The True Story of Sweeny Todd...?

Factual Questions
1

The demon barber of Fleet Street …

It’s a little known Broadway musical that Jessica Lansbury played an amazing role early in her career. Its a story of a man who returns from a long tenure in prison to wreak his revenge on the men who framed him for the murder of his wife and stole his young daughter to be raised surrounded in lies. His revenge came in the form of becoming a barber in London and when he lured in the conspiritors, slit their throats and disposed of the body with the help of Lansbury’s character by making them into the best mince meat pies in London.

I personally found it an enchanting story, but is any of it real? I’ve heard a lot of conflicting opinions amongst friends and other affectionados of the tale. Can anyone here give me the Straight Dope?

2

I can’t do that, but I can give you more opinions, here.

3

I think there was something about it on “The Smoking Gun.Com”. That tip come from the liner notes on a copy I have starring Rita Lupino (I also have the Jessica Lansbury copy- audio only). My five year old has been singing “A Little Priest” for a year now. I hope we don’t get in trouble somehow for it!

4

Sweeney Todd (that’s the correct spelling note the “e” as the penultimate letter in “Sweeney”) the musical is based on an earlier play (by Christopher Bond). I’m not sure that it’s exactly “little-known”, but I suppose it’s not a household word like Cats or Les Mis, though.

Steven Sondheim wrote the music for it, and it’s my understanding that the basis for the story is a Victorian tale that is 100% fictional.

Steven Sondheim’s website, however, says

http://www.sondheim.com/shows/sweeney_todd/

So - that’s the straightest dope I can provide.

5

Ironically, Cats always makes me think of Ms. Lansbury’s signature tune from Sweeney Todd- “Don’t you know that it’s the worst play in London?”

Sorry.

6

Here’s the link to the Crime Library report on it. They claim it that the musical was a dramatization of a true story.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/todd/index_1.html

7

Angela Lansbury’s movie career goes back to 1944, with a major role in the 1948 film “State of the Union”. Doing this musical circa 1980 hardly qualifies as “early in her career”.

The musical may be little known now, but in the 80s it was broadcast on PBS and rerun many times.

8

A previous thread on the subject. Possibly damn near definitive, actually.

9

Pardon me, Angela Lansbury… and the reason I said it was early in her career is because she looked so very young in the musical. My mistake.