Stephen Sondheim

OST Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

This is the first worldwide vinyl release of the soundtrack to the Tim Burton–directed, Oscar-winning film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s 1979 Tony Award–winning musical. It stars Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, and Sacha Baron Cohen, all of whom sing their own parts. It is based on the 19th century legend of a London barber who is driven to crime when a malevolent judge takes his wife and child from him. His plan for revenge includes a cutthroat partnership with Mrs. Lovett, an enterprising businesswoman, who is soon producing the tastiest meat pies in London. The songs and score boldly propel the action in Burton’s sixth collaboration with Depp, making his singing debut as the falsely imprisoned barber transformed into a murderer by his thirst for revenge. Bonham Carter serves as his pie-baking accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, who finds a wickedly savoury means to dispose of Todd’s victims, and British star Rickman is the scheming Judge Turpin. As with every actor in the film, including Baron Cohen as rival barber Pirelli, they perform all their own vocals to impressive effect, complemented by Jonathan Tunick’s rich orchestrations.