Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
| Sweeney Todd | |
|---|---|
| The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | |
 Original logo | |
| Music | Stephen Sondheim |
| Lyrics | Stephen Sondheim |
| Book | Hugh Wheeler |
| Basis | Legend of Sweeney Todd (Christopher Bond's version) |
| Productions | 1979 Broadway 1980 West End 1980 U.S. Tour 1982 U.S. Tour 1989 Broadway revival 2000 New York City concert 2001 San Francisco concert 2001 Chicago concert 2002 Lyric Opera of Chicago 2003 Royal Opera House, London 2004 West End revival 2005 Broadway revival 2007 U.S. Tour 2007 London concert |
| Awards | Tony Award for Best Musical Tony Award for Best Book Tony Award for Best Score Drama Desk Outstanding Musical Drama Desk Outstanding Book Drama Desk Outstanding Lyrics Drama Desk Outstanding Music |
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a Tony Award-winning musical with a book by Hugh Wheeler and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The musical is based on the 19th century legend of Sweeney Todd and specifically upon the 1973 play The String of Pearls, by Christopher Bond.[1]
Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway at the Uris Theatre on March 1 1979. It was directed by Harold Prince with musical staging by Larry Fuller, and starred Len Cariou as Sweeney Todd and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett. The musical played for 557 performances.[2] The story centers on the character of Sweeney Todd, formerly known as Benjamin Barker, who returns from the penal colonies in Australia, where he has spent fifteen years on false charges. When he learns from Mrs. Lovett, whose meat pies are the worst in London, that his wife poisoned herself after being raped by Judge Turpin (the man who wrongly imprisoned him), and that his daughter is the ward of the same Judge Turpin, he vows revenge. The two become conspirators in a dark plot that results in mass murder, booming business for Lovett's shop, and ultimately tragedy.
Synopsis
Act I
Anthony Hope rides a ship into London. Despite Hope's enthusiasm, his friend and shipmate Sweeney Todd is grim and uneasy. This mood is worsened by a half-mad Beggar Woman who begs from (then sexually solicits) both Anthony and Todd who is run off by Todd ("No Place Like London"). As they prepare to part, Todd tells a tragic story about a young and naïve barber with a beautiful wife and the lustful judge who exiled him to covet her ("Barber and His Wife").
Todd finds his old apartment in a building above a meat-pie shop on Fleet Street, where he encounters the shop's proprietress, Mrs. Lovett. She complains about her competition, her own pitiful pies and her hard economic times ("Worst Pies in London"). She sings the sad tale of the upstairs apartment's previous tenant, a barber named Benjamin Barker, who had been falsely sentenced by the lecherous Judge Turpin and his corrupt cohort Beadle Bamford, because of the Judge's lust for Barker's wife Lucy. She reveals how, once Barker had been sent to Australia, the Judge had lured Lucy to his house and raped her. Afterwards, she poisoned herself and Barker's infant daughter, Johanna, became a ward of the Judge ("Poor Thing"). Mrs. Lovett quickly realizes that Sweeney is that same barber. She shows Todd his collection of sterling silver razors, which she has kept hidden for years, telling him that he can become a barber again ("My Friends" and "Ballad of Sweeney Todd: Lift Your Razor High, Sweeney!").
In the next scene, Anthony notices a girl singing at a window ("Green Finch and Linnet Bird" and "Ah, Miss"); the Beggar Woman from earlier tells him that the girl is Johanna, the Judge's ward. Antony is immediately smitten and pledges to woo her, but the Judge and Beadle threaten him off ("Johanna"). Meanwhile, in the crowded marketplace, renowned Italian barber Adolfo Pirelli and his drum-beating tout Tobias pitch a cure-all for hair loss ("Pirelli's Miracle Elixir"). Todd, after exposing the elixir as fraudulent, challenges Pirelli to a shaving competition and wins easily ("Contest"). Todd invites the Beadle, who acted (at Todd's suggestion) as the judge of the competition, to visit his parlor for a complimentary shave ("Ballad of Sweeney Todd: Sweeney Pondered and Sweeney Planned").
