Stephen Sondheim’s production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opened on March 1, 1979, and played until June 29, 1980, at Broadway’s Uris Theatre. The musical-thriller tells the story of the anti-hero, Sweeney Todd – a murderous barber who seeks revenge on a corrupted and unjust judge. Multiple revivals and adaptations have been made since Sondheim’s 1979 Broadway production.
1. Origins of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Len Cariou as Sweeney Todd in the 1979 Broadway production
The character of the homicidal barber originated in the French story, “A Terrible Story of Rue de la Harpe,” that was published in Tell-Tale Magazine in 1825. Thomas Peckett Prest then serialized the French story, with weekly installments appearing in a London newspaper during 1846. The following year, George Dibdin-Pitt dramatized Prest’s stories into a melodrama, The String of Pearls, which showed at the Britannica Theatre. Multiple adaptations and revivals followed afterwards; however, the next noteworthy revival is George King’s film production, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which he directed in 1936. In 1959, the Royal Ballet Company performed a ballet version of Sweeney Todd. Then, in 1973, Christopher Bond wrote a play that opened at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Stephen Sondheim watched Bond’s version and decided to collaborate with Hugh Wheeler to produce the 1979 Broadway production of Bond’s play.1Stephen Sondheim composed the music and lyrics, and Hugh Wheeler wrote the book of what the world now knows as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. With direction from Harold Prince, their production opened at Broadway’s Uris Theatre on March 1, 1979, and continued for 558 performances until June 29, 1980.
2. Characters
Sweeney Todd
Mrs. Lovett
Judge Turpin
Tobias Ragg
Anthony Hope
Johanna
Beadle
Pirelli
Beggar woman
Jonas Fogg
3. The Music
Prologue:
“The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” – Company
Act I:
“No Place Like London” – Anthony, Todd, Beggar Woman
“The Barber and His Wife” – Todd
“Poor Thing” – Mrs. Lovett
“The Worst Pies in London” – Mrs. Lovett
“My Friends” – Todd, Mrs. Lovett
“Green Finch and Linnet Bird” – Johanna
“Ah, Miss” – Anthony, Beggar Woman
“Johanna” – Anthony
“Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir” – Tobias, Todd, Mrs. Lovett, Company
“The Contest” – Pirelli
“Wait” – Mrs. Lovett
“Kiss Me” – Johanna, Anthony
“Ladies in Their Sensitivities” – The Beadle
Quartet – Johanna, Anthony, The Beadle, Judge Turpin
An ensemble introduces the “tale of Sweeney Todd.” Meanwhile, a man rises from a grave and joins the ensemble, leaving the audience with the question – “What happened?”2
Act I
Anthony Hope and Sweeney Todd return to London by ship. While Anthony expresses his happiness to be back in London after sailing around the world, Todd says that Anthony is still too young to have experienced the cruelty of life as he has.
Todd describes London as “a hole in the world” that is full of “vermin” who have no morals.3 He then tells Anthony about a barber who had a beautiful wife; however, a man of the law wanted the barber’s wife and removed the barber from the picture.
Todd enters Mrs. Lovett’s meat pie shop. No one comes to her shop because she makes “the worst pies in London."4 One of her competitors uses cats meat to make pies; however, that “wouldn’t do in [her] shop."5
Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou in Mrs. Lovett's Meat Shop in the 1979 Broadway production
People believe the upstairs portion of her shop is haunted because something “not very nice” happened up there.6 A barber, Benjamin Barker, and his wife used to live upstairs; however, Judge Turpin “shipped the poor [barber] off south,” leaving the wife with only a daughter. One night, the Beadle asks for the wife to come to a ball at the judge’s house. There, Judge Turpin rapes the barber’s wife.
Todd then admits he is Benjamin Barker. Mrs. Lovett then tells him that his wife, Lucy, poisoned herself and that his daughter, Johanna, is now Judge Turpin’s adopted daughter. After Todd declares revenge on the judge, Mrs. Lovett gives him back his barber razors.
Johanna speaks to a bird seller and sings of the caged birds and her own cage, “damask and dark."7 When Anthony sees Johanna, he instantly falls in love with her, promising to steal her away from the over-bearing Judge Turpin.
