Sweeney Todd
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| + | "These [[penny]] romances were not vicious, though morbidly exciting; one called "[[Sweeney Todd; or, the String of Pearls]]," related how a certain barber in Fleet Street cut the throats of his customers, and then sunk them down a trap to a kitchen, where they were made into, and whence they issued, as mutton-pies!"--''[[Modern Men of Letters Honestly Criticised]]'' (1870) by James Hain Friswell | ||
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| + | "There stood in Fleet Street a little shop, kept by one [[Sweeney Todd]], a barber. It was this monster's practice when persons possessing wealth entered his shop to destroy them. He did it by these means :-A chair was fixed to a [[trap door]], and by touching a spring, the chair turned the poor victim into a dark cellar below, where, if he did not meet his death by the fall, he was soon killed by this cruel man. Todd's cellar communicated with the bakehouse of Mrs. Lovett, who kept a pie shop in Bell Yard, near Shire Lane. She assisted to get rid of the bodies, and shared in the gains."--1870s blurb | ||
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| [[Image:Cover of Sweeney Todd, published by Charles Fox in 48 numbers.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cover of ''[[Sweeney Todd]]'', published by [[Charles Fox]] in 48 numbers]] | [[Image:Cover of Sweeney Todd, published by Charles Fox in 48 numbers.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cover of ''[[Sweeney Todd]]'', published by [[Charles Fox]] in 48 numbers]] | ||
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| - | '''Sweeney Todd''' ([[1846]]) is a [[Fictional portrayals of psychopaths in literature|fictional psychopath]]/[[cannibalism in fiction|cannibal]]/[[antihero]]. A [[barber]] and [[serial killer]], the character appears in various [[English language]] works starting in the mid-[[19th century]]. His weapon of choice is a [[straight razor]], with which he [[throat cutting|cuts his victim's throats]]; in some versions of the story his lover, friend and accomplice, Margery (sometimes Nellie or Claudette) Lovett, [[Cannibalism|bakes the carcasses]] into [[meat pie]]s, selling them to unknowing customrers. | + | '''Sweeney Todd''' is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the [[penny dreadful]] serial ''[[The String of Pearls]]'' (1846–1847). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century [[melodrama]] and London [[Urban legends and myths|legend]]. A [[barber]] from [[Fleet Street]], Todd murders his customers with a [[straight razor]] and gives their corpses to [[Mrs. Lovett]], his partner in crime, who [[Cannibalism in literature|bakes their flesh into meat pies]]. The tale has been retold many times since in various media. |
| - | ==Early history== | + | |
| - | Todd's first appearance could have been in a British [[penny dreadful]] called ''[[The People's Periodical]]'', in issue 7, dated [[November 21]], [[1846]]. The story in which he appeared was titled "The String of Pearls: A Romance," and was probably written by [[Thomas Prest]], who created a number of other [[gruesome]] villains. He tended to base his horror stories on grains of truth, sometimes gaining inspiration from real crime reports in ''[[The Times]]''. | + | |
| - | ==Adaptations== | + | |
| - | :See also [[Sweeney Todd (musical)]] and [[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007 film)]] | + | |
| - | *''The String of Pearls'' was adapted as a [[melodrama]] in [[1847]] by George Dibden Pitt and opened at the [[Britannia Theatre]] in [[Hoxton]], with the title ''Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' and billed as 'founded on fact'. It was something of a success, and the story spread by word of mouth and took on the quality of an [[urban legend]]. Various versions of the tale were staples of the [[England|British]] theatre for the rest of the century. | + | Claims that Sweeney Todd was a historical person are disputed strongly by scholars, although possible legendary prototypes exist. |
| - | *In [[1936]] a film version of the [[Victorian Era|Victorian]] melodrama was made, called ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936 film)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street]]'', starring [[Tod Slaughter]] in the title role. | + | ==Plot synopsis== |
| + | For the original version of the tale, Todd is a barber who kills his victims by pulling a [[lever]] as they sit in his barber chair. His victims fall backward through a revolving [[trap door]] into the [[basement]] of his shop, generally causing them to break their necks or skulls. In case they are alive, Todd goes to the basement and "polishes them off" (slitting their throats with his [[straight razor]]). In some adaptations, the murdering process is reversed, with Todd slitting his customers' throats before dispatching them into the basement through the revolving trap door. After Todd has robbed his dead victims of their goods, [[Mrs. Lovett]], his partner in crime (in some later versions, his friend and/or lover), assists him in disposing of the bodies by baking their flesh into [[meat pie]]s and selling them to the unsuspecting customers of her pie shop. Todd's barber shop is situated at 186 [[Fleet Street]], [[London]], next to [[St Dunstan-in-the-West|St. Dunstan's church]], and is connected to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop in nearby Bell Yard by means of an underground passage. In most versions of the story, he and Mrs. Lovett hire an unwitting orphan boy, [[Tobias Ragg]], to serve the pies to customers. | ||
