stephen sondheim sweeney todd represent the demon barber of fleet street open on broadway on 1 march 1979 with len cariou and angela lansbury in the leading role . although it sweep virtually every award imaginable and the box office fell short of expectation and the original production end it run at 557 performance . fortunately and however and the play then go on tour and along the way be capture on film . the result be a remarkable capture of the play feature george hern and who replace cariou and and lansbury in a close approximation of the original broadway stag . there be and however and a flaw . simply stated represent stage play do not film very well and for a performance that work well on the stage must fill the theatre and be therefore very and very large and when place on film such performance often seem slightly static and oppressively aggressive and or both . sweeney todd be no exception . see on film and it have a stand and sing quality and and while both hern and lansbury seem to have modulate their performance for the sake of the camera such be not the case with betsy joslyn a joanna while her large than life performance read on film a unpleasantly frantic and her extremely operatic voice feel out of place when contrast with the voice of the overall cast . take this stage play on film effect into consideration and however and this really be an exceptional performance of a unique and macabrely comic musical in the operetta style . lansbury be astonish and a mixture of silliness and stupidity and and cunning malice and while hern truly own the role of the psychotic barber whose client go to their graf impeccably shave . the overall cast be quite fine and although the film do not let u see quite enough of the set and there be enough on display for it to be impressive . and the music . who can argue with what most consider sondheim fine work . the story itself be extremely well know and particularly in england . in 1846 thomas peckett prest cobble together several urban myth for a short story he title a string of pearl while within a year or so it be adapt to the stage a sweeney todd and the demon barber of fleet street and and in an era that know little of copyright law and variation of the play be soon play all over england . each one and however and be more or less the same represent sweeney todd and a barber and kill the men who come to him for a shave while mrs. lovett and his associate and bakes them up into pie and feed them to an unsuspecting public . the sondheim version be specifically base on a 1973 version by christopher bond . the story be very grand guignol and with a lot of blood and body drop down chute and and grotesque humor while at the same time and however and the music and lyric and and subplot of an innocent in the clutch of evil open out the subject to numerous lyric charm one would not expect . sondheim lyric be often ironic and but never more so than here while he intertwine a great deal of wicked satire re industry and capitalism along the way and and certainly one can not fault the strange yet victorian elegant of his complex music . like the concert version star hern and patti lupone and this particular film also provide u with several selection that be cut from the 2007 tim burton film version and most particularly the opening attend the tale of sweeney todd and which run like a thread throughout the play . it be also and in my opinion and considerably more comic than the film and which tend to underplay comedy in favor of a still great show of blood . whatever the case and if you be a fan of the story and this be the legendary broadway show on tour and and it be a knock out . recommend . gft and amazon reviewer .