Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls: An Audio Melodrama in Three Despicable Acts

Yuri Rasovsky

ISBN 10: 143320343X ISBN 13: 9781433203435

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing, 2007

Synopsis

The insidious Fleet Street barber slit his first throat in an 1846 "penny dreadful," one of those gaudy serialized novels that gleefully offered thrills and gore to sensation-hungry Victorians. TitledThe String of Pearls, it told of Sweeney Todd, whose shop stood next to St. Dunstan's Church, just a few blocks from the Royal Courts of Justice. On this site, he robbed and murdered hundreds of customers. To dispose of their remains, he carried them to an underground bakery of one Mrs. Lovett, whose pie shop was a few blocks away. She ground the cadavers into stuffing for her meat pies, the favorite midday repast of the lawyers who worked nearby and who got their shaves from Sweeney Todd. The man you lunched with yesterday couldbeyour lunch today!

Before the serial's final chapters even hit the stands, the first stage version, pirated from the already published installments, was packing them in at a London theater. Since then there have been numerous stage, literary, and screen versions of the story, most notably the hit Sondheim musical. Blackstone Audio has commissioned this, the first audio version of the tale, from the Audie(R) award-winning Hollywood Theater of the Ear (The Sherlock Holmes Theatre, The Oresteia). With tongue in cheek, writer/producer/director Yuri Rasovsky has gone all the way back to the original penny dreadful to imbue an old string of pearls with new luster--and fresh blood.

About this title

About the Authors

Yuri Rasovsky (1944-2012) was the leading writer, producer, and director of audio drama in the United States. Also a distinguished actor, narrator, and critic, his numerous honors include two Peabody Awards, eight Audie Awards, and a Grammy.

Yuri Rasovsky (1944-2012) was the leading writer, producer, and director of audio drama in the United States. Also a distinguished actor, narrator, and critic, his numerous honors include two Peabody Awards, eight Audie Awards, and a Grammy.

John Baker is the founder of Celebrate Recovery(R), a program of Saddleback Church, now being used in 12,000 organizations nationwide. A nationally known speaker, trainer, he has authored and coauthored several books and study guides about personal development and recovery.

Robertson Dean has played leading roles on and off Broadway and at dozens of regional theaters throughout the country. He has a BA from Tufts University and an MFA from Yale. His audiobook narration has garnered ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he works in film and television in addition to narrating.

Martin Jarvis has starred in many West End productions and on Broadway in By Jeeves. His screen appearances include Titanic, Murder She Wrote, Miss Marple, Numb3rs, Inspector Morse, and Stargate Atlantis. He is an award-winning audiobook performer and has received an OBE from the Queen for his services to drama.

Moira Quirk, a British actress and Earphones Award-winning narrator, co-narrated Ben Bova's Mercury and has narrated other popular audiobooks for which she received Audie Award nominations. She is a successful comedian and can be heard on Nickelodeon's cartoon My Life as a Teenage Robot as well as in The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd, The Wild Thornberrys Feature, and Serendipity, among others. She has also lent her voice to several video games, including Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction and Haunting Ground.

Reviews

Writer/producer/director Rasovsky based this blackly humorous melodrama on the original Victorian tale, well known as a musical about a barber who kills and robs his rich customers. Their bodies supply the meat for the savory pies sold by his partner, Mrs. Lovett. The gruesome plot is played tongue-in-cheek and laced with comic and satiric elements. Performances are strong throughout. W. Morgan Sheppard is especially delectable as Todd. Accents occasionally wobble or are laid on a bit thick but are generally very good; Robertson Dean does a fine turn with a rural accent. Sound effects and music are used frequently and well, and the drama is punctuated with amusing and well-done songs, mostly traditional. This is a spirited and entertaining production. W.M. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 143320343X
• ISBN 13: 9781433203435
• Binding: Audio CD