| - | *"Sweeney Todd, The Barber" is a song that assumes its audience knows the stage version and claims that such a character in real life was even more remarkable, yet it contains most of the story portrayed in the theater and cinema. [[Stanley Holloway]], who recorded it in [[1956]], attributed it to [[R. P. Weston]], a song writer active from [[1906]] to [[1934]]. | + | ==Literary history== |
| + | Sweeney Todd first appeared in a story titled ''The String of Pearls: A Romance''. This [[penny dreadful]] was published in 18 weekly parts, in [[Edward Lloyd (publisher)|Edward Lloyd]]'s magazine ''The People's Periodical and Family Library'', issues 7–24, published 21 November 1846 to 20 March 1847. It was probably written by [[James Malcolm Rymer]], though [[Thomas Peckett Prest]] has also been credited with it; possibly each worked on the serial from part to part. Other attributions include Edward P. Hingston, George Macfarren, and Albert Richard Smith. During February/March 1847, before the serial was even completed, [[George Dibdin Pitt]] adapted ''The String of Pearls'' as a melodrama for the [[Britannia Theatre]] in [[Hoxton]], east London. It was in this alternative version of the tale, rather than the original, that Todd acquired his catchphrase: "I'll polish him off". | ||
| - | *In 1947, ''[[CBC]] Stage Series'' broadcast an over-the-top radio adaptation of the George Dibden Pitt play starring [[Mavor Moore]] as "Sweeney Todd", [[Jane Mallett]] as "Mrs. Lovett", [[John Drainie]] as "Tobias", [[Lloyd Bochner]] as "Mark Ingesterie" and [[Arden Kaye]] as "Johanna Oakley". The production was adapted by Ronald Hamilton and directed by Andrew Allan, with original music composed by [[Lucio Agostini]]. | + | Lloyd published another, lengthier, penny part serial during 1847–1848, with 92 episodes. It was then published in book form in 1850 as ''The String of Pearls'', subtitled "The Barber of Fleet Street. A Domestic Romance". This expanded version of the story was 732 pages long. A [[plagiarism|plagiarised]] version of this book appeared in the United States c. 1852–1853 as ''Sweeney Todd: or the Ruffian Barber. A Tale of Terror of the Seas and the Mysteries of the City'' by "Captain Merry" (a pseudonym used by American author Harry Hazel, 1814–1889). |
| - | *The duo known as the [[Two Ronnies]] produced a musical sketch called "Teeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Queer Street" with [[Ronnie Corbett]] in the title role. The sketch features the barber cutting throats with a razor and then pulling a lever to send his victims into the baker's shop below. | + | In 1865, the French novelist [[Paul Féval, père|Paul H.C. Féval]] (1816–1887), famous as a writer of horror and crime novels and short stories, referred to what he termed "L'Affaire de la Rue des Marmousets" in the introductory chapter to his book ''[[La Vampire]]''. |
| - | *A version of Sweeney Todd's story is told in the [[1970]] horror film ''[[Bloodthirsty Butchers (Movie)]]'', directed by [[Andy Milligan]]. | + | In 1875, Frederick Hazleton's c. 1865 dramatic adaptation ''Sweeney Todd, the Barber of Fleet Street: or the String of Pearls'' (see below) was published as volume 102 of ''Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays''. |
| - | *In 1970 [[Freddie Jones]] starred as the title character in the episode "Sweeney Todd" on the [[ITV]] series ''Mystery and Imagination'', an adaptation by Vincent Tilsey from the George Dibden Pitt play that changed the character of Sweeney Todd from a fiendish and gleeful murderer to a deluded madman; the production was directed by Robert Collin. Heather Canning played "Mrs. Lovett", Lewis Fiander played "Mark Ingesterie", Mel Martin played the heroine "Charlotte" and Len Jones played "Tobias". | + | A scholarly, annotated edition of the original 1846–1847 serial was published in volume form in 2007 by the [[Oxford University Press]] with the title of ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'', edited by Robert Mack. |
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| - | * The children's book More [[Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark]] by [[Alvin Schwartz]] contains a version of [[Sweeney Todd]] called "Delicious Sausage" with a mad butcher named Blunt, based directly on the original Sweeney character. | + | |
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| - | *The 1973 CBC TV Series "The Purple Playhouse" featured a production of ''Sweeney Todd'', with Barry Morse (Lt. Gerard from ''The Fugitive'') as Mr. Todd. This was George Dibdin Pitt's version of the play. | + | |
