Sleeper Cell: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982)

Aug 062010

Volume two of our musical theater sleepers takes us into darker territory. Obviously, Sweeney Todd isn’t really a sleeper since most people at least know the basic story: dude returns from his banishment to Botany Bay (and beyond) to find that his wife has died and his daughter adopted by said dude’s evil nemesis. Dude kills his way through the populous of London on his way to bloody revenge. And if you don’t know that, you at least know that there’s much murder and pies made out of people. Yeh? But this particular version of Stephen Sondheim’s classic was specifically produced for television, and as such, has not been in popular rotation on the major networks for the last 20 years or so.

In this version, our anti-hero, the eponymous Sweeney Todd, is played by Broadway star and television veteran George Hearn. Who is in fact a baritone, and possesses the correct vocal range for the character. And sure, it sounds like I’m dogging on Johnny Depp and his damn near Contralto vocals, but I’m not at all. And this might be an early deal-breaker, but I loved Tim Burton’s 2007 adaptation, and Tim did what he did to make an entertaining movie, and I can respect that. But a stage musical with all the right moving parts can take the bare bones of the set (complete with 1 major set-piece which rotates to show the pie shop and the barber shop) and a few well-placed movable catwalks and hit you in the gut with the emotion that proper harmonies can bring. And this musical brings the gut-punches like a bastard.

So while Timmy and Johnny’s movie opens with a well-orchestrated overture piece, directors Terry Hughes and Harold Prince bring a more faithful version of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 Broadway version to the screen and open it up with such an extreme cacophony of organ driven madness that they damn near run the risk of losing casual stage musical fans. Follow that up with the tight harmonies of “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” (omitted from the Burton movie), and it’s the beginning of a motif of musical tension throughout the entirety of the presentation. Like I said, I loved the Burton movie. It’s fun, and the singing is nice, but the music is really too nice. Burton’s Musical Director Mike Higham adapts the rough harmonies and mainstreams them. And they’re not bad at all. It allows for a movie-going audience to sit back, enjoy the music, and really pay more attention to the performances of Depp and the rest of the cast. Sondheim himself was quoted as having said “…if you just go along with it, I think you’ll have a spectacular time.” But on the stage, hearing the incredible,¬†bird-like¬†vocal wavering from Betsy Joslyn (portraying Sweeney’s daughter Johanna) in¬†strained harmony with her on-stage paramour Anthony Hope (portrayed by Cris Groenendaal) elicits an actual visceral response (singing to a caged bird wondering if it’s singing sweetly or is it screaming … freaking goosebumps) that reminds me of Johann Sebastian Bach’s (maybe) “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” with perfect use of discordia/concourse to bring seemingly disparate vocal phrases together to create a full, lush sound. It really is incredible music.

Angela Lansbury stars in the 1956 comedy The Court Jester as the Princess Gwendolyn. Betrothed to Sir Griswold of MacElwain, the princess refuses to marry for anything other than love. Her father, King Roderick, has actually stolen the throne in a coup as the true heir is only a baby. Not wanting to lose his position as royalty, he goes all Herod and demands the royal baby be found. Meanwhile, Danny Kaye is a goofball who yucks it up with the rebels who you know will eventually fix everything. See, they've got a hero: The Black Fox - a Zorro / Robin Hood style hero (For those keeping track, el zorro means fox) The story whisks along in a slap-sticky Guy Richie fashion with midgets disguised as crusaders, hypnotized swash-buckling and much near kisses. The staying power of this silly movie is really in the writing. The swordplay is totally acceptable (after all, it was 1956 - all you need is a few clinks and swishes, a head nod, and a swift HA-HA! and you had a blockbuster on your hands), but the script steals the show. The very Abbot-and-Costello-type scene featuring the phrases: "The vessel with the pestle has the pellet with the poison" and "The flagon with the dragon has the brew that is true" are an obvious riot, and seeing the hypnotized Danny Kaye swash and buckle his way through the entire castle alternating between foolish coward and fencing hero with the snap of a... two fingers is still one of my all time favorite movie scenes. Anyway, Angela Lansbury is in it, and she looks hot.

