The Avon Players in Rochester Hills will kick off its new season in 19th-century London with the classic “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

The show runs Sept. 6-21 at the group’s theater at 1185 Washington Road.

John Deierlein is serving as the director, costume designer and lighting designer. He’s been with Avon Players for decades and is thrilled for the opportunity to direct “Sweeney Todd.”

“I have a background in choral singing, so I’m always drawn to large productions and ‘Sweeney Todd’ is one of those,” he said. “It’s a very large-scale musical with a brilliant score that’s fun to sing to but also very challenging.”

“Sweeney Todd” was written by playwright Hugh Wheeler with music by composer Stephen Sondheim.

“Sondheim is one of the most prolific musical theater composers of all time, and it’s simply classic American musical theater,” Deierlein says. “It’s also had many revivals. What attracted me to it was that I was recently in New York City and saw the Broadway revival with Josh Groban. I was lucky enough to see it after I knew I would be directing the show, so it was very inspiring.”

“Seeing it on Broadway gave me a lot of ideas,” he added. “It was fun to see what the professionals do and see how we could make it look just as cool with our production.”

Deierlein says something that makes Avon Players so special is that everybody involved is a volunteer.

“Everyone here does it because they have a passion for it,” he said. “In Oakland County, we have so many incredibly talented people in the area and many of them have the talent to do this professionally, but because of their life choices, they’re here local.”

Deierlein said Avon Players enhances the community by bringing high-caliber productions to locals.

“I think we bring a high level of theatre at a reasonable price,” he said. “Plus, I think a lot of folks in this area don’t want to have to drive to Detroit and spend $100 or $200 to see a touring production out of New York. It’s nice to have an evening out that’s fairly local. Avon also gives so many opportunities to kids and adults in the area to express themselves and show their talents.”

“Sweeney Todd” is billed as a dark comedy and horror musical for adults.

“It’s an exciting, fun piece, but it’s different,” Deierlein says. “It’s not tap dancing, which is very typical of other musicals. It’s different and exciting and thrilling, and I think the audience will love the music. It’s incredible.”

“Also,” he added, “coming up on the fall season approaching and Halloween, it has that kind of flavor.”

For ticket and show information, visit avonplayers.org.

Shakespeare Royal Oak is back for a 24th year with its annual summer show.

This year, the nonprofit organization’s production is Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” directed by D. B. Schroeder, and takes place July 25 to Aug. 4 at Starr Jaycee Park, 1321 W. 13 Mile Road.

Edward Nahhat, founder of the Shakespeare Royal Oak and president of Water Works Theatre Co., said Shakespeare Royal Oak’s mission hasn’t changed much over the years.

“The way I like to put it is that we enhance the quality of life in our community by providing professional and emerging professional artists a place to work together and call home,” he says. “We also provide our audience with an opportunity to have something they can’t have anywhere else — a professional quality outdoor Shakespeare festival.”

Everyone who’s involved with this production is a professional and is paid — from the actors to the designers to the artists. Some of them were once part of Shakespeare Royal Oak’s educational programs, such as KidsAct! and SRO Teen Ensemble.

Each summer, they build a theater from scratch specifically for that production.

So, why the romantic comedy “Twelfth Night”? Nahhat says it seemed like the perfect production for this moment in time.

“We started off with the premise that we wanted to offer the audience an escape and comedy for the summer of 2024 because we know that it would probably be a tense election year,” he says. “We didn’t want to get into those murky waters. We wanted to give people a fun escape and not do anything heavy, like a show with kings and queens and dictators.”

He hopes the production offers audience members a bit of that fun escape.

“I hope they have an evening of lighthearted comedy,” he says. “We want them to stroll across the grass and say: ‘Boy. That was fun.'”

Nahhat also notes that attendees are able to park for free on the grassy field. He suggests attendees bring a chair or blanket “and once you get here, we’ll find you a place on the lawn.”

Nahhat said communities with the arts are more likely to thrive than those without it.

“We want to make sure artists have a place to gather and work together, and the audience can benefit from that because I believe a community gets poorer when it loses its artists,” he says. “I’m from Royal Oak and have a theater and arts background and I became an attorney. Now, I believe doing this is giving back to my community.”

For tickets and more information, visit shakespeareroyaloak.com/our-shows.