December 7, 2023
"Heartstopper" Heartthrob Joe Locke to Make Broadway Debut in 'Sweeny Todd'
Emell Adolphus READ TIME: 1 MIN.
"Heartstopper" star Joe Locke is headed to Broadway in the hit Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."
As reported by Deadline, producers with the show announced that Locke has been cast in the role of young apprentice Tobias.
Look for Locke to begin performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Wednesday, Jan 31. Daniel Marconi currently plays the character, and "Stranger Things" star Gaten Matarazzo, who originated the revival's Tobias, left the show last month.
Locke joins ahead of the February 9 debut of Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster in the roles of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett. Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford, who are currently in the roles respectively, will take a bow out of the show 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).
Just last year, Locke made his professional stage debut in the Donmar Warehouse's production of Dawn King's "The Trials." But everyone of course knows him as Charlie Spring in Netflix's "Heartstopper," a coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama adapted from the webcomic and graphic novel by Alice Oseman.
Moreover, next year Locke is set to 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.
In "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," Locke's character is central to the musical's storyline, singing "Not While I'm Around," one of Sondheim's most beautiful ballads.
