The Unholy Alliance of Johnny Depp & Tim Burton & Stephen Sondheim

It’s A Musical Musical theatre fans can breathe a sigh of relief because Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street the film is a musical.

Director Tim Burton obviously loves the material and pays homage to Stephen Sondheim’s work; no material change has been made except to take advantage of cinematic framing and editing, the most notable of which is the By the Sea sequence, wherein Mrs. Lovett, played by Helena Bonham Carter, goes off into a whirlwind daydream, which entails changes of scenery and costume, a much easier feat to pull off onscreen than onstage.

Shades of Tim Burton’s earlier work with Johnny Depp, the critically acclaimed Edward Scissorhands, also manifests itself in Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in fleeting glimpses, which fans of the director’s work may enjoy, aside from being visually delighted by the palette of blacks, grays and whites that Burton is so familiar with.

The Magnificent Johnny Depp My respect for this actor has increased a thousand fold as he immerses himself in the world of Sondheim.

Obviously, Johnny Depp worked on his vocal prowess, and he acquits himself magnificently in this difficult Sondheim role, as he blends lambent tones with guttural ones, displayed prominently in the sequence when Sweeney Todd goes from euphoric joy in the song Pretty Women, and then descends into mad despair in the Epiphany when his prey escapes his murdering grasp.

If I didn’t know any better, I would have assumed that Johnny Depp is a musical theatre actor, instead of a film actor who used to be with a rock band. What makes his vocal rendition of Sweeney Todd even more interesting is the fact that he allows his rock band experience tiptoe over some of the notes, which lends for a unique sound.

Buckets of Blood A word of caution. There is dripping blood, flowing blood, splattering blood, and spurting blood, done poetically, metaphorically, judiciously and with wild abandon, something that the unholy alliance of Johnny Depp, Tim Burton and Stephen Sondheim undoubtedly unashamedly and gleefully undertook.

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