So many venues this story has been given to watchers of screen and stage. I just saw the movie version of a grisly tale of mad-persons and their horrific inner demons starring Johnny Depp as the infamous ‘demon barber of fleet street’ and his partner played by Bonham-Carter. I admit it was good but very different indeed than this performance off the Broadway stage starring Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou respectively as Mrs. Lovett and Mr. Sweeney Todd. A strange couple obviously meant to meet for a sinister purpose if not just to resolve the coping with loss and personal inadequacy of living in 1846 London.

The screenplay was written by John Logan for the 2007 version; while this Broadway performance had its debut in 1979 winning a Tony Award for the best musical thriller based on the play by Christopher Bond in 1973 Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I feel for the character who has been wronged by a man with only power to brag of and nothing more. There is violence and taking of a woman without her consent and there is justice even if one of the ten commandments is broken every now and then.

This play opened March 1st on Broadway in New York City running 557 showings that attracted many different people who either liked it or not. There was little in-between feelings about something so sinister. On stage it is awkward to demonstrate death, even moreso if it is in a way that is very messy. The direction the life-taking goes truly goes beyond morbidity, it is more like grim survival if any. It begins and ends in London on the infamous Fleet Street back in the

The musical tells the story of a gentle soul name Benjamin Barker, alias Sweeney Todd, who fell in love with a beautiful woman his equal in shyness, grace, love and curiosity; however she was naïve and her husband was no rival for those that found him a nuisance, so they exiled him. Upon returning to London after 15 long tumultuous years pining for the family he lost, he returns to false hope as they are no where to be found. Family gone, future undecided. As one man of gentle character and good will is cast aside, a new man is created from the depths of a tortured soul and he vows revenge on all of those who stand in the way of getting what he wants.

When you watch it on the stage, you are in it. No doubt as a bystander watcher in the audience you are pulled in. You become a part of the blood that runs through the jealous vein to the one that gushes upon laceration--a live show is the very best for this type of melodrama turned maddening horror. Yet the DVD captures the performance of the very nature of our jealous and loving being, with splendid duplication. I encourage renting or buying this before seeing Johnny’s adaptation.

In the characters developed by both Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou, we see a strange bond form, flourish, and then horribly disintegrate. Two desperate souls seek the means of their existence on the dependence and value of two things: prosperity and respect; however each delivers little reason to believe they will get either.

Mrs. Lovett played by Angela Lansbury (a gifted brit whose career has spanned almost eight decades in both television and on-screen gem roles like Gaslight in 1944 to Bedknobs and Broomsticks 1971)is seemingly content with her food business but whines about the word-of-mouth and quality of her delicacies. She evidently wants more pizzazz.

Although cornered by poverty and an old-maid status if something better does not come along soon; she never comes off as begging but more like torridly advancing. She is much more sinister in Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street and when she smiles or laughs there is malice and envy in her actions that speak much louder than words, except when she sings "Not While I'am Around".

In walks Len Cariou (who tackled many classic roles like Iago, Macbeth, King Lear and finally 1968 Broadway debut House of Atrius) as Benjamin Barker a troubled soul with nowhere to turn and no-one left to listen, or so he believes. He is a wrinkled, older more experienced man of the world and Mrs. Lovett is not far behind in understanding the hateful deliberations of experiencing ageism and intolerance. The times are tough, the options are few, the musical with a score of great and touching haunting melodies deliver a well done gore job.

The blood is real or so it seems on the audience side and the emotions are raw. The actors land the viewer in the throes of indecision and madness while sanity sits pretty on the window-seat of the mansion his greatest emotional outlet is locked away in. It is intrigue, murder, mystery and slight gore all seasoned and formed to satisfy your hungriest palate ! You see protagonist Todd take his revenge on antagonist Judge Turpin in a sweeping act of single-sided demonstration of who has power now and you really cringe, it feels so sharp !

We are our own nightmare and sometimes in the mirror looking back at us is the cracked imperfection we call man or woman. And sometimes we have to realize the cracked version is not all there is to see, we are more and that is the scary realization when he became the ‘demon barber of fleet street’.

Runtime for two acts and an intermission on one of the DVD’s is: 140 minutes

Cost: about $14.98

One version runs with Angela Lansbury and George Hearns; I saw this version but am writing about the version with Len Cariou (he was on Broadway with her originally and I was not at that performance).

A mixed review of sorts . . .

Thank you for reading and

Enjoy !

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age