Later, as Todd impatiently waits for the Beadle's arrival, Mrs. Lovett urges patience ("Wait"), just as Pirelli and Tobias visit the shop. Mrs. Lovett takes Tobias downstairs for a meat pie, leaving Todd alone with Pirelli, who reveals that he has learned Todd's true identity and tries blackmail. Rather than pay Pirelli off, Todd attacks Pirelli and bludgeons him, dumping his body into an empty trunk just before Tobias enters looking for Pirelli. Todd sends Tobias back down to Mrs. Lovett, tempting him with the offer of another pie and "a nice big tot of gin", and once the door has shut behind Tobias, Todd opens the trunk and slits Pirelli's throat, finishing him off ("Ballad of Sweeney Todd: His Hands Were Quick, His Fingers Strong...").
Across town, Judge Turpin is tormented by his lust for his ward Johanna and announces to her that he intends to marry her ("Johanna" reprise). Disgusted by the prospect, Johanna and Anthony plot an elopement ("Kiss Me"), while at the same time the Beadle, accompanying his master (who has adjourned court after sentencing a child to death for a minor crime), suggests that the Judge visit Todd's barbershop to improve his appearance to better win Johanna's affections ("Ladies in Their Sensitivities"). Turpin agrees and visits Todd's shop, where an eager Todd prepares to exact his revenge ("Pretty Women"). Before he can kill Turpin however, Anthony barges in to tell Todd about his planned elopement with Johanna, accidentally informing the outraged Judge who curses Todd for conspiring against him before storming out of his parlor. Todd, in his fury, descends into utter madness and broadens the target of his vengeance to all of society ("Epiphany"). Mrs. Lovett concludes that Pirelli's body will not be Todd's last victim, and during a discussion with Todd about how to dispose of Pirelli's body has a sudden burst of inspiration and suggests they use the meat of Todd's victims in her pies ("A Little Priest").
Act II
Mrs. Lovett's pie-shop has become a thriving business with its new menu ("God, That's Good!"), with enough money to hire Pirelli's old assistant, Tobias; the only fly in the ointment being the Beggar Woman who keeps hanging around the pie-shop. The new system between Todd and Mrs. Lovett and a specially-designed mechanized barber's chair allow Todd to kill someone (preferably a customer who'll never be missed) in his barber shop and send the body through a chute directly into the basement bakehouse of the pie-house. Anthony's fortunes are not so bright as Johanna has disappeared, and over the weeks he searches for her while Todd accustoms himself to the idea that he may never see Johanna again ("Johanna (Quartet)"). Meanwhile, Mrs. Lovett dreams of a future life with Todd on the shore ("By the sea").
Anthony discovers the Judge has committed Johanna to an asylum and with Todd's help infiltrates the asylum as a wigmaker intent on purchasing inmates' hair ("Wigmaker Sequence" and "Ballad of Sweeney Todd: Sweeney Waited Too Long Before..."). Unknown to Anthony, Todd sends a letter to the judge notifying him of Anthony's intent to kidnap Johanna and her professed love for Turpin, hopeful of luring the judge to his shop ("Letter"). Meanwhile in the pie-shop, Tobias begins to suspect that Todd is up to no good ("Not While I'm Around"), and so Mrs. Lovett locks him in the bakehouse under the pretext of teaching him how to grind meat. As she leaves, she encounters the Beadle, commissioned by the neighbors to investigate the thick black smoke and strange smells from the pie-shop's chimney ("Parlor Songs"). Together, he and Mrs. Lovett wait for Todd, who arrives and offers Beadle the promised free shave. In the basement, Tobias is grinding meat when the bloody corpse of the Beadle tumbles down the chute. Horrified, he tries to escape but realizes that he is locked in. Upstairs, Mrs. Lovett informs Todd that Tobias has guessed everything and they head downstairs to dispose of him. [[Image:SweeneyTodd-MolinaAndMagnuson.png|thumb|right|Johanna (Lauren Molina) and the Beadle (Benjamin Magnuson); national 2007 touring company While Todd and Mrs. Lovett search the cellars for Tobias, who has vanished somehow, Anthony infiltrates the Asylum. He draws a pistol on Jonas Fogg, the owner of the asylum, but can't bring himself to shoot and drops the gun. Johanna grabs the gun and shoots Fogg dead, and they both flee to Todd's parlor with Johanna disguised in sailor's clothing. After Anthony leaves Johanna there to chart their escape, the Beggar Woman appears, and Johanna hides. Todd discovers the Beggar Woman in his parlor as she desperately tries to warn him about Mrs. Lovett. As Judge Turpin arrives, Todd frantically slits the Beggar Woman's throat and sends her down the chute before Turpin can see her. When Todd assures him that Johanna is totally repentant, the judge in lecherous expectation asks for a facial. Todd reveals his identity to the judge and slits his throat. As Todd leaves the parlor to kill Tobias, Johanna emerges from her hiding place. Todd catches her and thinking her a man is about to kill her as well when he hears Mrs. Lovett screaming from the bakehouse below. With Todd distracted for a moment, Johanna manages to escape and Todd races downstairs.
