Sweeney Todd

This article is about the original character. For other uses, see Sweeney
Todd (disambiguation).
Sweeney Todd
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Sweeney Todd is a fictional

character who first appeared
as the villain of the Victorian
penny dreadful The String of
Pearls (184647). Tod Slaughter as Sweeney Todd, 1936 film

James Malcolm Rymer

The tale became a staple of
Victorian melodrama and
London urban legend, and
has been retold many times
since, most notably in the
Tony awardwinning
Broadway musical by Stephen
Sondheim and Hugh
Created by
Thomas Peckett Prest
Moore Marriott (1928 film)
Tod Slaughter (1936 film)
Len Cariou (1979 Broadway cast)
Denis Quilley (1980 London cast,
Portrayed 1993 London revival)
by Michael Cerveris (2005 Broadway
revival)

Wheeler.
Ray Winstone (2006 film)
Claims that Sweeney Todd Johnny Depp (2007 film)
was a historical person[1][2] Information
are strongly disputed by The Demon Barber of Fleet
scholars,[3][4][5] although Aliases Street
possible legendary prototypes Benjamin Barker
exist.[6] Gender Male

Plot synopsis Occupation Barber

In the original version of the Serial killer
tale, Todd is a barber who None in original version
Spouse(s)
dispatches his victims by Lucy Barker (musical version)
pulling a lever as they sit in
his barber chair. His victims fall backward down a revolving trapdoor 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 trapdoor.
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 The People's Periodical and Family Library, issues 724, 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.[6][7] In
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. It was in this alternative version of the tale, rather than the original,
that Todd acquired his catchphrase: "I'll polish him off".[6]
Lloyd published another, lengthier, penny part serial from 184748, 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.[6] A plagiarised version of this book
appeared in the United States c. 185253 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 for American author Harry Hazel, 181489).
[6]

In 1865 the French novelist Paul H.C. Fval (18161887), famous as a writer
of horror and crime novels and short stories, referred to what he called
"L'Affaire de la Rue des Marmousets", in the introductory chapter to his book
"La Vampire".[8] A version of this story is related by the author Jacques
Yonnet in his book Rue des malfices (1954). This version is set in late
medieval (1387) Paris, at the corner of the Rue des Marmousets and the Rue
des Deux-Hermites. The familiar plot of the barber and the pastrycook who
sell pies made with human flesh is followed, the dnouement following one of
the victims' dogs alerting neighbors and the gendarmes. The two confess, and
are summarily burned alive; the houses where the crimes took place are then
razed. Whether this version of the story is based on The String of Pearls or its
dramatisation, or a much older tale alluded to by Fval is unclear. In any
case, it may well be the source for some recent versions that move the tale
from London to Paris.[9]

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
Vol 102 of Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays.[6]

A scholarly, annotated edition of the original 184647 serial was published in

volume form in 2007 by the Oxford University Press under the title of
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, edited by Robert Mack.

Alleged historical basis

The original story of Sweeney Todd was quite possibly based on an older
urban legend, originally based on dubious pie-fillings.[6] In Charles Dickens'
Pickwick Papers (183637), the servant Sam Weller says that a pieman used
cats "for beefsteak, veal and kidney, 'cording to the demand", and
recommends that people should buy pies only "when you know the lady as
made it, and is quite sure it ain't kitten."[10] Dickens then developed this in
Martin Chuzzlewit (184344), published two years before the appearance of
Sweeney Todd in The String of Pearls (184647), with a character called Tom
Pinch who is grateful that his own "evil genius did not lead him into the dens
of any of those preparers of cannibalic pastry, who are represented in many
country legends as doing a lively retail business in the metropolis".[11]

Claims that Sweeney Todd was a real person were first made in the
introduction to the 1850 (expanded) edition of The String of Pearls and have
persisted to the present day.[6] In two books,[1][2] Peter Haining argued that
Sweeney Todd was a historical figure who committed his crimes around
1800. Nevertheless, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations
find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims.[3][4][5]

In literature

A late (1890s) reference to the urban legend of the murdering barber can be
found in the poem by the Australian bush poet Banjo PatersonThe Man
from Ironbark.

