Sweeney Todd "Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays". A scholarly, annotated edition of the original 1846–47 serial was published in volume form in 2007 by the Oxford University Press under the title of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", edited by Robert Mack. The original story of Sweeney Todd quite possibly stems from an older urban legend, originally based on dubious pie-fillings. In Charles Dickens' "Pickwick Papers" (1836–37), the servant Sam Weller says that a pieman used cats "for beefsteak, veal and kidney, 'cording to the demand", and recommends that people should buy pies only "when you know the lady as
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street reunite with his daughter, agrees to let them use his barbershop as a safehouse. As Anthony leaves, Pirelli and Tobias enter, and Mrs. Lovett takes Toby downstairs for a pie. Alone with Todd, Pirelli drops his Italian accent and persona and reveals that he is Daniel O'Higgins, Benjamin Barker's former assistant, and knows Todd's true identity. When O'Higgins attempts to blackmail his former employer, however, Todd injures and hides him, later slitting his throat ("Pirelli's Death" and "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd – Reprise 3"). Meanwhile, Johanna and Anthony plan their elopement ("Kiss Me"), while the Beadle recommends Todd's services