In the bakehouse, Mrs. Lovett struggles with the still-living Judge, who finally dies, before becoming distraught at the sight of the dead Beggar Woman. Todd bursts into the bakehouse and seeing the face of the Beggar Woman clearly in the light from the open oven doors, drops his razor in horror as he realizes that she is his wife Lucy, who he believed was dead. Todd furiously accuses Mrs. Lovett of deceiving him. Mrs. Lovett confesses the truth but insists that she never lied, that Lucy had indeed taken poison but it did not kill her; instead, it had driven her insane, and that Mrs. Lovett withheld the truth from Todd in order to spare him and because she loves him. Todd calms the very nervous and afraid Mrs. Lovett and begins to waltz with her, proclaiming his love for her and telling her that he forgives her. He waltzes her over to the huge oven and hurls her inside, slamming the doors shut. Todd sinks to the floor and cradles his beloved wife in his arms. Tobias, now driven completely insane and with his hair turned white from horror, enters and stumbles towards the tractable barber. When the grief-stricken Todd shoves him away, Tobias picks up Todd's fallen razor and fatally slashes Todd's throat. As Anthony, Johanna and some constables burst into the bakehouse, Tobias drops the razor and, unmindful of the others, begins to turn the handle for the meat grinder in a mindless parody of his duties for Mrs. Lovett ("Final Sequence" and "Ballad of Sweeney Todd: Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd...").
Principal roles
| Character | Voice[citation needed] | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sweeney Todd | bass-baritone | Morose and brooding, a barber by profession, newly arrived in London after 15 years' unjust incarceration in a penal colony.. |
| Mrs. Nellie Lovett | contralto | A cheery, chatty but wholly amoral shopkeeper whose premises and pies are coated in dust and plagued by flies. She would like to be more than merely a landlady to Mr. Todd. |
| Anthony Hope | tenor | A young man, befriended by Todd on the voyage home. |
| Johanna | soprano | A beautiful girl, Todd's daughter but now claimed by Judge Turpin as his own. |
| Tobias Ragg | tenor | A simple, kind-hearted lad. He works first for Pirelli, then for Mrs. Lovett, but never trusts Todd. |
| Judge Turpin | bass-baritone | A corrupt and depraved official, an upholder of justice who twists the system to serve his own ends. |
| Beadle Bamford | tenor -or- countertenor | Turpin's accomplice in his crimes. |
| Beggar Woman | mezzo-soprano | A mad old crone with a filthy tongue, whose cries go unheeded. |
| Adolfo Pirelli | tenor | An Italian barber, though of unauthenticated provenance. |
Musical numbers
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Productions
- Original Broadway production
After nineteen previews, the Broadway production, directed by Hal Prince and choreographed by Larry Fuller, opened on March 1, 1979, at the Uris Theatre. Despite initial poor audience reaction—on opening night, half the audience is said to have left in disgust at intermission—the show ran for 557 performances, closing on June 29, 1980. The cast included Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett, Len Cariou (who was replaced by George Hearn on late 1979)[3] as Sweeney Todd, Victor Garber as Anthony Hope, Sarah Rice as Johanna, Merle Louise as the Beggar Woman, Ken Jennings as Tobias Ragg, Edmund Lyndeck as the Judge Turpin and Craig Lucas (member of the Company). The production was nominated for nine Tonys, winning eight.