In his 2012 novel Dodger, Terry Pratchett portrays Sweeney Todd as a tragic
figure, having lost his mind after being exposed to the horrors of the
Napoleonic Wars as a barber surgeon.

In performing arts

In stage productions

The String of Pearls (1847), a melodrama by George Dibdin Pitt that

opened at Hoxton's Britannia Theatre 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 British theatre for the rest of the century.
Sweeney Todd, the Barber of Fleet Street: or the String of Pearls (c.
1865), a dramatic adaption written by Frederick Hazleton which
premiered at the Old Bower Saloon, Stangate Street, Lambeth.[6]
Sweeney Todd (1962), a four-act melodrama adapted from The String of
Pearls by Brian J Burton who also composed new songs and lyrics. It
was first performed at the Crescent Theatre,[12] Birmingham.
Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1973), a play by the
British playwright Christopher Bond. This version of the story was the
first to give Todd a more sympathetic motive: he is a wrongfully
imprisoned barber, Benjamin Barker, who returns to London after 15
years in an Australian penal colony under the new name Sweeney Todd,
only to find that Judge Turpin, who is responsible for his imprisonment,
has raped his young wife and adopted his daughter. He at first plans to
kill Turpin, but when his prey escapes, he swears revenge on the whole
world and begins to slash his customers' throats. He goes into business
with Mrs. Lovett, his former landlady, who bakes his victims' flesh into
pies. At the end of the play, he gets his revenge by killing Turpin, but
then unknowingly kills his own wife, whom Mrs. Lovett had misled him
into believing had died. He kills Mrs. Lovett, and allows his assistant
Tobias Ragg to slit his throat.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. A Musical Thriller
(1979), the acclaimed musical adaptation of Bond's play by Stephen
Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler starring Len Cariou as Sweeney Todd and
Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett. George Hearn and Dorothy Loudon
later succeeded Cariou and Lansbury in the lead roles. In 1982, the
musical was televised on The Entertainment Channel, starring Hearn
and Lansbury, and directed by Terry Hughes and Harold Prince. It was
produced by RKO Pictures and RKO/Nederlander Productions. A
 Broadway revival, directed by John Doyle, was mounted at the Eugene
O'Neill Theatre in 2005. The 10-person cast, who played their own
instruments in new orchestrations, 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). Cerveris, LuPone, and
Felciano were all nominated for Tony Awards; the show itself was
nominated for Best Revival and won Tonys for Best Direction and Best
Orchestration.[13]
Sweeney Todd Musical, a 2009 musical rendition by the Repertory
Philippines group, starring Audie Gemora in the title role and Menchu
Lauchengco-Yulo as Mrs. Lovett. Gerard Salonga of Filharmonika
conducted the orchestra. It was directed by Baby Barredo and Michael
Williams.[14]
The Sweeney Todd Shock'n'Roll Show, a musical by Peter Miller and
Randall Lewton written to be performed by young people. The show is
available from Samuel French, Ltd.[citation needed]

In dance

Sweeney Todd (1959), a ballet version performed by the Royal Ballet

with music by Malcolm Arnold. The choreography was directed by John
Cranko.

In film

Sweeney Todd (1926), the first silent film version of the story, starring
G.A. Baughan in the title role. The film is now lost.
Sweeney Todd (1928) a silent film starring Moore Marriott as Sweeney
 Todd and Iris Darbyshire as Amelia Lovett. This is the earliest surviving
film adaptation.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936), a film version
of the Victorian melodrama starring Tod Slaughter as Sweeney Todd and
Stella Rho as Mrs. "Lovatt".
Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970), a horror film with John Miranda as
Sweeney Todd and Jane Helay as Maggie Lovett, directed by Andy
Milligan.
In Jersey Girl (2004), Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck) and his daughter sing
"God, That's Good!!" from the Sondheim version for her school play,
accompanied by Liv Tyler.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), a film
directed by Tim Burton, adapted from Sondheim's musical. It stars
Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett,
Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin, and Ed Sanders as Toby. 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, winning for Art
Direction.

