Spotlight on Opera Shines on "Sweeney Todd " at Ethical Society on Monday, May 7

Linda Smith, owner of St. Louis’s oldest continuously operating bakery, packages loaves of freshly-baked bread. Photo by Rick Graefe/Suburban Journals.
Spotlight on Opera continues on Monday, May 7, 7:30 p.m. at the Ethical Society in Clayton with a discussion of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.

Individual tickets are available for $10.

When times get tough, Sondheim’s iconic Mrs. Lovett gets going with adventures in novel recipes. Explore the social and economic pressures that define Sweeney Todd’s Victorian England and consider their bearing on today’s business climate.

The owner of St. Louis’s oldest continuously operating bakery, Linda Smith of Carondelet Bakery, and Karen Ziemba, Tony Award-winning singer and actress, who portrays Mrs. Lovett in Opera Theatre’s production, are joined by Opera Theatre Music Director Stephen Lord and director Ron Daniels.

Spotlight on Opera brings together Opera Theatre artists, community leaders, and scholars for unique perspectives and unforgettable insights into the operas in the 2012 Festival Season. The operas discussed this season are Carmen, Sweeney Todd, Cosi fan tutte, and Alice in Wonderland.

Guest panelists this season include a Tony Award-winning singer and actress, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, a leading clinical psychiatrist, an enterprising small business owner, St. Louis’s top percussionist, and an award-winning Spanish professor. These panelists join the conductor and director of each opera, as well as singers from Opera Theatre’s Gerdine Young Artist apprentice program, who perform musical highlights from each opera. The programs are moderated by Opera Theatre General Director Timothy O’Leary.