- Original West End production
The musical opened in London's West End on July 2 1980, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, starring Denis Quilley and Sheila Hancock and ran for 157 performances.
- U.S. national tour
The first U.S. national tour started on October 24, 1980, in Washington DC and ended in August 1981 in Los Angeles, California. Lansbury was joined by George Hearn, who had replaced Len Cariou in the Broadway production. This version of the production was eventually broadcast on PBS in 1982 and received wide critical and popular attention.
A second tour started on February 23, 1982, in Wilmington, Delaware, and ended on July 17, 1982, in Toronto, Canada. June Havoc and Ross Petty starred.
- 1989 Broadway revival
The first Broadway revival opened on September 14 1989, at the Circle in the Square Theatre, where it ran for 188 performances after 47 previews. It was produced by Theodore Mann and directed by Susan H. Schulman; the cast included Bob Gunton and Beth Fowler. [[Image:Eugene ONeill Theatre NYC.jpg|thumb|Sweeney Todd at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York City, 2006]]
- 1994 Los Angeles production
In 1994, East West Players in Los Angeles staged a revival directed by Tim Dang, featuring a largely Asian Pacific American cast. It was also the first time the show had been presented in an intimate house (Equity 99-seat). The production received 5 Ovation Awards including the Franklin Levy Award for Best Musical (Smaller Theatre) and Best Director (Musical) for Dang.
- Opera house performances
In the early 2000s, Sweeney Todd gained acceptance with opera companies throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, Israel, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia. Bryn Terfel, the popular Welsh bass-baritone, performed the title role at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2002. It was performed at the Royal Opera House in London as part of the Royal Opera season (December 2003-January 2004). The Israeli National Opera has performed Sweeney Todd twice. The Icelandic Opera performed Sweeney Todd in the fall of 2004, the first time in Iceland.
- Concert productions
The show also had major concert productions with George Hearn, Patti LuPone, Neil Patrick Harris, Davis Gaines and Audra McDonald performing with the New York Philharmonic in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in May 2000; Hearn, LuPone, and Harris reuniting with the San Francisco Symphony and adding Lisa Vroman as Johanna and Timothy Nolen as Judge Turpin in July 2001; and at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago on August 24 2001, with most of the cast from the preceding concerts. A "Reprise!" Concert version was performed at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theater March 12-14, 1999 with Kelsey Grammar as Todd, Christine Baranski as Mrs. Lovett, Gaines and Neil Patrick Harris reprsing their roles as Anthony and Tobias, Melissa Manchester as The Beggar Woman, Dale Kristien as Johanna and Ken Howard as Judge Turpin. London's Royal Festival Hall hosted two performances on February 13, 2000 starring Len Cariou as Todd, Judy Kaye as Mrs. Lovett, and Gaines as Anthony, and a four-day concert production in July 2007 starring Bryn Terfel, Maria Friedman, Daniel Boys, Steve Elias, Daniel Evans and Philip Quast.[4]
- Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration
As part of the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration, a production of Sweeney Todd ran from May 10, 2002, until June 30, 2002 at the Eisenhower Theatre, starring Brian Stokes Mitchell as Todd, Christine Baranski as Mrs. Lovett, Hugh Panaro as Anthony and Walter Charles as Judge Turpin.[5]
- 2004-05 West End and Broadway revivals and 2007 tour
In 2004 John Doyle directed a revival of the musical at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury, England, which subsequently transferred to the West End's Trafalgar Studios and then the New Ambassadors Theatre. The production was notable for having no orchestra, having the 10-person cast playing the score themselves on musical instruments that they carried onstage.[6] This marked the first time in nearly ten years that a Sondheim show had been presented in the commercial West End. It starred Paul Hegarty as Todd, Karen Mann as Mrs. Lovett, Rebecca Jackson as The Beggar Woman, Sam Kenyon as Tobias, Rebecca Jenkins as Johanna, David Ricardo-Pearce as Anthony and Colin Wakefield as Judge Turpin. This production transferred to Broadway, with a new cast which starred Michael Cerveris as Todd, Patti LuPone as Mrs.Lovett, Manoel Felciano as Tobias and Mark Jacoby as Judge Turpin. It opened on November 3 2005 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, where it ran for 384 performances. The cast, as in London, provided their own musical accompaniment.