Todd and Mrs. Lovett walk through St. Dunstan’s Marketplace, and Todd makes a bet with the famous barber Pirelli, stating that he can “shave a cheek and pull a tooth with ten times more dexterity than any street mountebank."8 Todd comes out the winner, and the Beadle promises Todd that he will be stopping by Todd’s barber shop “before the week is out."9
As Todd waits for the Beadle to come, he becomes impatient. Mrs. Lovett tries to calm him, saying that “half the fun is to plan the plan."10 Anthony then barges into Todd’s shop and tells Todd of his plan to steal Johanna away from Judge Turpin. It is agreed that he can bring the girl to the shop.
Pirelli comes to Todd’s shop with Tobias. While Tobias is downstairs with Mrs. Lovett, Pirelli becomes Todd’s first victim because Pirelli found out Todd’s true identity.
Judge Turpin has decided to marry Johanna; however, she declined his proposal. The Beadle suggests that the reason Johanna denied his proposal was because the judge has “powder upon [his] vest” and “stubble upon [his] cheek” and mentions Sweeney Todd, a barber with great skill who can help with his appearance.11
Judge Turpin goes to Todd’s barber shop and asks for a shave. He tells Todd of his love for Johanna. As Todd is about to slit the judge’s throat, Anthony comes into the shop, yelling that he and Johanna are leaving that night to marry. The judge becomes irate and says that he will never give Todd his service again.
Todd and Mrs. Lovett decide to use Pirelli’s body as meat for her pies.
Act II
Mrs. Lovett’s has become more prosperous since using human meat in her pies. Todd creates a chair that allows the bodies to fall from the chair, through a shoot, and into the basement where they will be made into pies.
Though Mrs. Lovett tries to make her feelings for Todd clear, he does not notice because of his obsession with his revenge on Judge Turpin.
Anthony finds Johanna locked away in Fogg’s Asylum where Judge Turpin locked her away.Todd plans for Anthony to go to the asylum disguised as a wigmaker to steal Johanna from the asylum. After Anthony leaves, Todd writes a letter to Judge Turpin, telling him the whole plan.
Tobias mentions to Mrs. Lovett that he believes Todd cannot be trusted and hints that he knows of Todd killing people. To distract Tobias, Mrs. Lovett asks if he wants to go down to the bake house and help bake pies. She shows him how to bake the pies and leaves him down there do it on his own. Then, she locks him in. While in the bake house, Tobias finds a fingernail and a piece of hair in one of the meat pies. Then, the Beadle’s bloody body falls down the chute, and Tobias becomes frightened and asks to be let out.
The final scene of Sweeney Todd done by Barter Theatre in Virginia
After Mrs. Lovett locks him up, the Beadle comes into the shop. He says that there have been complaints about “the stink from [the] chimney,” and he must take a look around.12 Before the Beadle can inspect the house, Mrs. Lovett convinces the Beadle to get a shave and haircut from Todd.
Anthony succeeds in stealing Johanna from the asylum.He dresses her in his sailor suit, takes her to Todd’s barber shop, and leaves her there while he gets the coach. Seeing the beggar woman approach, Johanna hides in a chest. Todd comes into the room. When he sees that Judge Turpin is coming, he slits the beggar woman’s throat and throws her body down the chute.
When the judge enters, Todd tells him that Johanna is downstairs, and Todd offers to give the judge a quick shave. Todd then reveals his true identity, slits the judge’s throat, and sends the body down the chute. Before Todd can kill Johanna, he is distracted by a scream from Mrs. Lovett and runs downstairs.
As Todd helps to put the Beggar Woman into the furnace, he notices that the woman is Lucy, his wife. Todd then turns on Mrs. Lovett and throws her into the furnace for lying to him.
As Todd holds his wife in his lap, Tobias sees that Todd has killed the Beggar Woman. He then grabs Todd’s razor on the floor and cuts Todd’s throat. As Tobias continues to grind the human meat to make pies, Johanna, Anthony, and the police men witness the horrific scene.
Epilogue
The cast says that everyone seeks revenge, including those in the audience.
