‘Heartstopper’ Star Joe Locke To Make Broadway Debut In Hit ‘Sweeney Todd’
07.12.2023 - 15:33
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Heartstopper breakout star Joe Locke will make his Broadway debut next month when he joins the cast of the hit Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Producers announced today that Locke has been cast in the pivotal role of the young apprentice Tobias.
Locke will begin performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Wednesday January 31. Stranger Things‘ Gaten Matarazzo, who originated the revival’s Tobias, left the show last month. Daniel Marconi currently plays the character.
Locke’s arrival will come just ahead of the February 9 debuts of Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster in the roles of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett. Original cast members Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford will play their final performances Sunday January 14, 2024. (Between January 17 and February 8, the roles of Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett will be performed by various current Sweeney Todd cast members, including standbys Nicholas Christopher and Jeanna de Waal).
Locke, who made his professional stage debut last year in the Donmar Warehouse’s production of Dawn King’s The Trials, has shot to international fame through his portrayal of gay teen Charlie Spring in Netflix’s acclaimed and buzzy coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama Heartstopper, an adaptation of the webcomic and graphic novel by Alice Oseman.
Next year Locke will star alongside Kathryn Hahn, Aubrey Plaza and Patti LuPone in the Disney+/Marvel TV series Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, based on the Marvel Comics character Agatha Harkness.
As Sweeney‘s Tobias, Locke will feature prominently in the musical’s storyline. Among his musical numbers will be “Not While I’m Around,” one of Sondheim’s most beloved gems.
The revival, directed by Hamilton‘s