A tour of this production starring Judy Kaye (who temporarily replaced Patti Lupone in the Broadway run) as Mrs. Lovett and David Hess as Todd began its pre-tour performances on August 30, 2007, at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Alexander Gemignani temporarily replaced David Hess in the title role for the Toronto run of the tour in November and December 2007. Hess was on leave because of vocal strain.[7] This production is scheduled to tour Canada and the United States through June 2008.[8]
Film
A feature film adaptation of Sweeney Todd, jointly produced by Dreamworks and Warner Bros., was released on December 21 2007. Tim Burton directed from a screenplay by John Logan. It stars Johnny Depp as Todd, Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin, Sacha Baron Cohen as Signor Pirelli, Jamie Campbell Bower as Anthony Hope, Laura Michelle Kelly as Lucy Barker/The Beggar Woman, Jayne Wisener as Johanna, Ed Sanders as Tobias, and Timothy Spall as Beadle Bamford.
Themes
Stephen Sondheim believes that Sweeney Todd is a story of revenge and how it consumes a vengeful person. He has asserted, "...what the show is really about is obsession."[9]
Hal Prince believed it to be an allegory of capitalism and its selfish qualities. He described this theme as follows: "It was only when I realized that the show was about revenge.... And then came the factory, and the class struggle—the terrible struggle to move out of the class in which you're born...."[10]
Musical analysis
Sondheim's score is one of his most complex to date, with Tony Award-winning orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. It relies heavily on counterpoint and rich, angular harmonies. Its compositional style has been compared to those of Maurice Ravel, Sergei Prokofiev, and Bernard Herrmann (who scored Alfred Hitchcock films). Sondheim also quotes the ancient Dies Irae Gregorian chant, both as part of the eponymous ballad that runs throughout the score, later heard in a musical inversion, and in the accompaniment to "Epiphany". He also relies heavily on leitmotif - at least twenty distinct ones can be identified throughout the score. Depending on how and where the show is presented, it is sometimes considered an opera.[11]
In his essay for the 2005 cast album, Jeremy Sams finds it most relevant to compare Sondheim's work with operas that similarly explore the psyche of a mad murderer or social outcast, such as Alban Berg's Wozzeck (based on the play by Georg Buchner) and Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes (1945). On the other hand, it can be seen as a precursor to the later trend of musicals based on horror themes, The Phantom of the Opera (1986), Jekyll & Hyde (musical) (1997), and Dance of the Vampires (1997), which used the description of the trend, "grusical", as its commercial label.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
- Tony Award for Best Musical (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Original Score (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Cariou, winner)
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Lansbury, winner)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Scenic Design (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Costume Design (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Lighting Design (nominee)
- Theatre World Award (Ken Jennings and Sarah Rice, winners)
- Drama Desk Award
- Outstanding Musical (winner)
- Outstanding Book (winner)
- Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Cariou, winner)
- Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Lansbury, winner)
- Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Jennings, winner)
- Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Merle Louise, winner)
- Outstanding Choreography (nominee)
- Outstanding Director of a Musical (winner)
- Outstanding Lyrics (winner)
- Outstanding Music (winner)
- Outstanding Costume Design (nominee)
- Outstanding Lighting Design (nominee)
- Outstanding Set Design (nominee)
1989 Broadway revival
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Gunton, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Fowler, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Revival (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award
- Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Gunton, nominee)
- Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Fowler, nominee)
- Outstanding Lighting Design (nominee)
- Outstanding Set Design (nominee)
- Outstanding Revival (nominee)
2005 Broadway revival
- Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Cerveris, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (LuPone, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Manoel Felciano, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Orchestrations (Jonathan Tunick, winner)
- Drama Desk Award
- Outstanding Revival of a Musical (winner)
- Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Cerveris, nominee)
- Outstanding Actress in a Musical (LuPone, nominee)
- Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Alexander Gemignani, nominee)
- Outstanding Director of a Musical (winner)
- Outstanding Orchestrations (Jonathan Tunick, winner)
- Outstanding Set Design of a Musical (nominee)
- Outstanding Lighting Design (winner)
- Outstanding Sound Design (nominee)
Recordings and broadcasts
An original Broadway cast recording was released in 1979. It included the Judge's "Johanna" and the tooth-pulling contest from Act 1, which had been cut in previews.[12]
A performance of the 1980 touring company was taped before an audience at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles during the first national tour, with additional taping done in an empty theatre. It was televised on September 12, 1982, on The Entertainment Channel and broadcast on PBS.[13] It was later released on both VHS and DVD.[14]
In July 1994, the Royal National Theatre revival production starring Denis Quilley and Julia McKenzie was broadcast by the BBC.[15] Opera North's production was also broadcast by the BBC on March 30, 1998 as was the Royal Opera House production in 2003.
