On April 20, to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince’s acclaimed Tony-Award winning Broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Warner Home Video (WHV) will introduce to DVD the groundbreaking 1982 television version, which starred Angela Lansbury and George Hearn and won three Emmys and three Cable Ace Awards.
Long noted as the first TV production to accurately translate the Broadway musical theatre-going experience onto the small screen, Sweeney Todd’s original videotape and audio masters have now been restored and remixed and the DVD will be presented in widescreen with Dolby 5.1 audio. “Sweeney Todd” will sell for $24.98 SRP.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street stars Ms. Lansbury, who won one of the original’s eight Tony Awards, and Mr. Hearn. This production was taped before a live audience at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles in 1982 and was later shown on Showtime and PBS. This macabre tale tells the story of Sweeney Todd (Hearn), a man unjustly imprisoned, who returns to London in 1846, determined to seek revenge on those who have destroyed his life. He acquires an ally in Nellie Lovett (Lansbury), a lusty woman who bakes some unexpected ingredients into the meat pies she sells.
Also making its DVD debut on April 20 is The Last of Sheila, which will be available for $19.97 SRP. A Hollywood “whodunit” in the style of Agatha Christie, “Sheila” was a collaboration of Mr. Sondheim and actor Anthony Perkins, winning them the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Mystery Film the year of its release. Directed by Herbert Ross, the movie stars James Coburn, James Mason, Raquel Welch, Dyan Cannon and Richard Benjamin. This witty complex thriller is an elaborate murder game which takes place on a Mediterranean cruise. What unfolds is a cleverly plotted mystery, where even the title is a clue! DVD special features include commentary by Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon and Raquel Welch and the theatrical trailer.
