For those who are unfamiliar with this musical by Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is the tale of revenge fulfilled after fifteen years.
It is set in the late 18th century and starts with the return of Mr Todd to London. He has been rescued from a raft by a kind sailor and is now back in London to exact his revenge on those who falsely exiled him, raped his wife and stole his only child. We also see just exactly what goes into Mrs Lovett’s pies. The music is dark and spectral, and sets the atmosphere perfectly for this tale of evil-diong and perfidy.
The cast of this production do an excellent job of the characters with Mrs Lovett being my favourite, with her combination of sauciness and cold-heartedness. Sweeny himself does an excellent job but, as the opening song tells us, he is supposed to have fifteen years of pain and suffering (and a wonky eye) upon his countenance, and he is much too dashing in my opinion. The rest of the cast sing the songs to a very high standard though some of the high notes can be very piercing.
So for those lovers of tales of dark deeds and a cold revenge, this is the perfect musical to see. Don’t have a meat pie before going though.
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