Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979 Original Broadway Cast) Music

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by: Stephen Sondheim, Angela Lansbury, Cris Groenendaal, Len Cariou, Victor Garber

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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: Rating: - Far and Away Sondheim's Best Work The title of this review is a bold statement, but after listening to SWEENEY TODD for twenty years now, I believe that it holds up to scrutiny. While virtually his entire catalog is brilliant, nothing else Sondheim has written contains the combination of musical daring, operatic structure, diabolically ingenious plot, literary writing, and humor of this piece. I believe that when most of 20th-century musical theatre has been forgotten, SWEENEY TODD will be among the few that remain. It will someday take its place among the great operas of the European tradition. Above all else, for me, is the music. As a musician and sometime composer myself, I've listened with an appreciative ear as Sondheim proceeds to break virtually every established rule of classical theory, and emerge with a brilliantly effective piece of music. SWEENEY TODD contains chord structures, progressions, and rythmic variations that are unconventional to say the least. To me, the debt to Hermann and especially Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" is obvious. SWEENEY TODD really is an opera in every sense. It's been staged with operatic singers beore, and will be again, I'm sure. While this album is more Broadway-oriented, it still conveys the "operatic" structure and scope. The performances are uniformly excellent. As to the plot and literary content...well, if you're familiar with SWEENEY TODD you'll know exactly what I'm talking about, and if not, I'm not going to spoil the surprise. Suffice it to say that this album is as enjoyable as an old radio music drama...familiarity with the live production is not necessary to appreciate it. It's "thriller" theme and plot is especially appropriate as a Halloween tradition. Even with all of his other triumphs, this is the piece that propels its creator firmly into the realm of genius. Thank you, Mr. Sondheim, for sharing that genius with us. Rating: - Sondheim's Perfect Creation Inspired by old British folklore and a melodramatic play about a murderous barber whose neighbor bakes his victims into meat pies, "Sweeney Todd" is not only a true musical thriller, a blood chilling piece of theater, but the very best score composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim has given us to date. Set against the back drop of industrial revloution London, "Sweeney Todd" tells the tale of Benjamin Barker, a good man sent to prison by a lecherous Judge Turpin who covets Barker's wife, Lucy. As the musical begins, Barker has escaped prison, assumed the name Sweeney Todd, and returns to London with revenge in his heart and a need to find his wife, Lucy, and their daughter, Johanna. Todd turns to Mrs. Lovett, his pie baking neighbor from his former life, and enlists her in his plan to hunt down and dish out vengeance to his enemies. What follows is a heart racing thrill ride of epic proportions, and Sondheim uses the story to illustrate that in a society where we are surrounded by Sweeneys, none of us are exempt from the razor blade of retribution. This is not for the mild mannered listener looking for a pleasant musical diversion, although the score is glorious and a feast for any music lover. The performances, especially those of Tony Award winners Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou, are perfect. The show was later put on VHS with Lansbury and George Hearn as Sweeney as well as several of the cast members featured here. In whatever version you experience it, you will not be able to deny that this is one of musical theater's most important works. Rating: - Wonderfully morbid, humorous, and Brilliant SWEENEY TODD is Sondheim's masterpiece musical. With a very strange plot, this unique musical is great for everyone who wants a daring, brilliant, avant-garde, and fun musical. The musical is ingeniously complex, but still catchy and enjoyable. The book by Hugh Wheeler is wonderfully written and very grandiose. I enjoy musicals more when the story isn't one someone would think would be a good musical. A Tony award winning musical with the famous Angela Lansbury about a man who slashes peoples throats and then disposes them in the most peculiar way is an amusing thought. The musical stars the great Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou. Cariou is the tortured, symathetic, yet murderous Sweeney Todd. Unjustly commited by the sick and twisted Judge Turpin, he has come back for revenge only to find out his family is gone, due to the Judge's cruel actions. His barber shop rests on top of Ms. Lovett's(Lansbury)failing pie shop. After reviving his business with the help of Ms. Lovett, he goes after the judge and his partner in crime, the Beadle... only to become mad with revenge, becoming a worped murderer of many, disposing of his bodies in partnership with Lovett... giving her pie business a boost with Todd's endless supply of meat... The subplot of Anthony(Victor Garber, who is also very good) and Sweeney's daughter, Johanna, is another essential part of the story. The supporting cast is great, too, with Merle Louise as the mysterious beggar woman and Edmund Lyndeck as Judge Turpin. It is a bloody, grand guignol melodrama with a captivating plot and moody atmosphere, Sondheim's masterful score heightening the mood of this macabre classic. Sondheim is brilliant. His music is beautiful, his lyrics develop characters and plot. His score is big but not without some subtlety. From Ms. Lovett's hilarious THE WORST PIES IN LONDON to the soothing WAIT, from the frantic and amusing KISS ME/LADIES IN THEIR SENSITIVITES number to the heartbreaking and haunting Sweeney/Anthony/Johanna version of JOHANNA. Their is also the unforgettable and gory finale that will satisfy the viewers looking for action, suspense, and gore- the viewers who want shocking and unsettling sutuations- ones who want to hear more of Sondheim's music- viewers who want to see the stars shine- and those who want a touching and disturbing story of revenge and corruption in the gloomy streets of a foggy London town. Lunatics running around, romance, and horror lace this musical with something for everyone. Buy the double CD package. Watch the show. Unforgettable, brilliant, and worth every dollar I paid for it. I also recommend every other Sondheim show.

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979 Original Broadway Cast) Music

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