This movie is a recorded performance in concert. It all begins when Benjamin Barker( George Hearn), a mysterious,quiet,and subtle barber, returns to his hometown in London after escaping from a prison in Australia with help from a young sailor named Anthony. Now Sweeney Todd, he returns to his home where he and his wife Lucie and daughter Johanna used to live. When he arrives he meets Mrs. Nellie Lovett(Patti Lupone), a lonely woman who owns a down and out pie shop, and discovers that his wife has poisoned herself and the judge that unfairly punished him is responsible and the judge also has his daughter. So then Sweeney plots his revenge on the judge and his accomplice the Beadle and with help from Mrs. Lovett he re-opens his barber shop and vows to give the judge the closest shave he will ever know and give Mrs. Lovett a tasty new ingredient for her homemade meat pies.
Director: Lonny Price
Stars: George Hearn, Patti LuPone, Neil Patrick Harris.
24 songs in the Soundtracks.
They do have some props and wardrobe, plus head mics, so they move around the stage.
I don't like the story, don't appreciate the intended humor. The aspect I dislike is ignored by the synopsis writer: the barber and the baker routinely murder men for the meat.
This is well-performed & unambiguous.
Rated 8.6 (722)
KQED & more, dir. Price; 7-
