Sweeney Todd (musical)

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler.

Plot

It tells the story of Benjamin Barker, a London barber who in the story's past was sent as a prisoner to Australia by the unscrupulous Judge Turpin, who desired and subsequently raped Barker's wife. Years later, Barker returns to London calling himself Sweeney Todd and craving revenge against the Judge. He moves into a flat above a pie shop in Fleet Street run by his former neighbor Mrs. Lovett, who becomes his partner in crime. After being foiled in his attempt to kill the Judge, he goes mad and begins cutting throats indiscriminately; their bodies are then ground up to make the meat pies sold by Mrs. Lovett. Though Todd initially thinks he can have both his revenge and personal happiness with Mrs. Lovett, he is still deeply scarred by the loss of his wife and daughter, an emotional trauma exacerbated by the shocking revelation of his wife's true fate.

Related Topics:
London - Australia - Rape - Fleet Street

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the end, Sweeney Todd has become so completely consumed by revenge that he is, in turn, destroyed by it. The show ends, to say the least, in a bloodbath. Every major character is either dead or mentally scarred by the experience. Unfortunately for Sondheim, this ending, with no redemption and no "happy clappy" end number, led to the show not being a huge success with the audiences during its early years. Many consider it now to be have been too much ahead of its time back in 1979; a decade later, audiences would be more receptive of other musicals with tragic endings, like Miss Saigon.

Related Topics:
Tragic - Miss Saigon

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~