It's on 1 of my list. Each entry below is what I wrote about it there, with my verdict on that list, the fullest first.
- AddressLunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 W 46th Street
- From my guide, updated September 2026.
The plot.Sweeney Todd is the age-old story of a psychotic throat-slitting barber and the resourceful pie shop owner who wreak havoc on Fleet Street in London. When this avant garde musical debuted in the 1970s, it shocked audiences with its vivid portrayal of revenge, murder and cannibalism, yet somehow, the show became wildly successful and had audiences in stitches.
My take. Led by an antihero and Machiavellian villain, seeing Sweeney Todd on Broadway in New York City is a wild experience. A roller-coaster of emotions, the outlandish characters are not relatable (they’re not supposed to be), yet it’s easy to get swept away by the often comedic tragedy of it all. The hurt, the misunderstanding, the shame and the intense desire for something different (sans serial murder, of course), who can’t relate to that?