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| - | *The British playwright [[Christopher Bond]] wrote a [[1973]] play titled ''Sweeney Todd''. This version of the story was the first to give Todd a motive other than pure greed: he is a wrongfully imprisoned barber named Benjamin Barker who returns under the name Sweeney Todd to [[London, England|London]] after fifteen years in [[Australia]] to find that the judge responsible for his imprisonment has [[rape]]d his young wife and caused her to commit [[suicide]]. He swears [[revenge]], but when his plans face obstacles, he begins to slash the throats of his customers. This new element of Sweeney Todd being motivated by vengeance was Bond's way of grafting dramatic themes from ''[[The Revenger's Tragedy]]'' onto George Dibden Pitt's stage plot. | + | |
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| - | *In [[1979]], Christopher Bond's version was adapted by [[Stephen Sondheim]] and [[Hugh Wheeler]] into a hit [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[musical theatre|musical]] under the title ''[[Sweeney Todd (musical)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'', originally starring [[Len Cariou]] as Sweeney Todd and [[Angela Lansbury]] as Mrs. Lovett. In 1982, the musical was televised on The Entertainment Channel, starring Lansbury and [[George Hearn]] and directed by [[Terry Hughes]] and [[Harold Prince]]. | + | |
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| - | *The first Portuguese version of [[Stephen Sondheim]]'s musical (''Sweeney Todd: o cruel barbeiro de Fleet Street'') is directed in 1997 by João Lourenço and maestro João Paulo Santos and opened at Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in [[Lisbon]], starring Jorge Vaz de Carvalho as Sweeney Todd and Helena Afonso as Mrs. Lovett. | + | |
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| - | *In [[1998]], [[Ben Kingsley]] and [[Joanna Lumley]] starred in the [[John Schlesinger]]-directed ''[[The Tale of Sweeney Todd]]'', a television movie commissioned by [[British Sky Broadcasting|Sky]] for which Kingsley received a [[Screen Actors Guild]] Best Actor nomination. | + | |
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| - | *In 2005, the Broadway Revival Cast made their recording of the show by Sondheim. It was a special redoing of the musical, rescored specifically for a small orchestra to be played by the actors themselves. The cast consisted of [[John Arbo]] (Jonas Fogg, bass player), [[Donna Lynne Champlin]] (Pirelli, piano, accordion, flute), [[Alexander Gemignani]] (The Beadle, piano, trumpet), [[Mark Jacoby]] (Judge Turpin, trumpet, percussion), [[Diana DiMarzio]] (Beggar Woman/Lucy Barker, clarinet), [[Benjamin Magnuson]] (Anthony Hope, cello, piano), [[Lauren Molina]] (Johanna Barker, cello), [[Manoel Felciano]] (Tobias, violin, clarinet, piano)), [[Patti LuPone]] (Mrs. Lovett, tuba, percussion), and [[Michael Cerveris]] (Sweeney Todd, guitar). Awards include: Cerveris, LuPone, and Felciano were all nominated for Tonys; the show itself was nominated at the Tonys for Best Revival and won Best Direction and Best Orchestration. | + | |
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| - | *The hit [[Cartoon Network]] show [[Courage the Cowardly Dog]] portrays a character named [[Freaky Fred]] who in occupation and design parodys that of The [[Sweeney Todd]] Character. He makes his first appearance in the episode of the same name, and has become one of the shows best known antagonists. Also in Courage the Cowardly Dog, (the episode [[Heads of Beef]]) Courage meets "Swiney Hog" the owner of a burger diner and his wife, and suspects them of using patrons in the meat. He appears in several episodes after that, including [[Cowboy Courage]]. | + | |
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| - | *A character called [[Sweeny Toddler]] was the titular character in a comic strip which appeared in certain [[Fleetway]] comics in the UK. Apart from his name and a tendency to cause mayhem, he bears no relation to the Sweeney Todd character. | + | |
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| - | *A [[BBC television drama]] version with a screenplay written by Joshua St Johnston and starring [[Ray Winstone]] and [[Essie Davis]] was broadcast on [[BBC One]] on [[3 January|January 3,]] [[2006]]. | + | |
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| - | *''Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls: An Audio Melodrama in Three Despicable Acts'' was published as an audiobook in [[September]] [[2007]] by Blackstone Audio as part of the ''[[Hollywood Theatre of the Ear]]''. The production was written/produced/directed by [[Yuri Rasovsky]] and featured [[Rosalind Ayres]], [[Robertson Dean]], [[Martin Jarvis]], [[Moira Quirk]], [[W. Morgan Sheppard]] and [[Simon Templeman]]. | + | |
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| - | *A second Portuguese version of [[Stephen Sondheim]]'s musical (''Sweeney Todd: o cruel barbeiro de Fleet Street'') is directed in 2007 again by João Lourenço and maestro João Paulo Santos and opened at the new Teatro Aberto in [[Lisbon]], starring Mário Redondo as Sweeney Todd and Ana Ester Neves as Mrs. Lovett. | + | |
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| - | *[[Tim Burton]] directed [[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007 film)|a film adaptation of Sondheim's musical]] starring [[Johnny Depp]] as Sweeney Todd, [[Helena Bonham Carter]] as Mrs. Lovett, [[Alan Rickman]] as Judge Turpin, and Ed Sanders as Tobias. The cast also included [[Sacha Baron Cohen]] and [[Timothy Spall]]. It opened in U.S. theaters on [[December 21]], [[2007]] and in the UK on [[January 25]], [[2008]]. The film received two Golden Globe awards - one for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical (Johnny Depp), and one for Best Picture, Comedy or Musical. The film was also nominated for three Academy Awards. | + | |
