Sweeney Todd (1982) - Star of the month... Angela Lansbury

"Seems an awful waste, I mean with the price of meat, what it is when you get it, if you get it... Good, you got it!" - Angela Lansbury (as Mrs Lovett in 'Sweeney Todd')

'Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' is a 1982 filmed recording of the Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical thriller. Directed by Terry Hughes and starring Angela Lansbury, George Hearne, Cris Groenendaal, Sara Woods, Edmund Lyndeck, Calvin Remsberg, Betsy Joslyn, Sal Mistretta & Kenneth Jennings.

 this was filmed live in Los Angeles.

'Sweeney Todd' is the macabre story of barber, Sweeney Todd, who murders his clients and Nellie, Lovett, his accomplice who minces the victim's bodies and bakes them into pies. 

Here is a montage of memorable clips from the recording:

Musical highlights

• "The Worst Pies in London" - Angela Lansbury
• "My Friends" - George Hearne & Angela Lansbury
• "Green Finch & Linnet Bird" - Betsy Joslyn
• "Johanna" - Cris Groenendaal
• "Pretty Women" - George Hearne & Edmund Lyndeck
• "Epiphany" - Angela Lansbury & George Hearne
• "A Little Priest" - Angela Lansbury & George Hearne
• "Not While I'm Around" - Angela Lansbury & Kenneth Jennings

Song: "The Worst Pies in London" - Angela Lansbury

Song: "A Little Priest" - Angela Lansbury & George Hearne

Song: "Not While I'm Around" - Angela Lansbury & Kenneth Jennings

Closing remarks

'Sweeney Todd' is 1983 ultimate tale of revenge with a dark comedic twist with one of the most sinister looking characters you'll ever see on the stage or screen.

Angela Lansbury is brilliant in this! In my opinion this was the greatest role of her career. It really pleases me to hear Lansbury's singing voice in this recording, as she was always dubbed in her early MGM film roles as her voice was not considered good enough. In Sweeney Todd, Lansbury proves she can sing, and quite well at that.

This is a production with high quality performances all round, and one of my favourite live filmings of a stage musical.

Watching this film reminds me of why I don't eat meat pies. You really don't know what is put into them. ;)   For those of you who enjoy meat pies, I would not recommend watching this film.