In 2007 the story of Sweeney Todd was first made into a musical film, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Sweeney Todd is actually a historical figure, whose life has become greatly mythologized throughout history, with the publication and production of many different story, stage and film versions. The shop where Sweeney Todd went on his killing spree is still found in London, at number 186 Fleet Street, which is now the Dundee Courier building with a Kwick copier shop below. He was born in 1756, on October 16th. He was incarcerated at the age of 14 and was taught to shave by a fellow prisoner, who also taught him to pick his customer's pockets. He opened his first shop after his release.
According to some the first murder occurred as an enacted revenge, a reaction to a supposed unfaithfulness to his wife, according to other stories it was actually simply the result of an argument with a customer. Whatever the true story of Sweeney Todd, which we may never know for sure, it is almost categorically recognized that he is likely the most successful serial killer of all time. There are some accounts which attribute a total of 160 murders to his name. The real Sweeney Todd was hung for murder in 1801.
The first adaptation of the story was 45 years after Todd's death, when Thomas Peckett Prest adapted the historic tale into a series of short stories titled The String of Pearls: a Romance, which was published in The People's Periodical and Family Library. It was first adapted for the stage in 1847, and appeared on Broadway for the first time as a play under the name Sweeney Todd in 1924. It resurfaced almost 60 years later in 1979, this time as a musical with a book by Hugh Wheeler and with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. This first Broadway run of the musical took place at the Uris Theatre in New York. The first revival came to the Circle Square Theater in New York in 1989, and a second revival followed 16 years later in November of 2005.
The movie version received a number of awards, including: The Oscar for Best Achievement in Art Direction to Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo, the Saturn Award for Best Costume and Best Horror Film, the Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and many more. Johnny Depp received the award for Best Performance by and Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
Sweeney Todd tickets are currently available for Detroit and for a number of other productions that will be playing in different theaters throughout the country. The first of these is taking place at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center in Orlando, Florida, on March 6th and 7th. If you want tickets for any of these productions, then be sure to look online, a leading source for fan-to-fan ticket sales. Enjoy this fascinatingly horrifying musical.
Author Resource:-
This article was written by Phoebe Wickliffe and sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells Sweeney Todd tickets as well as tickets to many other theatrical performances, concerts, sports and special events.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlesinsight.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
