Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd - the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a tale of murder and revenge, may not be an obvious choice for a youth production but its technical and emotional complexity has lured the 16-year-old Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation into staging it.
Lindsey McAlister, the group's founder, describes the 1979 Tony Award-winning musical as 'very theatrical, dramatic, melodramatic and totally over the top', but most of all a challenge, especially with a young cast.
'The music is tremendously complex. Even trying to fit the lyrics into the music is challenging for professional performers,' says McAlister, whose previous directing credits include Godspell and Bugsy Malone. 'Then there are the emotions ... there is this amazing journey that many of the characters go through. Sweeney, in particular, has to go through the most profound journey.'
Based on the 19th-century urban legend, Benjamin Barker, alias Sweeney Todd, returns to London after being sent away by Judge Turpin 15 years earlier on false charges. He opens a barber shop above a meat pie shop run by Mrs Lovett. With her help, Todd tries to rid the city of the people who have ever done him wrong and hopes to be reunited with his wife Lucy and his daughter Joanna, who has become Turpin's ward.
The two leads will be played by Andy Yau Ching-pong and Kristina Lao.
'The relationship with Mrs Lovett is very symbiotic because Sweeney needs somewhere to dispose of the bodies and Mrs Lovett needs somewhere to get her meat from,' McAlister says. 'They are feeding off each other and it's a very unhealthy relationship. Mrs Lovett is very manipulative so I think the two main character roles are real gifts for any performer.'