Speaking to Annaleigh Ashford and Josh Groban on a recent Thursday evening at 5 p.m., it was hard to imagine the pair were about to hit the stage for a sold-out Broadway crowd in just a few hours. Ashford was Zooming from her bathroom, hiding away from some construction noise in her Brooklyn apartment. Groban was already backstage at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, dressed in a cozy hoodie and beanie, looking more likely to curl up on the couch for a TV binge than slit people’s throats onstage as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. With a Sweeney Todd curtain call waiting, both actors were about as zen as could be. 

“It’s amazing how many people want tickets,” Ashford said of the musical, which opened last month and is the first full-fledged stage production of Stephen Sondheim’s murderous masterpiece—complete with 25 actors and a 26-player orchestra—on Broadway in 43 years. “They don’t want to see me—they want to see the show,” said Ashford. Theatergoers would beg to differ. The roaring crowd that screams for Ashford, a Tony winner, and Groban, a Tony and Grammy nominee, and their millennial-magnet costars Gaten Matarazzo and Jordan Fisher, feels like the theatrical equivalent of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. But Ashford does have a point. 

“We all collectively got really excited to bring the original grandeur of it back to Broadway with a fresh approach after all those years. To do it with this size and scope, it’s not an easy show to mount. It’s expensive and takes a lot of effort,” said Groban, who has wanted to play the title role since first seeing a production at 14. “For all of us to have the stars aligned and to bring it to an audience this way is something that went beyond my wildest dream.” 

Sweeney Todd opened to rave reviews across the board—for Groban’s very flawed lead; Ashford’s hysterical, anything-for-love counterpart, Mrs. Lovett; and direction from Thomas Kail, of Hamilton fame. In a post-lockdown world, the vibrations from the audience transfer to the stage (even from the balcony). “After everything we’ve been through and the isolation, that buzz is the feeling I love more than anything else,” said Groban. “That’s the community and the alchemy of live theater. We’re excited, and they’re excited, obviously.” 

Here, Groban and Ashford talk antiheroes, Sondheim, and hydration. 

Vanity Fair: What was your relationship to Sweeney Todd before coming on board the show?

Annaleigh Ashford: Sweeney Todd is one of the all-time greats in the canon of American musical theater, so you sort of grow up knowing that. And Stephen Sondheim has always been the goal. Another piece of this show that’s really special for me is the Angela Landsbury of it all. She originated the role [of Mrs. Lovett] with such unique craft and care. She was truly one of my idols. All I ever wanted to be when I grew up was Angela Landsbury. She was the epitome of the true character actress—her characters were real, full of heart, and still delightfully funny and wild. 

What about you, Josh?

Josh Groban: I totally agree. I’ll never forget, when I was about 14 years old, a friend took me to see a local Los Angeles production of Sweeney Todd with the East West Players, which is an Asian acting group. They absolutely blew me away. It was not a full orchestra—there were maybe about 10 pieces. But this is one of those shows where in any capacity, even when we play the music on the piano in the rehearsal room, you get chills. It just moved me so deeply. When I hear the opening chords of this show from underneath the stage before I come out, I like to imagine that there are people out there who are having that same first moment with Sweeney that I had when I was 14.  

There isn’t a single cast member in this whole group that doesn’t have a full circle swelling of gratitude to be in this show. It’s a bucket list show for every single person that’s involved. We feel very privileged to take the torch for the time that we have it, until it gets passed onto the next 14-year-old who’s in the audience tonight. Maybe 20 years from now they’ll be giving the same interview.

When you’re Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford, what does it mean to be cast in Sweeney Todd? Do you audition?

Groban: I would’ve gladly auditioned. This started with a seed of an idea between myself, my manager, and Tommy Kail. We had breakfast before Covid and talked about maybe doing this one day. We of course wanted to get Sondheim’s permission. We kept talking about it, and then Covid hit. Tommy and I kept texting periodically about it to say, “Are we still interested in doing this one day?” There are a million ways that a production—from the nucleus of an idea to opening night—could not happen. It’s a miracle when it all happens, and when it happens this well, it’s a double miracle.

Annaleigh, I don’t know what your process was like, I just know how enthusiastic Tommy and Sondheim were from the very first bringing up of your name. I don’t know if you auditioned, but it was one of those things that when they told me you were interested, I was just like, ‘Please God, let this happen.’

Ashford: It was a very beautiful phone call when I got the invitation to join these fellow gentlemen. It was one of the calls that you dream for your life. You’re like, ‘What? Are you sure you’re calling the right person? Really?’ 

When did this all start to come together?

Ashford: Our first reading was the first Monday after Thanksgiving in 2021. It was the Monday after Sondheim passed. 

Groban: He was going to be there. 

Ashford: I remember I was going to email him some questions about a lyric here and there. He was the master teacher every step of the way. I was like, “Oh, I’ll just wait and ask him next week.” But I didn’t get to. I do keep asking him questions every day, though. I go into the show and say, “Let’s do some puzzles, Steve,” because each song is a puzzle.

Groban: We all feel so lucky that we think he would’ve been happy with this. So many people who were in his orbit have been a part of this process since he passed. But as Annaleigh said, there’s so much in the process of diving into this work, the score and the script, that continues to give you answers when you least expect them. Every day we keep finding new ways that he’s guiding us. That’s what his work will do for every cast going forward. We were devastated when he passed. Then, we felt an obligation to celebrate him by doing this the best we possibly could. 

Ashford: There’s also something spectacular about how exuberant the audience is every night—especially how shocked and awed the younger crowd is. We get people who have seen 15 productions, then we have people who have never seen it before. I think what would’ve delighted Steve would be the combination of those two groups of people coming together and laughing under one roof. The audience is so diverse and I think that would’ve been really exciting to Steve. 

