- Barber Sweeney Todd returns to London to uncover the past, along the way meeting pie shop owner Mrs. Nellie Lovett, and begins to start his life of crime.
- It's 1846. Sweeney Todd (George Hearn) and Anthony Hope (Cris Groenendaal), greeted only by a crazed beggar woman (Sara Woods), sail into London, where Todd implies he has been before, but not in quite some time. Todd heads to his old stomping grounds of Fleet Street, where he runs across the pie shop belonging to Mrs. Nellie Lovett (Dame Angela Lansbury), who professes to make the worst meat pies in London due to the high cost of meat. The upstairs of her building has sat empty since no one wants to rent a space that is considered haunted by its long ago tenant, barber Benjamin Barker, who was falsely accused and ultimately sentenced by the sadistic Judge Turpin (Edmund Lyndeck) and who was shipped away to prison in Botany Bay, Australia, leaving his wife Lucy and infant daughter Johanna alone in the world. Todd comes to an agreement with Mrs. Lovett to rent the upstairs of her building so that he can open his own barber shop. A series of incidents, including one with rival barber Señor Pirelli (Sal Mistretta), make Todd change his focus slightly away from having a choice encounter with Judge Turpin and his equally sadistic henchman Beadle Bamford (Calvin Remsberg), which was one of the reasons he returned to London. Mrs. Lovett believes this change can only help her pie shop. Meanwhile, upon sighting each other, Anthony and Johanna Barker (Betsy Joslyn) fall in love at first sight. Johanna is now the ward of Judge Turpin, who has his own incompatible wants with her. Todd and Mrs. Lovett's collaboration, as well as Anthony's pursuit of Johanna take marked turns with several revelations, most specifically about the crazed beggar woman and Mrs. Lovett's motivations.—Huggo
- Benjamin Barker alias Sweeney Todd (George Hearn), returns to London after being deported to find out what happened to his wife and child at the hands of Judge Turpin (Edmund Lyndeck). When he learns of their terrible fate, he joins fortunes with Mrs. Nellie Lovett (Dame Angela Lansbury), the baker downstairs from his barbershop, and sets out to seek revenge.—Kathy Li
- Times are hard in 1846 London and one must make do. Mrs. Nellie Lovett adds something extra to the meat pies she peddles on Fleet Street. The secret ingredient: freshly murdered victims of her partner in crime, barber Sweeney Todd. Composer and Lyricist Stephen Sondheim refashions a macabre tale into a musical masterwork in this dazzling performance of the 1979 Broadway hit originally staged by Harold Prince. In her Tony-winning role, Dame Angela Lansbury plays Nellie. George Hearn turns his stage role of twisted Sweeney into an Emmy-winning triumph. The score coils around itself in ever-tightening spirals. The lines ripple with black humor and madness. Enter Sweeney's tonsorial parlor. Attend the tale.—dramaking1227
- Benjamin Barker, a skilled barber with a lovely wife who is pregnant with their child, suddenly loses everything. He is sent away on a trumped-up charge to prison at Botany Bay, Australia, by the nefarious Judge Turpin (Edmund Lyndeck), who has designs on his wife. Fast-forward some years later, when Benjamin escapes with help from the steadfast friendly sailor Anthony Hope (Cris Groenendaal). Returning to London and taking the name Sweeney Todd, he seeks to find out what has happened to his family. Mrs. Nellie Lovett (Dame Angela Lansbury), the widow who ran the bakery downstairs from Barker's shop, (and always had a crush on him), tells him of their horrible fate, which sends Barker/Todd over the edge into madness, consumed by the thirst for revenge against the Judge. Ever-practical, with the possibility of murder and mayhem afoot, Mrs. Lovett thinks of a fiendishly clever way that they can both make a killing, literally. But she hasn't been forthcoming about everything, unbeknownst to her new partner, and the engines of Fate begin to grind and roar, bearing all the parties involved to an unexpected and devastating denouement.—Chris Chase (cchase@onebox.com)
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By what name was Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982) officially released in India in English?
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