Tells the fascinating story of how the Sweeny-Todd-myth developed from popular melodrama in the 1850s to film, ballet and musical incarnations in the 20th century. >

A Study Guide for Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (film entry), excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama for Students for all of your research needs.

The stage musical constitutes a major industry not only in the US and the UK, but in many regions of the world. Over the last four decades many countries have developed their own musical theatre industries, not only by importing hit shows from Broadway and London but also by establishing or reviving local traditions of musical theatre. In response to the rapid growth of musical theatre as a global phenomenon, The Oxford Handbook of the Global Stage Musical presents new scholarly approaches to issues arising from these new international markets. The volume examines the stage musical from theoretical and empirical perspectives including concepts of globalization and consumer culture, performance and musicological analysis, historical and cultural studies, media studies, notions of interculturalism and hybridity, gender studies, and international politics. The thirty-three essays investigate major aspects of the global musical, such as the dominance of Western colonialism in its early production and dissemination, racism and sexism--both in representation and in the industry itself--as well as current conflicts between global and local interests in postmodern cultures. Featuring contributors from seventeen countries, the essays offer informed insider perspectives that reflect the diversity of the subject and offer in-depth examinations of specific cultural and economic systems. Together, they conduct penetrating comparative analysis of musical theatre in different contexts as well as a survey of the transcultural spread of musicals.

Sweeney Todd, the gruesome tale of a murderous barber and his pastry chef accomplice, is unquestionably strange subject matter for the musical theatre – but eight Tony awards and enormous successes on Broadway and the West End testify to its enduring popularity with audiences. Written by Hugh Wheeler, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the musical premiered in 1979 and has seen numerous revivals, including Tim Burton's 2007 film version. Aaron C. Thomas addresses this darkly funny piece with fitting humour, taking on Sweeney Todd’s chequered history and genre, its treatment of violence and cannibalism, and its sexual politics.

This edited collection offers undergraduate Literature instructors a guide to the pedagogy and teaching of Victorian literature in liberal arts classrooms. With numerous essays focused on thematic course design, this volume reflects the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the literature classroom. A section on genre provides suggestions on approaching individual works and discussing their influence on production of texts. Sections on digital humanities and “out of the classroom” approaches to Victorian literature reflect current practices and developing trends. The concluding section offers three different versions of an “ideal” course, each of which shows how thematic, disciplinary, genre, and technological strands may be woven together in meaningful ways. Professors of introductory literature courses aimed at non-English majors to advanced seminars for majors will find accessible and innovative course ideas supplemented with a variety of versatile teaching materials, including syllabi, assignments, and in-class activities.

The inspiration for a long-running Broadway musical, this Victorian novel in the penny dreadful tradition recounts the nefarious doings of a murderous barber and baker who recycle their victims into meat pies.

Meat Markets articulates the emergent 'nonhuman thought' developed across literatures of the long nineteenth century and inflecting recent critical theories of abject life and animality. It presents important connections between meat and popular serial press industries, the intersections of criminals and public readership, and the long history of bloody spectacle at London's Smithfield Market including public executions, criminal escapades, death and horror tales, and the fungible 'penny press' forms of mass consumption. Through analysis of subjection, address, and narration in canonical and penny literatures, this book reveals the mutual forces of concern and consumption that afflict objects of a weird cultural history of bloody London across the long nineteenth century. Players include butchers, Smithfield, Parliament, Dickens, Romantics, Sweeney Todd, cattle, and a strange, impossible London.