If you love musical theatre you'll be delighted to know that Radio 4 Extra is set to start a five-week Summer run of classic musicals. We've been given access to Radio 2’s extensive – and impressive – back-catalogue of exclusively-recorded works from the mid-'90s including Sweeney Todd, Guys and Dolls, Carousel, Jesus Christ Superstar and Kismet.
Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Saturday 16 July 2016 at 09.00am
The season starts with Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Starring Denis Quilley and Julia McKenzie, this is an exclusive recording of the Royal National Theatre's hit production of Stephen Sondheim's musical thriller.
It's the tale of a half-mad barber who returns home after escaping from an unjust imprisonment, to take vengeance on the corrupt judge who sentenced him, ravished his wife and now plans to marry his daughter. However, Sweeney doesn't limit himself to one victim: he takes revenge against the whole world for his family's suffering by slitting the throats of his customers, and dispatching them from the barber's chair down a chute to the cellar, where the corpses are made into delicious meat pies by his enterprising accomplice, Mrs Lovett. Sondheim’s 1979 thrilling musical was based on an original book by Hugh Wheeler and subsequent play by Christopher Bond; it's one of Sondheim's most complex scores, with over 40 numbers including A Little Priest, My Friends, Epiphany, Worst Pies in London and Pretty Women.
In London, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" received Olivier Awards for Best Musical Revival, Best Actress in a Musical [Julia McKenzie], as well as nominations for Best Director and two for Best ing Performance in a Musical.
Saturday 16 July, 11.35am
To accompany Sweeney Todd, you can listen to a Front Row interview with Stephen Sondheim and Mark Lawson recorded at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in October 2010, when the composer was celebrating his 80th birthday. First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2010.
Don't miss these programmes on following Saturdays on Radio 4 Extra:
Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls [Sat 23rd July 9.00 – 11.30]
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel [Sat 30th July 9.00 – 11.50]
Rice and Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar [Sat 6th August 9.00 – 10.40am]
Wright and Forrest’s Kismet [ Sat 13th August 9.00 – 11.30am]
