Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (1982)

Set in 1846, a former barber (George Hearn) with a troubled past returns to London after many years away. He connects with a dotty baker (Angela Lansbury) who runs a failing pie shop and she lets him use the room above her shop to ply his trade. There will be blood .....! Adapted from the play by Christopher Bond with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and directed by Hal Prince (the original stage production)) and Terry Hughes (the filmed production). A monumental contemporary American opera by the greatest theatre composer of the 20th century. This tale of revenge features one of Sondheim's most sophisticated and intricate scores. I was fortunate enough to see this cast perform the show when it opened in Los Angeles and theatrically, it was an overwhelming experience. This archival recording of that production captures some of the show's majesty. The cast is excellent. Lansbury's outlandish "go for broke" wacky Cockney provides the antidote to the darkness of the rest of the musical. A towering achievement in the American theatre and that's no hyperbole. With Cris Groenendaal, Betsy Joslyn, Edmund Lyndeck, Calvin Remsberg, Ken Jennings and Sara Woods.