Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979)
Words & Music: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Book by Hugh Wheeler based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond
Premise: Benjamin Barker, a London barber banished to Botany Bay on a trumped-up charge, returns to the city 15 years later as Sweeney Todd to wreak his revenge on the Judge and Beadle who sent him down. When he meets up with his now-widowed neighbour – the impoverished pie-maker Nellie Lovett – the pair embark on a murderous scheme to turn those looking for a shave into meat pies.
Major productions:
1979 Broadway: Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre
1980 London: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
1982 TV: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
1999 Los Angeles Reprise! Concerts
2000 New York Philharmonic Concerts
2000 Bridewell Production
2001 Television Concert
2002 Kennedy Center Production
2002 Lyric Opera of Chicago Production
2004 New York City Opera Revival
2012 London Revival
2014 New York Philharmonic Concerts
2014 Tooting Arts Club - Harrington's Pie Shop
2015 London Revival - London Coliseum
2017 Off-Broadway Revival - Barrow Street
2019 Northern Ireland Opera
2019 Everyman/Playhouse
2023 Broadway Revival
2023 Signature Theatre
Broadway (1979)
Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre
222 W 51st St, New York, NY 10019, USA
Previews: 6 February 1979
Opens: 1 March 1979
Closes: 29 June 1980
Performances: 557
Director: Harold Prince
Musical Director: Paul Gemignani
Designer: Eugene Lee
Costume Designer: Franne Lee
Lighting: Ken Billington
Dance and Movement: Larry Fuller
Producers: Richard Barr, Charles Woodward,
Robert Fryer, Mary Lea Johnson, Martin Richards
Cast:
Sweeney Todd: Len Cariou
Mrs Lovett: Angela Lansbury
Judge Turpin: Edmund Lyndeck
Beadle Bamford: Jack Eric Williams
Pirelli: Joaquin Romaguera
Beggar Woman: Merle Louise
Anthony Hope: Victor Garber
Tobias Ragg: Ken Jennings
Johanna Barker: Sarah Rice
Jonas Fogg: Robert Ousley
Musical Numbers:
Prologue
"Organ Prelude" - Instrumental
"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" - Chorus, Todd
Act I
"No Place Like London" - Anthony, Todd, Beggar Woman
"The Barber and His Wife" - Todd
"The Worst Pies in London" - Mrs. Lovett
"The Barber and His Wife (Reprise)/Poor Thing" - Mrs. Lovett
"My Friends" - Todd and Mrs. Lovett
"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Reprise 1)" - Chorus
"Green Finch and Linnet Bird" - Johanna
"Ah, Miss/Green Finch and Linnet Bird (Reprise)" - Anthony, Johanna, Beggar Woman
"Johanna" - Anthony
"Pirelli's Miracle Elixir" - Tobias, Todd, Mrs. Lovett, Chorus
"The Contest" - Pirelli
"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Reprise 2)" - Chorus
"Johanna (Mea Culpa)" - Judge Turpin
"Wait" - Mrs. Lovett
"Pirelli's Death" - Pirelli
"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Reprise 3)" - Tenor Trio
"Kiss Me" - Johanna, Anthony
"Ladies in their Sensitivities" - Beadle, Judge Turpin
"Kiss Me (Quartet)" - Johanna, Anthony, Beadle, Judge Turpin
"Pretty Women" - Todd and Judge Turpin
"Epiphany" - Todd
"A Little Priest" - Mrs. Lovett and Todd
Act II
"God, that's Good!" - Tobias, Mrs. Lovett, Todd, and Chorus
"Johanna (Quartet)" - Anthony, Todd, Beggar Woman, Johanna
"By the Sea" - Mrs. Lovett and Todd
"Not While I'm Around" - Tobias and Mrs. Lovett
"Parlor Songs":
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"Sweet Polly Plunkett" - Beadle
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"The Tower of Bray" - Beadle, Mrs. Lovett, Tobias
-
"Sweet Polly Plunkett (Reprise)" - Mrs. Lovett"
The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Reprise 5)" - Chorus, Lunatics
"Final Sequence":
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"City on Fire" / "Searching" - Johanna, and Beggar Woman / Mrs. Lovett and Todd
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"Ah, Miss (Reprise)" - Anthony and Johanna
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"Beggar Woman's Lullaby" - Beggar Woman
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"Pretty Women (Reprise)" - Todd and Judge Turpin
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"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Reprise 6)" - Chorus
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"Final Scene" - Mrs. Lovett and Todd
Epilogue
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"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Reprise 7 - Finale)" - Company
Tooting Arts Club (2014)
Harrington's Pie & Mash
3 Selkirk Rd, Tooting, London SW17 0ER
Previews: 21 October 2014
Opens: 27 October 2014
Closes: 29 November 2014
Performances: 38
Director: Bill Buckhurst
Musical Director: Benjamin Cox
Designer: Simon Kenny
Lighting: Amy Mae Smith
Sound: Josh Richardson
Producer: Rachel Edwards
Co-Producer: Hilary Williams
Associate Producer: Tracey Childs
Cast:
Mrs Lovett: Siobhan McCarthy
Sweeney Todd: Jeremy Secomb
Judge Turpin: Duncan Smith
Beadle Bamford: Ian Mowat
Pirelli/Beggar Woman: Kiara Jay
Anthony Hope: Nadim Naaman
Tobias Ragg: Joseph Taylor
Johanna Barker: Grace Chapman (replaced by Zoe Doano)
Musical Numbers:
The 32-seat pie shop (established 1908, closed 2025) placed some restrictions on the show, resulting in a number of cuts. As per the 1979 Broadway production, except "Tooth Pulling Scene" was dropped, "The Letter" was spoken by Todd, and the Lunatics were dropped.
