Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Dir. Tim Burton. 2007, 116 mins. 35mm. With Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Jayne Wisener, Sacha Baron Cohen. Burton proves he was a fitting choice to finally direct the long-anticipated screen adaptation of Sondheim’s masterpiece, the musical that shocked Broadway audiences in 1977 for its unholy mix of operatic tragedy, winking sociopolitical satire, macabre subject matter, and unflinching gore. Casting his recurring muse Depp as the “demon barber,” freshly out of jail and seeking revenge against the corrupt judge (Rickman) who imprisoned him, destroyed his wife, and is now the ward of his grown daughter, Burton hews closely to the source material while giving it his own visual spin, especially in the Oscar-winning set design by Dante Ferretti, which recreates a desperate, Dickensian mid-nineteenth-century London with sinister, theatrical élan. As always, it’s Sondheim’s verbal showmanship and melodic grace that are the real stars here, with one of the greatest scores ever written, including “A Little Priest, “Not While I’m Around,” and “Pretty Women.”

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.