Sweeney Todd: Nyla Watson and Torrey Linder on Leading Short North Stage’s Production

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Some might consider Torrey Linder and Nyla Watson unusual choices to play the lead roles in Short North Stage’s production of SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. The Tony Award-winning musical runs Sept. 24 to Oct. 18 at the Garden Theatre (1187 North High St. in downtown Columbus).

Both describe themselves as “people of faith,” so casting Linder as Sweeney Todd, a murderous barber, and Watson as Mrs. Lovett, who turns Todd’s victims into pies, in this dark Stephen Sondheim piece might be a stretch.

Linder looks nothing like Johnny Depp , who played Todd in the 2007 film, and Watson bears little resemblance to Angela Lansbury , who originated the role of Lovett on Broadway. But the more significant difference is one rarely seen in productions of SWEENEY TODD: both leads are people of color.

SNS is no stranger to challenging theatregoers. Four years ago, the troupe cast Turner Riley as one of the first transgender, nonbinary Seymours in a professional theatre production in its run of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. However, director Edward Carignan said he wasn’t looking to make a statement in either case. He wanted simply to create the best cast.

“Honestly, these two were the best people who auditioned for these roles,” he said.

Both see it as a dream opportunity.

“I saw the show when I was in high school, and I just remember being so mesmerized by it,” Linder said. “I'd never seen anything like that before and that's what kind of turned me on to musical theatre, really. The material speaks to all of us, but it certainly speaks to me.”

Watson has continually been drawn to the women of Sondheim, starring as Mama Rose (GYPSY), the Witch (INTO THE WOODS) and Bobby (COMPANY).

“For me, it was a matter of really wanting to embody Mrs. Lovett,” Watson said. “She's always been kind of a North Star for what I want to embody as a performer. I'm still wrapping my brain around her. She's so complex.”

Benjamin Barker had been a barber in London until he is falsely accused of a crime and sentenced to 15 years in prison by corrupt Judge Turpin ( Adam Williams ). Barker returns to London as Todd and begins a path of vengeance, killing the people he believes are responsible and then helping his landlord Lovett turn the victims’ bodies into meat pies.

The show also stars Robbie Beirne (Anthony Hope), Trevor Michael Schmidt (Tobias Ragg), Madeleine McNamara (Johanna), Dana Densa (Beggar Woman), Ricky La Luz-Rivera (Adolfo Pirelli), and John C. Baker (Beadle Bamford).

Lovett and Todd’s ruthlessness and moral ambiguity pose challenges for both actors. Linder and Watson recalled a conversation they had with Carignan about the importance of showing the audience the characters’ humanity as well as their viciousness.

“Sweeney’s not a one-dimensional character who is running around and slicing people’s necks,” said Linder, who last appeared in Columbus in SNS’s production of THE PROM. “His story started because somebody else felt it necessary to take his life away from him. The darkness is necessary to show because it's in all of us. I don’t know who I would become if I went to jail for 15 years on something that had absolutely nothing to do with me.”

“(Lovett) doesn’t fit into some pretty little box. She's a devout Christian, but she's willing to turn these people into pies,” said Watson, who appeared in WAITRESS on Broadway and in national tours of HADESTOWN, WICKED and THE COLOR PURPLE. “Nearly everyone in the Bible is flawed. In SWEENEY TODD, we get this beautiful story of morality because they don’t make it out. You’re only going to get away with darkness for so long. That’s a story that needs to be told in a time like this.”

Watson said the story needs to be told through several different lenses, and having two people of color play the leads in SWEENEY TODD makes perfect sense.

“To me, it’s always been a Black story,” she said. “The idea of one person working upstairs (in a home) while another is working downstairs is very familiar to me. I was able to see these dynamics of what it looked like to piece together your life in order to create something.”

“My mother did whatever it took to make it,” Linder added. “That’s what made the story so realistic to me. So many characters within this show are willing to work at making it happen.”

This is not the first time Watson has been cast against the norm nor the first time she has had to deal with cannibalism. In 2012, she snagged the role of Audrey II (traditionally reserved for a male baritone/bass) in a production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS in Clinton Area Showboat Theatre in Clinton, Iowa.

“In my career, I’m just super audacious and do these crazy things,” she said with a laugh. “They wanted to see me sing for an urchin and Audrey. I was like, ‘Do you mind if I sing for the plant?’ I took it up the octave and just blasted it. It was fire.”

Both Watson and Linder owe their careers not only to taking chances but having others take a chance on them. Watson was literally standing in a hallway when theatre director Brian Sinchak heard her sing.

“He told me, ‘You should audition for the musical (ironically, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS),’” the Baldwin Wallace University graduate said. “I was like, ‘What’s a musical?’ I’m from the Baptist church, so a musical for me was a bunch of church choirs coming together and singing until midnight.”

Like Watson, once Linder discovered theatre in high school, he discovered his calling and has never left it.

“Theatre is just knowing my place, knowing where I am is where I am supposed to be,” he said. “Sometimes in this industry, you can be put somewhere and feel so inadequate. It’s just nice to have the emotional understanding, even the spiritual understanding of this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Watson hopes having two Black leads taking on a traditionally white role might serve as an inspiration for others to follow their path.

“Growing up in my journey into musical theatre, I’d usher downtown to see shows for free,” she said. “If you know somebody who you know can't afford to see a show, buy them a ticket. If you know a kid who could benefit from seeing two Black people lead a show in a prominent theatre in their city, bring that child, bring their family, and pay for their tickets if they can’t afford it.”

Tickets are on sale now at shortnorthstage.org, CAPA.com, by calling the box office at 614-469-0939 or in person at the CAPA box office. Pay What You Want and $20 Student Rush tickets can be purchased at the door beginning two hours before showtime. Performances run on Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.

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Episode

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/columbus/article/Interview-Nyla-Watson-And-Torrey-Linder-of-SWEENEY-TODD-at-Short-North-Stage-20260922)._