Opera Scotland

Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Tours by decade

Tours by location

Music

Stephen Sondheim (b Manhattan, 22 March 1930; d 26 November 2021)

Text

Hugh Wheeler (book)

Stephen Sondheim (Lyrics)

Source

Play by Chris Bond

 

Premieres

First Performance: New York (Uris Theatre), 1 March 1979.

First Performance in UK: London (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), 2 July 1980.

First Performance in Scotland: Perth (Perth Theatre), tbc.

 

Background

Stephen Sondheim was one of the great creators of musical theatre in the second half of the twentieth century.  A protégé of Oscar Hammerstein III, he first came to fame as a lyricist with Candide (music by Leonard Bernstein) and Gipsy (music by Jule Styne).  He soon moved on to compose the music to fit his lyrics, with fascinating results.

He always denied that he was a creator of opera. but several of his works have met with success when produced by opera companies. Perhaps Sweeney Todd is the leading candidate for operatic treatment.