Tobias Ragg
| Tobias "Toby" Ragg | |
|---|---|
| Portrayed by | Ken Jennings (original 1979 Broadway cast) Neil Patrick Harris (2001 concert) Manoel Felciano (2005 revival) Edward Sanders (2007 film) |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
Tobias "Toby" Ragg is a fictional character who appears in various adaptations of the story Sweeney Todd. He is a minor "hero" antagonist in the story.
In Sweeney Todd
Tobias appears in most adaptations of the story, but is most prominent in Stephen Sondheim's 1979 musical adaptation, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Tim Burton's 2007 film adaptation. Depending on which version of the story is used (and what decisions are made by the producers of a particular version), he is depicted as a little boy or a slow-witted young man.
Tobias is an orphan boy in Victorian London who serves as the assistant of Signor Adolfo Pirelli, a con artist posing as a master barber. He first appears trying to sell Pirelli's Miracle Elixir, a so-called cure for baldness, which Sweeney Todd exposes as fraudulent. It is apparent that Tobias is abused and beaten by his master.
Several days later, Pirelli and Tobias visit Todd and Mrs. Lovett's shop. Mrs. Lovett takes Tobias downstairs for a meat pie, leaving Todd alone with Pirelli, who reveals that he served as assistant to Benjamin Barker (Todd's original identity) in his barber shop 15 years ago. Pirelli has recognized Todd (most likely when Todd showed his razors to him and the rest of the crowd before their contest) and attempts to blackmail him. Rather than pay him off, Todd strangles Pirelli (in the stage version; in the film adaptation he beats him unconscious in the head with his tea kettle), dumping his body into an empty trunk just before Tobias enters looking for his master, saying that he has an appointment with his tailor. Todd tells Tobias that Pirelli has been called away, and sends him back down to Mrs. Lovett, tempting him with the offer of another pie and "a nice big tot of gin". Once the door has shut behind Tobias, Todd opens the trunk and finally finishes off his former assistant by slitting his throat. Todd then wants Mrs. Lovett to send Tobias up to be killed, but she refuses, deciding to keep him as an assistant.
After the disappearance of Pirelli, Tobias becomes Mrs. Lovett's assistant, helping her with her meat pies. All the while, he grows close to her, seeing her as a mother figure; and despite being (in some versions) a trifle slow-witted and naive, becomes increasingly suspicious of Todd. He hints to Mrs. Lovett of his concerns with the song "Not While I'm Around." When she takes out a purse to give him a bon bon (or in some versions, a penny with which to buy sweets), he recognizes it as having belonged to Pirelli, and tells her that they must go tell somebody, because that confirms his fear that Todd murdered his former master.
Worried that he knows too much, Mrs. Lovett locks Tobias in the bakehouse in order to protect Sweeney, whom she loves, under the pretext of teaching him how to grind meat. While there, he discovers a piece of hair from what he thinks is a "black cow" (actually human hair) and a fingernail in a pie he is eating. (In the film version, the pie contains a large fingertip and Toby then sees a whole hand sticking out of the meat grinder's hopper.) Just then, the body of Beadle Bamford - Todd's most recent victim, second only to Judge Turpin in Todd's desire for revenge - tumbles down the chute. Horrified, Tobias now knows the full truth about both Todd and Mrs. Lovett; he tries to escape, but realizes that he is locked in.
Todd and Mrs. Lovett later search the cellars for Tobias, who by then has vanished into the catacombs. At the end of the show/film, enraged and driven to total madness, Tobias emerges from the shadows (with hair now turned completely white from shock in the stage version), picks up Todd's fallen razor and fatally slashes the tractable barber's throat. As the police burst into the bakehouse along with both Anthony and Johanna in the stage version, Tobias drops the razor and mindlessly turns the handle for the meat grinder. In a parody of his duties for Mrs. Lovett, he repeats her instructions to him aloud as he turns the crank: "Three Times through the Meat Grinder". In the film version, the police and the young lovers do not show up at the end. Tobias slashes Todd's throat, and then runs away. What finally becomes of him is not shown.
In the 2005 revival, Tobias is seen at the beginning of the show, in a mad-house, and sings "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", telling the story to the audience.
Performers
- Ken Jennings originated the role of Tobias in the original Broadway performance of Sondheim's musical in 1979.
- Michael Staniforth played Tobias in the 1980 London Production.
- Neil Patrick Harris played Tobias in the 2001 concert version of the musical.
- Manoel Felciano played Tobias in the 2005 revival of the musical.
- Edmund Bagnell played Tobias in the 2005 Revival tour.
- Edward Sanders played Tobias in the 2007 film.
- Tyler Fultz played Tobias in the 2009 MBHS production.
- Ted S. Bushman played Tobias in the 2008 BYU Production.
- Kevin Schaefer played Tobias in the 2009 production at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School.