Sweeney Todd (musical)
| Musical dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Sweeney Todd |
| Original title: | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Stephen Sondheim |
| Book: | Hugh Wheeler |
| Lyrics: | Stephen Sondheim |
| Literary source: | Sweeney Todd |
| Premiere: | March 1, 1979 |
| Place of premiere: | George Gershwin Theater, New York City |
| Place and time of the action: | London , 1846 |
| Roles / people | |
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Sweeney Todd is an operetta-related musical with the music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim . The book was written by Hugh Wheeler based on a 1973 play of the same name by Christopher G. Bond . It premiered on Broadway on March 1, 1979 at the Uris Theater, New York . Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury played the leading roles . After 557 performances, the last curtain fell on June 29, 1980. The first performance in London's West End took place on July 2, 1980 at the Theater Royal Drury Lane . Harold Prince directed both productions. The German-language premiere took place on April 11, 1985 at the Freiburg Municipal Theaters .
background
Sondheim himself described the work as a deep black operetta . The score is composed through, almost everything is sung. For the show, Sondheim looked for inspiration in music from horror films or other exciting films. He found them particularly in the soundtracks by Bernard Herrmann . For example, towards the end of the play, part of the well-known soundtrack of the Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho can be heard in the death scene of the judge .
Sweeney Todd won nine Tony Awards in 1979 .
action
Venue is London of the 19th century : the barber Benjamin Barker, happily married and father of a child caught in the machinery of lawlessness. Judge Turpin takes an interest in Barker's beautiful wife and finds ways to make the barber disappear into Australian exile. When Barker reappears on the scene of his private tragedy fifteen years later under the name Sweeney Todd , he thinks his wife is dead; his grown up daughter is now the ward of his mortal enemy Turpin. Sweeney Todd embarks on an unparalleled revenge campaign, assisted by a new woman in his life, Mrs. Lovett, whose pastry making business has been booming since she teamed up with Todd.
Songs
Prologue:
(1) The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
Act 1:
(2) No Place Like London
(3) The Barber and His Wife
(4) The Worst Pies in London
(5) Poor thing
(6) My Friends
(7) Green Finch and Linnet Bird
(8) Ah, miss
(9) Johanna
(10) Pirelli's Miracle Elixir
(11) The Contest
(12) Wait
(13) Kiss Me
(14) Ladies in Their Sensitivities
(15) Kiss Me / Ladies in Their Sensitivities
(16) Pretty Women
(17) Epiphany
(18) A Little Priest
Act 2:
(19) God, That's Good!
(20) Johanna
(21) By the Sea
(22) Wigmaker Sequence
(23) The Letter
(24) Not While I'm Around
(25) Parlor Songs
Final Sequence:
(26) City On Fire
(27) Searching
(28) The Judge's Return
(29) Final Scene
Epilogue:
(30) The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
Movie and TV
- In 1982, the Muscail was recorded for television directed by Harold Prince.
- In 2001 the musical was recorded as a concert performance at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall , San Francisco, by the television station PBS . The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra played ; the main roles were sung by George Hearn and Patti Lupone. In 2002 this recording was also released on DVD .
- In 2007 the musical was made into a film, directed by Tim Burton : Sweeney Todd - The Devilish Barber from Fleet Street . It stars Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett.
Others
- Angela Lansbury , known from the crime series Murder is Her Hobby, played Mrs. Lovett in the original production and won a Tony Award. The role was tailor-made for her by her friend Sondheim.
- The musical plays a central role in the film Jersey Girl with Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler .
- Sondheim personally asked Patricia Routledge to sing Mrs. Lovett in the original London production. Routledge declined on the grounds that the story was too scary for her.
- In 2013 the musical was performed as part of the Ettlinger Schlossfestspiele . In addition, on September 14, 2013, in the presence of the composer, a celebrated premiere of the work took place at the Vienna Volksoper.
Web links
- Sweeney Todd in the Internet Broadway Database
- Sweeney Todd The Stephen Sondheim Reference Guide (English)
- Sweeney Todd The Guide to Musical Theater (English)
- Sweeny Todd in the culture primer