In any case, George Hearn enunciates the hell out of the lyrics and actually looks like a maniac, and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett (pie shop owner) joins in perfectly. Through the majority of the plot-heavy first act, the two are nearly speaking all their songs with single-note phrasing and create an even more tense and frenetic environment for the action of the play to inhabit. And really, it’s nice to see Lansbury as the romance interest again. So let’s knock out that plot!
Sweeney returns to the pit filled with shit that is London on a boat filled with¬†sailors with a new friend, Anthony. And what happens on the ocean, stays on the ocean. As Anthony and Sweeney part ways, Sweeney tells him that if he wants to meet again, Anthony should look for him on Fleet Street. And while there’s no actual winking, it’s not hard to imagine.¬†Sweeney on Fleet Street runs into Mrs. Lovett – the sole proprietor of a meat pie shop that sells The Worst Pies in London and learns of his wife’s fate. Mrs. Lovett recognizes Sweeney as Benjamin Barker from the old days and agrees to not spoil his disguise. Ok, this is obviously taking too long. The short version is the evil Judge Turpin has Sweeney’s daughter in his custody and is preparing to marry her. Eww. But god dammit, Anthony is already in love with her after seeing her that one time from really far away and they’ve just got to work it out. So hey, I got an idea, Sweeney will just kill everyone in London (with the help of a fancy chair setup) except Anthony and Johanna, and all will be well. And we’ll bake everyone else into astonishingly tasty pies to fund it all. Yeh?

B-Gizzle: Ghost Hunter

But Jesus Christ, what kind of a madman would you have to be to think it’s ok to murder whoever the hell you want just ’cause you think it’ll bring about some half-baked (get it?) version of justice? For more information on the mind of a truly mad killer like Sweeney Todd, I turned to our own resident expert in mass murder. Mediabreach’s own, B-Gizzle.

Zack – So, Ms. Gizzle, in the specific case of Sweeney Todd, the murderous rampage is caused by extreme grief and a desire for revenge. As I understand it, a true sociopath wouldn‚Äôt have the capacity for those emotions. How would you classify Mr. Todd‚Äôs particular violent condition?

B-Gizzle – Well, from what I understand about serial killers or mass murderers is their actions are usually set off by some sort of trigger. Most serial killers grew up with a severe amount of repeated abuse. Like that Ottis Toole guy, you know him, he killed and ate John Walsh’s (America’s Most Wanted) son, Adam. Growing up his mother, the neighborhood prostitute, made him and his father (a paraplegic) watch her have sex with her customers. Ted Bundy was believed to have been set off by the end of his romance with his college girlfriend. Did you know all of his victims actually looked like her? I look like her. But even in my dreams Ted Bundy wouldn’t kill me :(
So even though, they lack the capacity of normal human emotions there is usually a significant event that gets the ball rolling in their “career.”

Z – With that in mind, and understanding that it would require substantial speculation on your part, what in Sweeney Todd’s past do you think may have contributed to a frame of mind that would find extreme violence a reasonable path of recourse?

BG – By substantial speculation, I’m assuming you meant, “Since you haven’t seen the movie.” This is true. But from the quick research I’ve done, my opinion would be that most of his rage was directed at this Turpin douche bag. He seems to be the root of all despair from what I read and the fact that Todd was unable to kill him when he had the chance, he had to let his frustration out somehow. Unfortunately for many people, slicing throats made him felt better. Go figure.
Going back to Bundy, all of the brutal beatings and sexual assault he committed on his victims can be traced back to the frustration he felt from having his heart broken by that one chick. He couldn’t kill her, but he could recreate her murder over and over again in his fantasies by killing girls that looked like her. (i.e. me)

Z – With regards to killing out of love and/or unrequited love, when we consider Mrs. Lovett, we have an accomplice willing to butcher human bodies and serve them as food to unknowing patrons. Her brand of barbarism was obviously brought on by a mixture of adoration for the already murderous Mr. Todd along with a desperation brought on my financial difficulties. Are there any similar cases of violence that you can think of that share a similar origin story?

Demons

BG – There are actually a shit ton of husband and wife serial killer teams out there; it’s usually a story of one demented sick fuck that marries some poor insecure lady. Either these two just so happened to be two crazy assholes that met by chance or the man was brilliant in brainwashing his woman to doing what he wants. (Stockholm Syndrome anyone???)
I read once about this husband serial rapist guy and his wife. The wife would lure women into their possession and the two would keep their victims as sex slaves. They would trade off sodomizing and tormenting them, then ultimately killing them. The wife mainly went along with it because she loved him, and she felt the women were gifts to show her adoration. (Kinda puts a dim light on any bday gifts or anniversary plans you have for Desi, huh?)
Another example could also be Charles Manson. That fucker got chicks to do everything for him!!! (Sharon Tate anyone?!?!??!) Was Manson even present? Can’t remember, but I don’t think so.

Z – These individuals seem genuinely mentally disturbed. However, could it be possible that a completely un-psychotic asshole would be able to plead ‚Äúinsanity‚Äù in a court of law, when in fact he simply enjoys murder?