5. Revenge, Corruption, and Cannibalism
In Sondheim’s melodrama, Sweeney Todd’s revenge becomes his motivation and his obsession, after arriving back to London from an unjust exile from Judge Turpin, and this revenge becomes one of the central themes of the play. Sondheim said, “It’s a story about revenge; it’s about how revenge eats itself up […] It’s the pleasures and dangers of revenge."13 Todd becomes swallowed up by his own sense of revenge. While Mrs. Lovett confesses her feelings for Todd during “By the Sea,” it is obvious that Todd does not feel the same way. He barely sees her, answering her questions with an absent, “Anything you say."14 Sondheim also makes the audience aware of their own feelings of revenge. At the play’s conclusion, Mrs. Lovett and Todd sing, “To seek revenge may lead to hell, but everyone does it, and seldom as well, as Sweeney."15Not only does this identify the audience with Todd, but it shows that everyone encounters revenge at some time in “this cut-throat world of unbridled aggression, brutal competition, and callous exploitation."16
Sweeney Todd’s revenge plays into the idea of corruption as well, which gives Sondheim’s melodrama a commentary on the conditions of the social classes. In the case of Sweeney Todd, the social context revolves around “how society makes you impotent, and impotence leads to rage, and rage leads to murder, and, in fact, to the breaking down of society."17 Todd lives as a middle-class worker and feels the sting of the upper class’ power and corruption. Todd’s awareness of this is clear in his “Epiphany:” “In all of the whole human race, Mrs. Lovett, there are two kinds of men and only two. There’s the one staying put in his proper place and the one with his foot in the other one’s face."18 Obviously, Todd is the one who received the foot in the face when Judge Turpin imprisoned him in hopes to have the barber’s wife.
Lastly, cannibalism serves as a metaphor in Sweeney Todd “for the predatory nature of class and capitalism."19 In “A Little Priest,” Todd states, “The history of the world, my sweet, is who gets eaten and who get to eat."20 This phrase seems very Darwinian – survival of the fittest. However, Todd and Mrs. Lovett take the eating of flesh literally and begin killing men and using their flesh for meat pies. The idea of the “dog eat dog” world becomes real in Sweeney Todd and shows the discord between the social classes that can arise.
6. Sweeney Todd Performance History: Revivals and Adaptations
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was originally performed on Broadway at the Uris Theatre from 1979-1980. The original cast was Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Lovett), Len Cariou (Sweeney Todd), Victor Garber (Anthony Hope), Kin Jennings (Tobias Raggs), Merle Louise (Beggar Woman), Edmund Lyndeck (Judge Turpin), Sarah Rice (Johanna), and Joaquin Romaguera (Pirelli). There were 558 performances:21
The original London production of Sweeney Todd was performed 157 times Drury Lane in 1980.
The 1980 touring company's performance was taped and was aired in September 1982 on the Entertainment Channel and a broadcast on PBS,
The London revival production of Sweeney Todd in 1985 was performed at Half Moon Theatre 33 times.
The New York revival production of Sweeney Todd was performed 189 times from 1989-1990 in the circle in the Square Theatre.22
Tim Burton directed a film adaptation of Sweeney Todd in 2007, starring Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, and Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin:
7. Reviews
1979 Broadway production:
“There is more artistic energy, creative personality and plain excitement in Sweeney Todd than in a dozen average musical. Len Cariou is to some degree the prisoner of his anguish, but he is such a strong actor, and such a fine singer that he makes up for it with a kind of glow. Angela Lansbury has more opportunities as Mrs. Lovett, and she makes towering use of them. Mr. Sondheim’s lyrics can be endlessly inventive. His score is extraordinary.” – Richard Eder, New York Times23
2007 film production:
“It should not be surprising that ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,’ Mr. Burton’s film adaptation of Mr. Sondheim’s musical, is as dark and terrifying as any motion picture in recent memory… Indeed, ‘Sweeney’ is as much a horror film as a musical: It is cruel in its effects and radical in its misanthropy, expressing a breathtakingly, rigorously pessimistic view of human nature. It is also something close to a masterpiece, a work of extreme – I am tempted to say evil – genius.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times24
“It has the relentless forward momentum of a shark in blood-stained waters.” – David Ansen, Newsweek25
8. Awards
The 1979 Broadway production of Sweeney Todd won these awards in 1979:
Drama Desk Awards:
Outstanding Actor in a Musical – Len Cariou (Sweeney Todd)
Outstanding Actress in a Musical – Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Lovett)
Outstanding Book of a Musical – Hugh Wheeler
Outstanding Choreography – Larry Fuller
Outstanding Director of a Musical – Harold Prince
Outstanding Features Actor in a Musical – Ken Jennings (Tobias Ragg)
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical – Merle Louise (Beggar Woman)
