Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
DIRECTOR/SET DESIGNER:
Derek Long LLC
THEATER:
Fred B Cranford Amphitheatre
YEAR:
2022
A Note from the Director
Sweeney Todd is a character rich in lore and history. The legend circulated in several countries. In Britain, it first, appeared in print as a series of stories titled The String of Pearls, featured in cheap thriller magazines in the 1800's nicknamed 'penny dreadfuls' because of their gruesome content.
Its popularity spawned a melodrama stage version of the same title, produced even before the penny dreadful series was completed. Various versions of the play were produced all over Britain for the rest of the century.
The melodrama was revisited in the 1970's in a play titled Sweeney Todd, written by Christopher Bond, who fleshed out the story and brought more depth to the characters.
The play inspired Steven Sondheim to create the 1979 musical version you will see here.
With its songs filled with emotion and insight, we are able to glimpse into the very souls of the characters. And we are able to understand the strive to solve their inner riddles..... Where does piousness cross the line of perversion...How deep is the cut to exact revenge... How dear are the ingredients for baking hopes and dreams....
The shadows fall, the fog sets in...attend The Tale...
-Derek
