History Theatre / SweeneyTodd

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[[redirect:Literature/SweeneyTodd]]

Sweeney Todd is a PublicDomainCharacter, a London barber who murdered his customers and disposed of the bodies by having them baked into pies and sold in the pie-shop of his accomplice Mrs. Lovett.

!!Notable versions of the story include:
* ''The String of Pearls'' (1846-7). The original version, serialised in ''The People's Periodical and Family Library''. Anonymous, but thought to have been written by James Malcolm Rymer (author of ''Literature/VarneyTheVampire'') and Thomas Peckett Prest (thought to be that author at first).
* ''The String of Pearls'' (1847). The first stage adaptation, a melodrama by George Dibden Pitt.
* ''Sweeney Todd, the Barber of Fleet Street: or the String of Pearls'' (c. 1865). A Victorian melodrama based on The String of Pearls, written by Frederick Hazelton.
* ''Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (1936). A film adaptation of the Victorian melodrama, starring Tod Slaughter as the demon barber and Stella Rho as "Mrs. Lovatt."
* ''Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (1973). A play by Christopher Bond, which gave Todd a tragic backstory and a revenge motivation.
* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' (1979). The famous musical by Music/StephenSondheim, based on Christopher Bond's play.
* ''[[Film/BBCSweeneyTodd Sweeney Todd]]'' (2006). A BBC movie drama that attempts to stay closer to the original myths of the story, taking place in the 18th century.
* ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' (2007). Creator/TimBurton's film adaptation of the musical.

!!Tropes common to multiple versions of the story include:
* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: The Pitt melodrama claimed to be based on a true story, and the claim has remained attached to the story on and off ever since.
* DangerouslyCloseShave: Instead of shaving his customers, Sweeney murders them. Ironically absent from the original penny dreadful, in which [[spoiler: his ''barber's chair'' is a deadly booby-trap that flips his customers into a pit]], although he does threaten to do this to Tobias if his shop-boy speaks a word about his doings.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Sweeney murders dozens or even hundreds of men, but typically only one or two women. Justified because it's men who patronize his barber shop.
* PromotedToLoveInterest: Mrs. Lovett has often been portrayed as Todd's love interest since the 1970's.
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In "The String Of Pearls", Johanna has no personal connection to Sweeney, only becoming involved because she fears her boyfriend has fallen victim to the villainous barber. Starting in the 1970s, she's been depicted as Sweeney's long-lost daughter.
* TheSecretOfLongPorkPies: Mrs. Lovett disposes of Sweeney's victims by baking them into pies. In most tellings this improves her pies and enriches her business.
* SettingUpdate: "The String of Pearls" was set in 1785. Most adaptations have the setting as the Victorian era but the 1936 film has the setting as 1836, modern book-ends excluded, making it still Georgian albeit extremely late Georgian. The 2006 film likewise keeps the Georgian setting.
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* PromotedToLoveInterest: Mrs. Lovett has oft been portrayed as Todd's love interest since the 1970's.

* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Sweeny murders dozens or even hundreds of men, but typically only one or two women. Justified because it's men who patronize his barber shop.

* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In "The String Of Pearls", Johanna has no personal connection to Sweeny, only becoming involved because she fears her boyfriend has fallen victim to the villainous barber. Starting in the 1970s, she's been depicted as Sweeny's long-lost daughter.

* SettingUpdate: "The String of Pearls" was set in 1785. Most adaptations have the setting as the Victorian era but the 1936 film has the setting as 1836, modern book-ends excluded, making it still Georgian albeit extremely late Georgian. The 2007 film likewise keeps the Georgian setting.

* SettingUpdate: "The String of Pearls" was set in 1785. Most adaptations have the setting as the Victorian era but the 1936 film has the setting as 1836, modern book-ends excluded, making it still Georgian albeit extremely late Georgian. The 2006 film likewise keeps the Georgian setting.

* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' (1979). The famous musical by Creator/StephenSondheim, based on Christopher Bond's play.

* DangerouslyCloseShave: Instead of shaving his customers, Sweeney murders them.

* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' (1979). The famous musical by StephenSondheim, based on Christopher Bond's play.

* ImAHumanitarian: Mrs. Lovett's pies are people!

* ''The String of Pearls'' (1846-7). The original version, serialised in ''The People's Periodical and Family Library''. Anonymous, but thought to have been written by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest.

* MysteryMeat[=/=]TheSecretOfLongPorkPies: See above.

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