A long time ago — in what seems like a galaxy far, far away — a production of “Roundup On The Moon” was presented at Victoria Elementary School in Windsor, Ontario. If you were there, and you looked very, very closely at “Cricket” (the insect spy from outer space), you might have recognized the 10-year-old Kieren MacMillan. Despite having been on stage several thousand times since then, that was my last appearance as someone other than myself.

Until this October.

On October 28, 2017, I will be appearing in the role of Judge Turpin in my favourite musical: Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”.

To be able to sing that music, with a live 22-piece orchestra, alongside these other incredible performers — it would be nearly impossible to overstate how excited I am. I told my friend Jason Gray that I had been cast as Judge Turpin. After he stopped laughing hysterically, his response was, “It’ll either be Judge Turpin as Kieren MacMillan (which is a Kieren MacMillan I’ve never seen), or Kieren MacMillan as Judge Turpin (which is a Judge Turpin I’ve never seen). Either way, I have to see it!”

Here’s hoping everyone I know feels the same way.