Product Description

This delicious production of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," a musical thriller of revenge and romance set in Victorian England, features Broadway diva Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett and veteran stage actor George Hearn in the title role. Premiering in 1979, the legendary "Sweeney Todd"--winner of nine New York Drama Critics Circle Awards and eight Tony Awards--is recorded with the San Francisco Symphony as conducted by Rob Fisher.

Now a major motion picture directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp! Opens in theaters December 21, 2007

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30801 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2002-05-14
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 150 minutes

Amazon.com
The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra's 2001 concert production of Stephen Sondheim's witty shocker is musically superb and (even without scenery) theatrically effective. The performers are in costume and use a few essential props such as Todd's razor, but more than these details the quality of their singing and acting makes this production stand out. It looks like a final seal of approval at the end when Sondheim comes out, smiling, to take a bow.

Sweeney Todd evokes a special balance of horror and comedy because injustice, revenge, and cannibalism are the subjects of its grisly humor, balanced with moments of romantic idealism. George Hearn in the title role and Patti LuPone as the enterprising, utterly amoral pie seller Mrs. Lovett are both brilliant, with an excellent supporting cast. Members of the orchestra are occasionally seen behind the action, but frequent, effective close-up shots of the singers generate a dramatic atmosphere. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews

The Most Focused Sweeney Yet
As one who has been associated with the creators of "Sweeney" on other productions and as a champion of the original production, one still has to admit to the plot problems at the end of the original's second act. This new production effortlessly aviods those traps on the way to the most focused performance of "Sweeney" yet. Featuring two former Sweeneys (Geoarge Hearn as Sweeney and Timothy Nolen as a wonderfully re-conceived Judge Turpin), Patti LuPone making the role of Mrs. Lovett totally her own (no easy proposition with the spectre of Angela Lansbury always nearby) and a wonderfuly talented supporting cast, Director Lonny Price guides this production effortlessly to it's grizzly end. Featuring amazingly thoughtful camerawork which actually advances the plot as opposed to observing it, one gets to know the characters as readily as if this were a fully staged production. Then again--maybe "less" really is "more" in this case. The San Francisco Symphony under Rob Fisher is impeccable. If you value musical theater, if you value Steve Sondheim's supreme contribution to the genre, you must own this version. But go first class---own them all!

Just as good as the original...
Maybe even better. What the original show lacks, this has, and vise versa, but you have to watch the original one first in order to fully appreciate this revived and revised version. For example, the original has all the sets, costumes, and special effects, but the sound isn't really all that great. This DVD focuses mostly on sound and music quality, but you have to use your imagination in some of the action scenes. Certain things are strictly representational. First of all, there's no blood, and no barber chair with a trap door. Mostly when the actors get killed they just walk off the stage, but the camera work is fantastic. In the original show it was kind of sloppy at times. Here, the camera zooms in so close to the actors faces, in some scenes, that you can actually see the spit flying out of their mouths. That's cool! Additionally, there are certain elements that won't make sense unless you watch the original, such as the oven scenes (there isn't one at all in this version, just a curtain, but the actors pretend that it's the oven door, which is kind of lame).

George Hearn, as always, is astounding in the title role, and with age he seems to have grown more comfortable with it. Patty Lupone is sexy as hell as Mrs. Lovett, and Neil Patrick Harris pulls off a surprisingly convincing performance as Tobias Ragg. Timothy Nolen is of course fabulously perverted and disgusting in his role as Judge Turpen. To tell you the truth, I can't think of a single performer in this production that I didn't like, but I'm running out of room.

Another bonus, this performance contains Judge Turpan's solo, which was cut from the original show when it was performed for television. The original version with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury is available now on DVD, as well. Get them both, and then sit back and enjoy the ride.

Exceptional
I highly recommend this version of the show. I saw it live in SF and was delighted to catch it on PBS and now on DVD. The singing and performances are excellent. I have the DVD of the original as well and have heard Angela Lansbury is legendary. While I really loved Angela Lansbury I felt Patti LuPone brought a realness to the role that was funny and entertaining and much more preferrable. George Hearn is exceptional as well as Neil Patrick Harris. The orechestra is fantastic and this show is as close to perfect a production as I have seen.