Review of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982) by Kaitlin C — 11 May 2008

Can you people read? This is NOT the Tim Burton movie, folks! This is the 1982 recording of the Broadway show during it's tour. This taping was in LA. George Hearn is fantastic as Sweeney, especially during the final scene.

Angela Lansbury IS Mrs. Lovett. She was the original, and the best portrail thusfar. The supporting cast is great as well. Though Betsy Joslyn's performance of Green Finch and Linnet Bird is painfully off-key, she makes up for it in Kiss Me, debatably the best song in the play.

Standout numbers include Epiphany, The Worst Pies In London, Not While I'm Around, Johanna (Quartet), My Friends, Kiss Me (of course!), God, That's Good!, The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, and, of course, A Little Priest.

This is, in my opinion, the greatest Broadway show of all time, and, while the Tim Burton film is good, it is nothing in comparison to the original play. My only issue with this is that there are some numbers cut from the DVD (the tooth-pulling sequence of The Contest and Judge Tuprin's Johanna, as well as the Beggar Woman's Lullaby, which wasn't added until the revival.

) If you're a Broadway fan, I highly recommend watching. It's not like watching a live play, but it's the next best thing.