“Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.” So begins the 1979 musical by Stephen Sondheim about a London barber who murders his customers and the accomplice Mrs. Lovett who turns his victims into meat pies. The tale was a staple of Victorian melodrama, likely originating from an urban legend. Its popularity continued into the 20th century and was the subject of a variety of silent films, radio, ballet and horror movies. Sondheim’s version was based on a play by Christopher Bond in which Sweeney is turned into a tragic, sympathetic figure. In this telling, the story becomes a mix of dark humor and tragedy, lifted from its shock-shop origins to something profound.
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Tags: great music by Jon O
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