The wonderful and surprising history of Sweeney Todd : The life and times of an urban legend
Mack, Robert L.200801UU
Book
Traces the fortunes of Todd's narrative from its earliest 'proper' appearance as a Victorian 'penny blood' in 1846-47, and then as a melodrama on the stage, through to its twentieth-century manifestation in film, ballet, musicals, and opera up to the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp film version of Stephen Sondheim's 1979 Broadway masterpiece. The tales surrounding Sweeney Todd's notorious barber shop in London's Fleet Street have entertained generations of audiences and have made Todd himself one of the most famous - or perhaps notorious - characters in the city's history."The Wonderful and Surprising History of Sweeney Todd" traces the fortunes of Todd's narrative from its earliest 'proper' appearance as a Victorian 'penny blood' in 1846-47, and then as a popular melodrama on the stage, through to its twentieth-century manifestation in film, ballet, musicals, and opera up to current and future productions, including the forthcoming Tim Burton/Johnny Depp film version of Stephen Sondheim's 1979 Broadway masterpiece. Each successive generation has found a compelling fascination in Sweeney Todd's themes of avarice, ambition, desire, appetite, retribution, justice, and cannibalism. Following in the footsteps of the myth, this fascinating book takes the reader on a journey from the roots of the story in the alleyways and pie-shops of Victorian London to its modern incarnations on stage, screen and in popular culture.
Main title:
Author:
Imprint:
London : Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd., 2008.
Collation:
368 p. : 12 b&w, ill. ; 23x16x3 cm.
Notes:
Hardback.Originally published: 2007.
Contents:
Acknowledgements-- List of Illustrations-- Preface-- Part I: Contexts, Themes and Background-- 1. Du Cote de Chez Todd: Man Eating, Meat Pies and the Macabre-- 2. Aren't There Butchers Enough?: The Roots of Myth and Meaning in Sweeney Todd-- 3. Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner: True Lies and the Life of an Urban Legend-- Part II: Text and Sources-- 4. Fiends in Human Shape: The String of Pearls and the Earliest Histories of Fleet Street's 'Cannibalistic Pastries'-- 5. I Shall Have to Polish Him Off: Proto-Myths and Precedents-- Part III: Visions and Revisions-- 6. The Way of All Flesh: Sweeney Todd, Melodrama, and the Theatre-- 7. A Proper Artist with a Knife: Sweeney on Celluloid-- 8. Swing Your Razor Wide, Sweeney: Further Adventures of a Legend-- Appendix: Sweeney Todd: A Genealogy, History, and Chronology-- Notes-- Select Bibliography-- Index.
Biography/History:
Robert L. Mack is a Lecturer at the University of Exeter. His edition of the original Sweeney Todd novel will be published by Oxford University Press in 2007. His other books include Thomas Gray: A Life (Yale UP, 2000) and The Genius of Parody (Palgrave, 2007).
ISBN:
9780826497918 (hbk)0826497918 (hbk)
Dewey class:
398.22
Language:
English
BRN:
75023