In music

"Sweeney Todd, The Barber", a song which assumes its audience knows
the stage version and claims that such a character existed in real life.
Stanley Holloway, who recorded it in 1956, attributed it to R. P. Weston,
a songwriter active from 1906 to 1934.
"Fleet Street", a hard rock/heavy metal song by the Canadian band Fist
(AKA "Myofist" in parts of Europe), released on their 1982 A&M Records
album Fleet Street, also known as Thunder in Rock in the USA and
Europe.
"Sweeney Todd" by Brotha Lynch Hung, a song about a modern-day
murderer who takes the character's name and modus operandi.
TODD. Act 1. Feast of Blood (TODD. 1. 2011) and
 TODD. Act 2. At the Edge (TODD. 2. 2012), two albums by
Korol' i Shut, a horror punk band from Saint Petersburg.
"Demon Sweeney Todd," a song by British heavy metal band Saxon on
their 2009 studio album Into the Labyrinth.
"Floyd the Barber," a song by grunge band Nirvana on their 1989 album
Bleach, features a scenario in which Floyd Lawson, the barber from The
Andy Griffith Show, becomes a murderer stylized after Sweeney Todd.
"Sweaney G.O.D." is a tribute to Sweeney Todd by the Canadian band
Ytheband (now disbanded) which was released as a promo EP in 1999
and was also the first video from the band.
"Drawing Board" a song by British singer songwriter George Ezra from
his debut studio album Wanted on Voyage released in 2014 in which Mr.
Todd has been referred for a haircut to the woman cheated on him.

In radio and audio plays

"The Strange Case of the Demon Barber" (January 8, 1946), an

adaptation of the Sweeney Todd story featured in an episode of the radio
drama The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In this interpretation,
an actor playing the character on stage begins to believe he is
committing similar murders while sleepwalking, while Sherlock Holmes
and Doctor Watson uncover evidence that may prove his sanity.
In 1947, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's CBC Stage Series
broadcast a radio adaptation of the Pitt play starring Mavor Moore as
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.
The second episode of the BBC Radio comedy series 1835, entitled
"Haircut, Sir?" (broadcast in 2004) and written by Jim Poyser, portrayed
aimless aristocrat Viscount Belport (Paul Rider) and his servant Ned
(Jason Done) joining the police force under Sir Robert Peel and
encountering demon barber Sweeney Todd (Jonathan Keeble) on their
 first case.
Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls: An Audio Melodrama in Three
Despicable Acts (2007), an audio play by Yuri Rasovsky, won three 2008
Audie Awards for best audio drama, best original work, and achievement
in production.

On television

In The Avengers 1967 episode "Escape in Time", the barber's name (seen
briefly) is "T. Sweeney".
"Sweeney Todd" (1970), an episode of the ITV series Mystery and
Imagination starring Freddie Jones as Sweeney Todd and Heather
Canning as Nellie Lovett. In this adaptation, written by Vincent Tilsey
and directed by Reginald Collin, the title character is portrayed as insane
rather than evil. Lewis Fiander played Mark Ingesterie with Mel Martin
as the heroine Charlotte and Len Jones as Tobias.
Sweeney Todd (1973), an hour-long TV production by the CBC
Television series The Purple Playhouse with Barry Morse as Todd. This
was again Pitt's version of the play.
The Tale of Sweeney Todd (1998), directed by John Schlesinger, a made-
for-television version first broadcast on the Showtime network in 1998,
starring Ben Kingsley as Sweeney Todd, Joanna Lumley as Mrs. Lovett,
and Campbell Scott as Ben Carlyle, a police inspector; commissioned by
British Sky Broadcasting for which Ben Kingsley received a Screen
Actors Guild Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of the title role.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert (2001), a
filmed concert version of Sondheim's musical, starring George Hearn as
Sweeney Todd/Benjamin Barker, Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett, Timothy
Nolen as Judge Turpin, and Neil Patrick Harris as Tobias. A new version
of this production was broadcast in September 2014, this time with Bryn
Terfel as Todd, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett and Philip Quast as
Judge Turpin.
Sweeney Todd (2006), a BBC television drama version with a screenplay
 written by Joshua St Johnston and starring Ray Winstone in the title
role and Essie Davis as Mrs. Lovett.
Good Eats (2008), episode EA1206H, "Oh My, Meat Pie", is an
educational cooking show, loosely based upon the story of "Sweeney
Todd", wherein the host, Alton Brown plays his own ancestor, a newly
arrived cook in London, who stumbles upon a meat pie shop. After
tasting how terrible the pies are, he teaches and assists "Mrs. Lovett",
played by Widdi Turner, in preparing Mincemeat Pie and Shepherds Pie.
Occasionally, they are interrupted by "Mr. Todd", played by Daniel
Pettrow.[15]
Andy's Play (2010), the third episode of the seventh season of The Office,
heavily featured songs of "Sweeney Todd".

