
their adventures.

“I’m always trying to do work that is relevant to a contemporary audience and Sweeney feels
very relevant in contemporary society. Yes, it’s a wonderfully gothic bloody tale but at its
heart it’s really about love and revenge, blind obsession and survival. It's also magnificent musically. And hilarious. 

“It’s an awe-inspiring piece. We seem to be in a society which is in cycles of revenge that
blind us to all sorts of love and so this feels right on the money right now.”

Meow Meow has built up a formidable reputation for her genre-defying international career featuring the creation of original award winning music-theatre works and concerts. As a frequent collaborator with the orchestra Pink Martini, she's appeared at Hollywood Bowl and the Berlin Philhamonie. Her own concerts have filled Royal Festival Hall, Sydney Opera House and recently a sold-out Carnegie Hall debut.

In the UK she has appeared in plays including Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Globe, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg on the West End, and Guys and Dolls at the Royal Albert Hall. She's also a guest artist with Pina Bausch Dance company in Wuppertal, Germany.

Meow Meow says a character like Mrs Lovett is irresistible.

“For her, is it just about survival? Bertolt Brecht has that great expression ‘first comes food,
then comes morality’ and I think with Mrs Lovett we are dealing with the desperation of
survival, she does what she needs to in order to survive. And then of course there is love.

“So I think there is fun to be had with the character but it’s also about getting to the kernel of
who that woman is and what has happened to make her who she is and what is happening
to her now.”

For Meow Meow, many of the clues to Mrs Lovett’s character come from Sondheim’s music.
“There is a constant babbling current which runs through Mrs Lovett’s music which I think is
her brain but then there is also this hyper focus.

“There’s that wonderful dissonance which carries through Sondheim’s music so there’s this lovely light deft trilling all over the place but then there is this stunning subliminal drive. I think when you are playing her character you take from the music as well as the text.”

The character of Sweeney Todd originated in a Victorian penny dreadful called The String of
Pearls and for Meow Meow, the story’s source gives the characters a certain hallmark.

“Those early penny dreadfuls are folk tales that have been co-opted by writers who have
reinterpreted them,” she says. “They have got all the layers of those myths and folk tale
characters that have a kind of symbolism about them.

“It’s a bit like Punch and Judy, it’s got that feel of really old plays - The Judge, The Church,
The State, The Fallen Woman - they are all the archetypes of very simplistic folk plays, and indeed Commedia dell'Arte. But then add into this the psychological dramas so we keep that folk story element but with the fleshiness of the characters.”

“And I feel the strains of John Gay's Beggar Opera and the influence of Brecht and Weill all over everything.

“What I like is that on the one hand the show is sort of heightened Grand Guignol horror mixed with a kind of old school music hall comedy. That comedy is as dark as the desperate times it reveals, and yet it pulls us out of the darkness, as it were, with laughter and beauty to examine the frailty of human morality.”

Sweeney Todd is Meow Meow’s first time performing at Birmingham Rep.

“I feel honoured and lucky to be I hope part of the tradition of this theatre,” she says. “Through the decades it has continued to be this quite epic breeding ground of talent and experimentation, and it is a wonderful thing to be part of.

“It depends on the age of people I am talking to but when I say Birmingham Rep, they might
say Laurence Olivier or someone else but regardless they’ve got someone from their
generation who had a significant time there.

“And there is a real sense of vibrancy and a real buzz of creativity around this show. To be in
a place where, against all odds, they are creating large-scale work in a time of financial crisis
is exciting.”

And she has one other reason for being keen to come to the city - Birmingham Museum and
Art Gallery’s priceless collection of Pre-Raphaelite art.

“I love the Pre-Raphaelites and I know there is a great collection in Birmingham,” she says. “I
passed through the city before and did go to the gallery but it was closed so I’m looking
forward to seeing them now.

“I find those works very moving because there is incredible beauty but there is also coded
spirituality and morality in those paintings. I like things that on their surface look one thing
but then you look and see more. A bit like Sweeney really.

“So when I have a moment when I am not learning how to cook pies I am going to be
saturating myself in long red-headed maidens and images of agony and morality.”

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street show the Birmingham Repertory Theatre until 
Saturday 15 August 

on Mon, 06 Jul 2026

A new production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street opens at Birmingham Rep this month. Under the direction of Joe Murphy, this latest incarnation of the Stephen Sondheim classic sees musical theatre legend Ramin Karimloo take on the title role of Sweeney - a barber whose plans for his customers extend way beyond giving them a short back & sides...

Actor Ramin Karimloo has sung many of the most iconic roles in musical theatre, including the Phantom in The Phantom Of The Opera and Love Never Dies and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, but despite a career which has seen him performing on Broadway and in the West End, this summer is the first time he will play Sweeney Todd.

