This has the feeling of going to the theater and seeing it live. That is because this is exactly what they have done. Because of that it is very good and is not done often enough. There is a silent live action film of Peter Pan done before Disney animated the story which was filmed much like the stage play that was originally done, and it is one of the best adaptions of that story because it was filmed that way.Sweeney Todd is about a wild murderous Barber and has a great Steven Sondheim musical sound track. All of it is here and lots more. The live stage feel is a great perspective and it is invaluable that this television version was done.Angela Lansbury recreates her Tony winning role here and is absolutely great, this shows why she won that award. The actor who plays Sweeney Todd is excellent at it, so good he has done it several times since this version. This show first came to my attention because of the great music. Now that I have seen the story as done here, I better understand the meaning of the music.TCM has done a great service by running this without the commercials except for the Intermission break. It is the best way to see it as the commercial breaks are not needed.

This telecast of the classic musical "Sweeney Todd" does not do the production justice, but is still quite enthralling.Firstly, the most enjoyable aspect of this version is the production design, from the wheeling multi-set to the startling trapdoor. Then, the staging is excellent, right down to the slashing.The main failing here is in the performances people give. Oh, they're believable, all right-- but it is quite frustrating when nobody seems to be hitting their cues on time in a song as fast-paced as, say, "Kiss Me." In fact, the actress playing Johanna is not only off-tempo to a dismal degree, but also slightly off-key. And Angela Lansbury's slightly overdone cockney accent is a bit irritating. One more thing, too-- what, exactly, is so bad about Judge Turpin's performance of "Johanna" that it is banned from the American theatre, but not the cannibal anthem "A Little Priest"?Otherwise, this is an excellent production. It's a thrill to watch people do what they love-- and I'm not even peripherally talking about "meat pies with a twist".

I saw this play on Showtime some years back in the comfort of my home and when the final note was struck, I wanted to jump off the sofa and give the production a standing ovation. As it was, I shed a tear that it was such a bunch of fantastic performances and songs. For my birthday, my kids bought me the VHS version as well as the Cd of the play with Len Cariou in the Sweeny Todd Role. I've shared the play with many...some finding the subject a bit sick, but none having anything but praise for the songs.I've always loved the interplay in songs with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn as well as Hearn and Edmund Lyndeck as Judge Turpin.I must own the DVD.

The genius that is Stephen Sondheim was never more prominently displayed as it was in his 1979 "Musical Thriller" SWEENEY TODD, a Gothic, gory, grisly, yet delicious musical concoction about a demented barber who returns to London to exact revenge on the evil Judge who not only had him permanently exiled from London, but who is also raising his daughter as his own and plans to marry her to "shield her from all the evils of the world." The barber finds love,sympathy, and assistance from a lonely pie shop owner who has her own agenda where Todd is concerned. This musical rocked Broadway and won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actress in a Musical (Angela Lansbury). The production was filmed in its entirety in 1982 with Angela Lansbury recreating her Broadway role as Mrs. Lovett, the daffy pie shop owner who finds a practical use for the heads that Todd makes mincemeat out of. George Hearn, who replaced Len Cariou on Broadway, is electrifying in the title role, so much so that you have to wonder why he wasn't originally cast in the role. Lansbury and Hearn are riveting from start to finish and commit 100% to their ghoulish characters aided, by a first rate Sondaheim score, probably the closest thing Sondheim has written to an opera. Lansbury shines on "The Worst Pies in London" and "By the Sea". George Hearn stops the show with "Epiphany" and is also compelling during "Pretty Women", a duet he sings with Judge Turpin, the man he has sworn revenge on. Cris Groendahl is vocally impressive as Antony, the young sailer who rescues Todd and falls for his daughter Johanna. Betsy Joselyn is a little over the top as Johanna and really pushes vocally to the point that during "Green Funch and Linnet Bird" she actually drives her voice off-pitch during a couple of moments. The rest of the cast is first rate, especially Edmund Lyndeck as Judge Turpin who gets to perform "Johanna" in this production, which was cut from the original production and Ken Jennings as Toby, whose gorgeous tenor fills the auditorium on "Not While I'm Around." But it is breathtaking musical score by Stephen Sondheim and the mesmerizing performance by Lansbury an especially George Hearn that makes this night of Gothic musical theater an experience that stays with you long after curtain call. Not for all tastes, but if you're game and have strong heart, SWEENEY TODD is a joy for all music theater lovers and a must for fans of Stephen Sondheim and Angela Lansbury.