In comics

The character of Sweeney Todd is presented as a villain in Marc

Andreyko's Manhunter series, wherein he appears as a ghost which
possesses men (causing them to resemble him) and murders women. A
supporting character, Obsidian, is shown to be a fan of Sondheim's
musical.[16]
Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli were to have created a Sweeney Todd
adaptation for Taboo, published by Steve Bissette and Tundra, but only
completed a prologue.[citation needed]
Classical Comics, a UK publisher creating graphic novel adaptations of
classical literature, has produced a full colour, 176-page paperback,
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2010),[17] with script
adaptation by Sean M. Wilson, linework by Declan Shalvey; colouring by
Jason Cardy & Kat Nicholson, and lettering by Jim Campbell.

In rhyming slang

In rhyming slang, Sweeney Todd is the Flying Squad (a branch of the UK's
Metropolitan Police), which inspired the television series The Sweeney.
References

1. ^ a b Haining, Peter (1979). The Mystery and Horrible Murders of

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. F. Muller. ISBN 0-
584-10425-1.
2. ^ a b Haining, Peter (1993). Sweeney Todd: The real story of the Demon
Barber of Fleet Street. Boxtree. ISBN 1-85283-442-0.
3. ^ a b "Man or myth? The making of Sweeney Todd" (Press release).
BBC Press Office. 2005-08-12. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
4. ^ a b Duff, Oliver (2006-01-03). "Sweeney Todd: fact". The
Independent. London. Archived from the original on 2006-07-01.
Retrieved 2006-11-15. (Full text[permanent dead link])
5. ^ a b "True or False?". Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
in Concert. KQED. 2001. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Robert Mack (2007) "Introduction" to Sweeney Todd:
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
7. ^ "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" PBS.org. Retrieved
11 February 2006.
8. ^ "La vampire by Paul Fval".
9. ^ "SuicideGirls". SuicideGirls.
10. ^ Dickens, Charles. The Pickwick Papers. Oxford: Oxford Classics.
pp. 278, 335.
11. ^ Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, ed. Margaret Cardwell (1982).
Oxford, Clarendon Press: 495
12. ^ Crescent Theatre
13. ^ http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=400379
14. ^ Oliveros, Oliver. "SWEENEY TODD Manila Ends Run 12/13".
15. ^ Brown, Alton (2000-01-01), Oh My Meat Pie!, retrieved 2017-01-18
16. ^ Manhunter (2004) #23 (August 2006)
17. ^ Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Original Text ed.).
November 2010. ISBN 978-1-906332-79-2.

Further reading
 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street edited by Robert
Mack (2007). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-922933-3
Robert Mack (2008) The Wonderful and Surprising History of Sweeney
Todd: The Life and Times of an Urban Legend. Continuum. ISBN 0-
8264-9791-8
Rothman, Irving N. "Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd (1979). In The
Barber in Modern Jewish Culture (2008). 36576. ISBN 978-0-7734-
5072-1

External links

The String of Pearls etext of the 1846/47 penny dreadful that first
featured Sweeney Todd
BBC Radio 4 Extra - 1835: 2. "Haircut, Sir?"