BG – Yes that is very possible. But honestly, if you enjoy murders does that really make you un-psychotic? My apparent obsession Bundy actually studied law and psychology, so he was able to pass many psychological exams. To this day, some doctors still debate his sanity.

Z – That actually leads into my next question: do you believe the mere fact the a person could enjoy murder can make a person legally insane?

BG – To be honest, my own sick mind has actually thought about this on many occasions. It brings up questions like, “Well what about people that hunt animals and enjoy it?” They’re not considered crazy. In fact, they get trophies and featured in the local newspapers. It’s ok to gut and hang a deer because you plan to eat it??? Well, Ottis Toole, Dahmer and Ed Gein did the same thing, but with people. Bambi had a fucking family too you know. This is usually the point in my mind where I start picturing trophies being handed out for killing the biggest asshole that cut you off in traffic.
Legally killing people makes you insane, but in my fucked opinion it doesn’t necessarily make it that crazy.
I’d just like to state ON THE RECORD, I wouldn’t actually kill anyone.

Z – No doubt some of our readers will be reassured to hear that, while others will possibly be disappointed. Taking into account that you have an obvious obsession with this violent section of our society (bordering on the unhealthy), assuming that you had met your perfect man, just how “insane” would he have to be to preclude you from expressing interest in him? And as an addendum, what qualities would your perfect man exhibit? Or if you prefer, what is your idea of “The Perfect Date?”

BG – Just to disappoint the readers out there, I’m not some sort of serial killer groupie. I do have an unhealthy amount of empathy apparently to not cast off these guys as fucking lunatics, but I certainly don’t want to be associated with them. Hypocritically speaking, if a guy were to tell me he was into all of this serial killer shit the way I was, I would immediately tell him good night and file him under “creepy.” That’s probably the paranoia of years and years of research though.
Sad to say, I’ll never enjoy a night of stalking young girls and shoving them in the back of an old VW then beating them to a pulp. I’ll read about it on msnbc, but won’t participate thank you!

Z – To be sure, none of our readers would ever let facts get in the way of a good fantasy. If it makes you feel better, you will always be the murder victim in¬†my dreams. Thank you for your time B-Gizzle, and your expertise.

BG – not a problem. I rather enjoyed myself. Glad to help!

The Ostrich Inn

The Real Sweeney Todd?
Let’s see how concise I can make this: there is no real life Sweeney Todd. Concise enough? But there are real life penny dreadfuls. Penny dreadfuls were cheaply made shock fiction sold in 19th century England. They were like early airport novels. Just tales of raunchy material to get money from working class boys. Sweeney first appears in one of serial publications called “The String of Pearls: A Romance.” The story features all the main characters except that Sweeney is just crazy. There’s no motivation for his murders. He kills and bakes ordinary people with the help of Mrs. Lovett and an assistant. The trouble comes with Sweeney kills a man with a pearl necklace that was meant to go to a girl named Johanna whose lover is lost as sea. So it all plays out and Sweeney is hanged. The dreadful ran for over a year and became one of the most successful examples of the genre, even garnering an annotated publication in 2007 (due in large part to the success of the musical and other adapted versions). Sondheim himself used a 1970 version of the story by British playwright Christopher Bond as his source material, as written by Hugh Wheeler. Wait … Wheeler? Didn’t he do Candide too?? And of course, watchers of “Ghost Hunters International” (a personal favorite) will remember the recent investigation at a 900 year old tavern called Ostrich Inn in Colnbrook, England. No ghosts. But, the inn was the home of its former owner, Mr. Jarman, who was reported to have killed over 60 would-be customers by getting them drunk, robbing them, and putting them to sleep in The Blue Room (oooOOOooo!) in a trick bed that slid downwards spilling the body of the unwitting sucker head-first¬†into a giant vat of boiling oil. No baking however.

The sheer idea of a horror musical is pretty awesome. You take all the tension and terror of a normal horror movie and add long, drawn out songs to the mix and you can rachet up the tension to a ridiculous degree.

Seymour and Audrey II

Top 5 Horror Musicals (The Limerick Edition)

Ms. Lovett uses a suspect pie filling,
and Hilton’s face gets a good drilling.
A Phantom burns his face off,
while Ash revs his chainsaw
and Moranis uses his axe for weed killing

This rendition of the classic Demon Barber is a great example of how dramatic stage productions can be translated for the small screen. So, while the camera work is actually a little blurry in a few scenes (with the cameras occasionally focused about a foot in front of a prop) and the editing cuts away from character reaction shots in favor of close-ups of the principals, this is a great way to see a version of Sweeney Todd with the longer songs and wittier banter that time constraints haven’t allowed in feature films. So check it out.

Watch George go psycho with it!