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Current revision
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"These penny romances were not vicious, though morbidly exciting; one called "Sweeney Todd; or, the String of Pearls," related how a certain barber in Fleet Street cut the throats of his customers, and then sunk them down a trap to a kitchen, where they were made into, and whence they issued, as mutton-pies!"--Modern Men of Letters Honestly Criticised (1870) by James Hain Friswell "There stood in Fleet Street a little shop, kept by one Sweeney Todd, a barber. It was this monster's practice when persons possessing wealth entered his shop to destroy them. He did it by these means :-A chair was fixed to a trap door, and by touching a spring, the chair turned the poor victim into a dark cellar below, where, if he did not meet his death by the fall, he was soon killed by this cruel man. Todd's cellar communicated with the bakehouse of Mrs. Lovett, who kept a pie shop in Bell Yard, near Shire Lane. She assisted to get rid of the bodies, and shared in the gains."--1870s blurb |
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Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial The String of Pearls (1846–1847). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet Street, Todd murders his customers with a straight razor and gives their corpses to Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime, who bakes their flesh into meat pies. The tale has been retold many times since in various media.
Claims that Sweeney Todd was a historical person are disputed strongly by scholars, although possible legendary prototypes exist.
Plot synopsis
For the original version of the tale, Todd is a barber who kills his victims by pulling a lever as they sit in his barber chair. His victims fall backward through a revolving trap door into the basement of his shop, generally causing them to break their necks or skulls. In case they are alive, Todd goes to the basement and "polishes them off" (slitting their throats with his straight razor). In some adaptations, the murdering process is reversed, with Todd slitting his customers' throats before dispatching them into the basement through the revolving trap door. After Todd has robbed his dead victims of their goods, Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime (in some later versions, his friend and/or lover), assists him in disposing of the bodies by baking their flesh into meat pies and selling them to the unsuspecting customers of her pie shop. Todd's barber shop is situated at 186 Fleet Street, London, next to St. Dunstan's church, and is connected to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop in nearby Bell Yard by means of an underground passage. In most versions of the story, he and Mrs. Lovett hire an unwitting orphan boy, Tobias Ragg, to serve the pies to customers.
Literary history
Sweeney Todd first appeared in a story titled The String of Pearls: A Romance. This penny dreadful was published in 18 weekly parts, in Edward Lloyd's magazine The People's Periodical and Family Library, issues 7–24, published 21 November 1846 to 20 March 1847. It was probably written by James Malcolm Rymer, though Thomas Peckett Prest has also been credited with it; possibly each worked on the serial from part to part. Other attributions include Edward P. Hingston, George Macfarren, and Albert Richard Smith. During February/March 1847, before the serial was even completed, George Dibdin Pitt adapted The String of Pearls as a melodrama for the Britannia Theatre in Hoxton, east London. It was in this alternative version of the tale, rather than the original, that Todd acquired his catchphrase: "I'll polish him off".
Lloyd published another, lengthier, penny part serial during 1847–1848, with 92 episodes. It was then published in book form in 1850 as The String of Pearls, subtitled "The Barber of Fleet Street. A Domestic Romance". This expanded version of the story was 732 pages long. A plagiarised version of this book appeared in the United States c. 1852–1853 as Sweeney Todd: or the Ruffian Barber. A Tale of Terror of the Seas and the Mysteries of the City by "Captain Merry" (a pseudonym used by American author Harry Hazel, 1814–1889).
In 1865, the French novelist Paul H.C. Féval (1816–1887), famous as a writer of horror and crime novels and short stories, referred to what he termed "L'Affaire de la Rue des Marmousets" in the introductory chapter to his book La Vampire.
In 1875, Frederick Hazleton's c. 1865 dramatic adaptation Sweeney Todd, the Barber of Fleet Street: or the String of Pearls (see below) was published as volume 102 of Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays.
A scholarly, annotated edition of the original 1846–1847 serial was published in volume form in 2007 by the Oxford University Press with the title of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, edited by Robert Mack.
