Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Original Broadway Cast Recording

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.
His skin was pale and his eye was odd.
He shaved the faces of gentlemen
Who never thereafter were heard of again.
He trod a path that few have trod,
Did Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

To mix things up a bit, I’ve decided this week to go with a musical soundtrack. To be fair, I was already relatively familiar with Sweeney Todd. I had seen a DVD of the original staging of the play as a Freshman in high school and loved the plot and I had sung a version of “Pretty Women” in high school choir, but I wasn’t ultra-familiar with the music.

“Mr. Sondheim’s lyrics can be endlessly inventive. There is a hugely amusing recitation of the attributes given by the different professions — priest, lawyer, and so on — to the pies they contribute to. At other times the lyrics have a black, piercing poetry to them. His score is extraordinary.” (Richard Eder)

As any theater buff will tell you, Stephen Sondheim is a household name. His creativity and ability to make songs and music out of unlikely subjects have led into a very successful, prolific career. The thing that draws me to Sweeney Todd, admittedly, is the macabre theme of the play. Something about the sinister plot to off unsuspecting patrons, and then bake them into pies to sell is darkly hilarious to me. The wits and breath of characters in the show only add to its hilarity, all while causing you to bite your cheek; should you be laughing at what is happening?

As far as standout numbers, I’m definitely a fan of some of the bouncier pieces, such as “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir” and the pun-laden “A Little Priest.” However, one of the best parts of the production is the themes that Sondheim sprinkles throughout the show – Mrs. Lovett’s “Worst Pies in London” executed by a perfectly cast Angela Lansbury, is a wonderful example as it appears in small bits in other numbers. Another hallmark of the success of the music is the ability to grasp the story itself without having to see the action on stage. You hear the sound of a murder with a high-pitched steam whistle. You hear Mrs. Lovett pounding out dough for meat pies in the rhythm of her vocal. You hear Sweeney lean away from the awful Judge Terpin to question himself in an aside.

The thing that really makes this a standout soundtrack is that one never gets the sense of any number being a throwaway or a filler. Whether it’s a tender ballad (“Not While I’m Around”), a fantasy of a life after murder (“By the Sea”) or a musing of the dangers of seductive weakness (“Pretty Women”), you’re always tapping your toes. Somehow, in his infinite wisdom and talent, Sondheim has taken heartache, false seduction, betrayal, murder, cannibalism and revenge and made it a toe-tapping spectacle.

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Released: January 6th, 1980

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