When the show started, it took a few minutes for my brain to catch up to how quickly you were all singing. It is, simply put, insanely fast. Like Busta Rhymes–level fast. What did it take to get used to singing that way?

Ashford: I would say that I liken being on Broadway to being a professional athlete. I grew up in a family of athletes. My mom’s a gym teacher, and it’s always the quickest parallel that I can draw. It’s like being a baseball or basketball player who plays every single day. So, we take care of ourselves beautifully. And by that, I mean we live like nuns. [Laughs] We don’t get to play and live life in the same way that everyone else does. We really have to take care of our voices and our bodies. The show is not only vocally exhausting, but it’s physically and mentally exhausting. This is where all your training comes into play. I truly feel like we’re going out and playing the big game every night. Josh, I’m really going into the sports metaphors… 

Groban: No, I totally agree. They call it doctor theater, and the muscle memory is very, very real. Some days you wake up feeling groggy, some days you wake up feeling warm. Some days your mind is ready to dive right into the material, and some days you have to really think about it and do some prep work. But there is something about popping up onto that stage that just brings you into the world, and it never gets old. 

You mentioned the Busta Rhymes-ness of the lyricism of this show, and just how much wordplay there is to it. That is something we spent a lot of time on. We started rehearsals with music and words, and it’s a testament to [music supervisor/conductor] Alex Lacamoire and the work he did to make sure we understood all of the complicated words, music, key changes and chords down. It’s a beast of a show to sing. It starts hard and frustrating, and then you start to get comfortable. Then you can really live in it and play with it every night. I think having such an incredible partner like Annaleigh, we just check in with each other and have a really, really good time. Every night it feels fresh.        

Ashford: Every song is like its own puzzle, so I always take each puzzle in little chunks and know that we’re going to find our way to the end of it. Working on Sondheim is akin to Shakespeare. It’s almost like speaking another language. Once you know the language, you can express it to the audience and they get to see the story in a whole new way. But everything’s really on the page and right there to take care of you.  

Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett are obviously not entirely standup characters—after all, they are murdering members of their community in cold blood. But, in what ways do you admire them?

Ashford: Well, Iago didn’t know that he was a bad guy. When you’re a bad guy, you can’t know you’re a bad guy. You have to think what you're doing is righteous. Mrs. Lovett is first and foremost a survivor. Part of her survival is finding a man who can help take care of her, in a time when you couldn’t be a woman alone. In this instance, it’s Sweeney Todd. She always had a crush on him, too. She says, ‘I always had a fondness for you, I did.’ So it’s helpful that she kind of liked him, but she needs protection and money. Money was power. Unfortunately, money still is power in our world. But I find her quite delightful and loving. We laugh when she says she has a maternal instinct, but she does. She is constantly taking care of everybody around her, but her deepest secret is that she’s taking care of herself first.   

Groban: With Sweeney, I really wanted to lean into the idea of who the man might have been before the monster. The man that comes off the boat is a person who aims to persevere and hang onto a glimmer of hope that says ‘I’m going to risk my life to break out of prison and go across the ocean to try to find my wife and daughter, and also seek justice against the people who did this.’ His original intention was quite righteous. It’s only when all of the rage, anguish and brokenness finally come to the surface that there’s no longer a place for emotion anymore. That’s when you start to detach from any kind of admiration. And as Annaleigh said, you don’t know that you’ve gone to the bad side. It’s nice when you feel like even though Sweeney’s doing these horrendous things that audiences are still sometimes with him. 

Annaleigh, your comedic timing as Mrs. Lovett is unmatched, and I ended up coming away from the show feeling like it was just as much a comedy as a drama. Where do you feel it lies? 

Ashford: Steve always said, “It’s a comedy, I don’t know what people are talking about.” I’m just going from what I thought would’ve been Steve’s wishes, from what I’ve seen him say in interviews and from what’s on the page. Comedy is, I think, most delightful when it’s honest. My goal is always to just be as honest as possible, even though sometimes what my body is doing is wild. 

What are your pre- and post-show rituals?

Ashford: For me, it’s all about water. All I do is think about water.

Groban: We are peeing constantly. 

Ashford: And your sinuses are a science project of constant chemistry. Do I need a Neti Pot? Do I need a pastille? Do I need some tea? A little dark chocolate? Do I need a hug? There’s a real push to open new Broadway shows in the spring, which I always find so crazy because it’s smack dab in the middle of allergy season. It’s such a challenge. But yeah, we both do warmups and make sure we say hi to each other before the show every night. I go and check on my dough and my props.

Groban: Some of it is just making sure that you’ve done the scales to get your voice to remember where it needs to be. This is such a beast of a show that if you’ve done the work, which we’ve done, you have to let the show carry you. 

Ashford: I say in the show, “Ah me poor knees is not what they was, dear.” And I will say that has proven true to life. 

Groban: There are a lot of stairs in the theater, both backstage and onstage. Our glutes are getting worked, for sure.  

I wanted to talk about your chemistry. Do you remember the first time you met? Have you worked together before? 

Ashford: Josh came to see me in Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare in the Park [in 2017]. My husband always remembered how wonderfully kind Josh was. That’s how he’s known in our household: “Josh Groban, the kindest man in show business.” The first time we worked together was that first day of rehearsals. That was our meet cute—sitting next to each other, drinking water. 

Groban: Making sure we hydrated. Everything I’ve seen Annaleigh in, I’ve always thought she was brilliant. To have the opportunity to work with Annaleigh was something I was super excited about, but I have discovered that she is as kind and giving as she is talented. We’ve forged such a wonderful friendship and partnership out there. This is the first time working together, but hopefully not the last. 

Ashford: Amen.