In 1995, the Barcelona cast recorded a cast album sung in Catalan. This production was also broadcast on Spanish television.
The 2000 New York City Concert was recorded and released in a deluxe 2-CD set.[16]
In 2001, the same concert was held in San Francisco with the same leads and minor cast changes. It was also videotaped and broadcast on PBS, and then was released to VHS and DVD in 2001.[17]
The 2005 Broadway revival also was recorded.[18] The producers originally planned only a single-disk "highlights" version; however, they soon realized that they had recorded more music than what could be fit on one disk and it was not financially feasible to bring the performers back in to re-record. The followings songs were cut: Wigmaker Sequence, The Letter, Parlour Songs, City On Fire, and half of the final sequence (which includes The Judge's Return).[19]
References
- ^ "Sweeney Todd". Sondheim.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2008.
- ^ "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street". IBDB.com. Retrieved on January 17, 2008.
- ^ "George Hearn Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved on January 18, 2008.
- ^ Gans, Andrew (June 13, 2007). "Terfel, Friedman, Evans and Quast to Star in London Sweeney Todd". Playbill.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2008.
- ^ "The Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration". Sondheim Guide. Retrieved on January 18, 2008.
- ^ Murray, Matthew (November 3, 2005). "Sweeney Todd". Talkin' Broadway. Retrieved on Januay 18, 2008.
- ^ BMW News Desk (November 17, 2007). "Gemignani Subs for Hess in 'Sweeney Todd' National Tour". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2008.
- ^ BWW (September 8, 2007). "Photo Flash: 'Sweeney Todd' SF Pre-Tour Engagement". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2008.
- ^ Sondheim & Co., Second Edition, 1986, Zadan, Craig, p. 245, Harper & Row, ISBN 006015649-X
- ^ Brown, Larry. "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street". Sondheim Notes. Retrieved on January 18, 2008.
- ^ New York Times, Richard Eder, March 2, 1979, pg. C3
- ^ "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979 Original Broadway Cast) (CAST RECORDING)". Amazon.com. Retrieved on January 16, 2008.
- ^ "Sweeney Todd on TV". Sondheim Guide. Retrieved on January 16, 2008.
- ^ "Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (1982)". Amazon.com. Retrieved on January 16, 2008.
- ^ Hutchins, Michael H. (February 18, 2006) "Sweeney Todd". Sondheim Guide. Retrieved on September 25, 2006.
- ^ "Sweeney Todd Live at the New York Philharmonic". Amazon.com. Retrieved on January 16, 2008.
- ^ "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert". IMDb.com. Retrieved on January 16, 2008.
- ^ "Sweeney Todd (2005 Broadway Revival Cast)". Amazon.com. Retrieved on January 16, 2008.
- ^ Fanning, Frank. "Sweeney Todd at the Cast Album Database". Retrieved on September 25, 2006.
External links
- Stage and Screen Online Exclusive audio interview with Sondheim about Sweeney Todd movie
- Sweeney Todd at The Internet Broadway Database
- Sweeney Todd at IMDb
- The Stephen Sondheim Reference Guide page for Sweeney Todd
- Sweeney Todd at Sondheim.com
- MTI shows detailed plot and production information
- Opening Night: 'Sweeney Todd', interviews and footage from the 2005 production (6 minutes, Flash video)