Ramin takes up the cut-throat razor of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street in a new production of the hit Stephen Sondheim & Hugh Wheeler musical, produced by Birmingham Rep and directed by the theatre’s artistic director, Joe Murphy.

And the Iranian-Canadian actor, singer & songwriter is looking forward to bringing the role to life.

“Sweeney is one of those rare characters who feels almost inexhaustible,” Ramin explains. “On the surface, he’s become this mythic figure, almost a cautionary tale, but underneath that is a man shaped by loss, injustice and a kind of emotional fracture that feels very human.

“What draws me to him isn’t a desire to define him too quickly but to explore that space between the man he was and the figure he becomes.

“There’s something unsettlingly relatable in that. The idea of how far someone can be pushed and what happens when grief and anger go unresolved.”

Based on a Victorian Penny Dreadful, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street tells the story of Benjamin Barker, who is wrongfully sent to a penal colony and returns to London bent on revenge. Taking the new name of Sweeney Todd and opening a barber’s shop, he joins forces with the baker Mrs Lovett to launch a murderous regime in which he cuts the throats of his customers and Mrs Lovett turns them into tasty pies.

Ramin, who will be sharing the stage with Meow Meow as Mrs Lovett and David Bedella as Judge Turpin, is keen to delve into the multi-layered character of Sweeney.

“The role feels like a real gift. With Sondheim, so much of the work is already there on the page, in the language, in the rhythm, in the way the music carries thought and emotion. You’re not having to impose something onto it - you’re listening, responding, and allowing it to lead you.

“Of course, there’s a responsibility that comes with a role people know so well, but for me the focus is always on staying present with it rather than trying to measure up to anything outside the room.

“The richness of the writing gives you permission to explore, to sit in the contradictions, and to trust that if you honour what’s there, something truthful will come through.”

Premiered on Broadway in 1979, Sweeney Todd is often described as one of the most demanding musical theatre roles to sing, but Ramin says it’s all about working with the music: “I think ‘challenge’ can sometimes be the wrong word - it’s more about precision and trust. With Sondheim, the music and the text are so intricately connected that you can’t separate the two. Every rhythm, every shift in melody is carrying thought - so the work is really about honouring that, rather than trying to push against it.

“If you stay present and let the writing lead, it actually supports you. The discipline is in listening closely enough to follow it, rather than imposing something on top of it.”

Sondheim, whose other works include Into The Woods and Sunday In The Park With George, is a stalwart of 20th century musical theatre, with Sweeney Todd being one of his most popular shows.

“I think Sweeney Todd works on a few levels at once. It has the scale and thrill of something almost operatic, but at its core it’s a very human story about loss, love, and what happens when those things become distorted. That combination makes it both entertaining and unsettling in equal measure.

“And then, of course, you have the writing. Stephen Sondheim created something incredibly rich. It’s dark, it’s funny, it’s precise and it doesn’t ask the audience to sit comfortably. It invites them to lean in, to question, and to recognise elements of themselves in places they might not expect. That’s what gives it a kind of lasting power.”

For Ramin, the attraction of the show is not just having the chance to play Sweeney but being able to do so in a new production here in Birmingham.

“What really drew me in was the opportunity to work with Joe Murphy. From our first conversations, there was an energy and openness that felt both inspiring and supportive. It didn’t feel like coming in with fixed ideas, but rather the chance to explore something together.

“That sense of collaboration is hugely important to me. The Rep has a real history of nurturing bold, actor-led work, and this felt like the right place and the right people to take on something as rich and demanding as this piece.”

He is looking forward to spending time in the city.

“I wouldn’t say I know Birmingham particularly well, even though I have worked here a few times over the years. But that is actually something I’m looking forward to changing. There’s something nice about arriving somewhere without too many preconceptions and allowing yourself to discover it as you go.

“For me, it’s often less about ticking off specific places and more about getting a feel for the city; its rhythm, its people, its character. That usually ends up feeding the work in ways you don’t expect, so I’m looking forward to spending time there and letting that side of it reveal itself.”

And Ramin hopes his portrayal of Sweeney will also bring new revelations to the audience: “I came to the piece without a long personal history with it, so I didn’t feel tied to any one interpretation from the outset. That’s been quite freeing in a way, because it allows you to approach it with fresh eyes and let the work speak to you as you go.

“I hope audiences feel engaged by it, that they lean in, that it stays with them in some way, whether that’s through the music, the story or something more personal. It’s a piece that doesn’t sit comfortably, and I think there’s something valuable in that. If it sparks a reaction or a conversation, then it’s doing its job.”

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street shows at Birmingham Rep from Saturday 4 July to Saturday 15 August 

By Diane Parkes

on Mon, 22 Jun 2026