Outstanding Lyrics – Stephen Sondheim
Outstanding Music – Stephen Sondheim
Outstanding Musical
Tony’s Awards:
Actor in a Musical – Len Cariou
Actress in a Musical – Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Lovett)
Book of a Musical – Hugh Wheeler
Costume Design (Play or Musical) – Franne Lee
Direction of a Musical – Harold Prince
Musical
Original Score – Stephen Sondheim
Scenic Design (Play or Musical) – Eugene Lee
New York Drama Critics’ Circle:
Best Musical
Outer Critics Circle:
Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Theatre World:
Ken Jennings (Tobias Ragg)
Sarah Rice (Johanna)26
The 2007 film adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street won these awards in 2008:
Golden Globes:
Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical – Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd)
MTV Movie Award:
Best Villain – Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd)
Teen Choice Award:
Choice Movie Villain – Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd)27
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Introduction
Table of Contents
1. Origins of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2. Characters
3. The Music
Prologue:
Act I:
Act II
Epilogue:
4. Synopsis
Prologue
Act I
Act II
Epilogue
5. Revenge, Corruption, and Cannibalism
In Sondheim’s melodrama, Sweeney Todd’s revenge becomes his motivation and his obsession, after arriving back to London from an unjust exile from Judge Turpin, and this revenge becomes one of the central themes of the play. Sondheim said, “It’s a story about revenge; it’s about how revenge eats itself up […] It’s the pleasures and dangers of revenge."13 Todd becomes swallowed up by his own sense of revenge. While Mrs. Lovett confesses her feelings for Todd during “By the Sea,” it is obvious that Todd does not feel the same way. He barely sees her, answering her questions with an absent, “Anything you say."14 Sondheim also makes the audience aware of their own feelings of revenge. At the play’s conclusion, Mrs. Lovett and Todd sing, “To seek revenge may lead to hell, but everyone does it, and seldom as well, as Sweeney."15 Not only does this identify the audience with Todd, but it shows that everyone encounters revenge at some time in “this cut-throat world of unbridled aggression, brutal competition, and callous exploitation."16
Sweeney Todd’s revenge plays into the idea of corruption as well, which gives Sondheim’s melodrama a commentary on the conditions of the social classes. In the case of Sweeney Todd, the social context revolves around “how society makes you impotent, and impotence leads to rage, and rage leads to murder, and, in fact, to the breaking down of society."17 Todd lives as a middle-class worker and feels the sting of the upper class’ power and corruption. Todd’s awareness of this is clear in his “Epiphany:” “In all of the whole human race, Mrs. Lovett, there are two kinds of men and only two. There’s the one staying put in his proper place and the one with his foot in the other one’s face."18 Obviously, Todd is the one who received the foot in the face when Judge Turpin imprisoned him in hopes to have the barber’s wife.
Lastly, cannibalism serves as a metaphor in Sweeney Todd “for the predatory nature of class and capitalism."19 In “A Little Priest,” Todd states, “The history of the world, my sweet, is who gets eaten and who get to eat."20 This phrase seems very Darwinian – survival of the fittest. However, Todd and Mrs. Lovett take the eating of flesh literally and begin killing men and using their flesh for meat pies. The idea of the “dog eat dog” world becomes real in Sweeney Todd and shows the discord between the social classes that can arise.
6. Sweeney Todd Performance History: Revivals and Adaptations
7. Reviews
1979 Broadway production:
“There is more artistic energy, creative personality and plain excitement in Sweeney Todd than in a dozen average musical. Len Cariou is to some degree the prisoner of his anguish, but he is such a strong actor, and such a fine singer that he makes up for it with a kind of glow. Angela Lansbury has more opportunities as Mrs. Lovett, and she makes towering use of them. Mr. Sondheim’s lyrics can be endlessly inventive. His score is extraordinary.” – Richard Eder, New York Times23
2007 film production:
“It should not be surprising that ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,’ Mr. Burton’s film adaptation of Mr. Sondheim’s musical, is as dark and terrifying as any motion picture in recent memory… Indeed, ‘Sweeney’ is as much a horror film as a musical: It is cruel in its effects and radical in its misanthropy, expressing a breathtakingly, rigorously pessimistic view of human nature. It is also something close to a masterpiece, a work of extreme – I am tempted to say evil – genius.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times24
“It has the relentless forward momentum of a shark in blood-stained waters.” – David Ansen, Newsweek25
8. Awards
The 1979 Broadway production of Sweeney Todd won these awards in 1979:
Drama Desk Awards:
Tony’s Awards:
New York Drama Critics’ Circle:
Outer Critics Circle:
Theatre World:
The 2007 film adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street won these awards in 2008:
Golden Globes:
MTV Movie Award:
Teen Choice Award:
9. References