Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the protagonist of the Victorian penny dreadful The String of Pearls (1846–47).

The tale became a staple of Victorian melodrama and London urban legend, and has been retold many times since, most notably in the Tony award-winning Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler.

Claims that Sweeney Todd was a historical person are strongly disputed by scholars, although possible legendary prototypes exist.

Plot synopsis

In the original version of the tale, Todd is a barber who dispatches his victims by pulling a lever as they sit in his barber chair. His victims fall backward down a revolving trapdoor into the basement of his shop, generally causing them to break their necks or skulls. In case they are alive, Todd goes to the basement and "polishes them off" (slitting their throats with his straight razor). In some adaptations, the murdering process is reversed, with Todd slitting his customers' throats before dispatching them into the basement through the revolving trapdoor. After Todd has robbed his dead victims of their goods, Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime (in some later versions, his friend and/or lover), assists him in disposing of the bodies by baking their flesh into meat pies and selling them to the unsuspecting customers of her pie shop. Todd's barber shop is situated at 186 Fleet Street, London, next to St. Dunstan's church, and is connected to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop in nearby Bell Yard by means of an underground passage. In most versions of the story, he and Mrs. Lovett hire an unwitting orphan boy, Tobias Ragg, to serve the pies to customers.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936 film)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1936 British drama horror film produced and directed by George King. The film features actor Tod Slaughter in one of his most famous roles as the barber Sweeney Todd.

Plot

Sweeney Todd (Tod Slaughter) is a barber with a shop near the docks of London.

Using his charm and tonsorial skills, Todd lures wealthy, respectable customers into his barber-shop at Fleet Street, where he settles them into a mechanical barber's chair which dumps them head-first down into the basement, ready to have their throats cut with a straight-edge, razor-sharp blade—if the fall does not kill them first.

Mrs. Lovatt (Stella Rho), a lady who makes meat-pies next-door, disposes of the bodies for a share of the stolen money.

Sweeney Todd has his eye on marrying the daughter (Eve Lister) of a local aristocrat, but her father (D. J. Williams) refuses him. When her lover, Mark (Bruce Seton), returns from an ocean voyage, Todd tries to get him out of the way.

Sweeney Todd (disambiguation)

Sweeney Todd is a legendary homicidal barber.

Sweeney Todd may also refer to:

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond. Set in 19th century England, the musical details the return of barber Sweeney Todd to London after 15 years of exile, in order to take revenge on the corrupt judge who banished him, by conspiring with a local baker, Mrs. Lovett, who is in desperate need of fresh meat for her pies.

Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway in 1979 and in the West End in 1980. In addition to several revivals the musical has been presented by opera companies. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

Synopsis

Prologue

The citizens of London, acting as a Greek chorus to raise commentary throughout the play, drop a body bag into a shallow grave. Sweeney Todd rises forth ("The Ballad of Sweeney Todd"), and introduces the play, set some months before the burial.

Daily Express Building, London

The Daily Express Building (120 Fleet Street) is a Grade II* listed building located in Fleet Street in the City of London. It was designed in 1932 by Ellis and Clark to serve as the home of the Daily Express newspaper and is one of the most prominent examples of art-deco architecture in London.

The exterior features a black façade with rounded corners in vitrolite and clear glass, with chromium strips. The flamboyant lobby, designed by Robert Atkinson, includes plaster reliefs by Eric Aumonier, silver and gilt decorations, a magnificent silvered pendant lamp and an oval staircase. The furniture inside the building was, for the most part, designed by Betty Joel.

The Grade II* listing relates not only to the architectural features but also to the massive reinforced concrete stacked portal frame structure designed by Sir Owen Williams.

As part of a redevelopment of the surrounding site the building was entirely refurbished in 2000 by John Robertson Architects. The foyer was recreated largely from photographs and the façade completely upgraded.The concrete portal frame structure was preserved.

Fleet Street

Fleet Street is a major street in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was named.

Having been an important through route since Roman times, businesses were established during the Middle Ages. Senior clergy lived in Fleet Street during this period where there are several churches including Temple Church and St Bride's. Fleet Street became known for printing and publishing at the start of the 16th century and it became the dominant trade so that by the 20th century most British national newspapers operated from here. Much of the industry moved out in the 1980s after News International set up cheaper manufacturing premises in Wapping, but some former newspaper buildings are listed and have been preserved. The term Fleet Street continues to be used as a metonym for the British national press, and pubs on the street once frequented by journalists remain popular.

Boston Legal

Boston Legal is an American legal dramedy created by David E. Kelley and produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 2004, to December 8, 2008.

Boston Legal is a spin-off of the long-running Kelley series The Practice, following the exploits of former Practice character Alan Shore (James Spader) at the legal firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt.

Production details

Prior to the show's premiere, it had a working title of Fleet Street, an allusion to the real street in Boston where the fictitious Crane, Poole & Schmidt had its offices. The working title was later modified to The Practice: Fleet Street, but this title was dropped in favor of Boston Legal. The real building shown as the law office is located at 500 Boylston Street, 1.4 miles away from Fleet Street.

The American producers of the series also hired British writer Sir John Mortimer, QC, (creator of the UK legal series Rumpole of the Bailey) as a consultant for Boston Legal.