Sweeney Todd

The tale of Sweeney Todd is a typical urban legend which takes different forms in various countries.

An urban legend is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them. Often the stories are completely invented, but sometimes they are not necessarily entirely false, but distorted, exaggerated, or sensationalized over time. Incidentally, the term ‘urban‘ has nothing to do with towns or cities, although it probably began with large-scale moves of population from the countryside to big cities!

Versions of the tale of Sweeney Todd became common in Victorian melodrama, giving rise to grisly stories about how he murdered the wealthy customers who came to his barber shop. The usual tradition has it that he pulled a lever fixed to a revolving trap-door while they were in his barber’s chair, which made them fall backwards into the basement, generally causing them to break their necks or skulls as they hit the ground. In other versions Sweeney Todd slit their throats first, and then pulled the lever sending them to the basement. Just in case customers were still alive, Sweeney Todd went to the basement to "polish them off", meaning to kill them.
After he had robbed them of their valuables, his partner in crime, Mrs Lovett, helped him to dispose of the bodies by means of an underground passage and then by having their flesh baked into meat pies which she sold in her pie shop.

a melodrama – sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events
grisly – causing horror or revulsion
polish something off – phrasal verb, informal – finish something quickly and easily, especially a lot of food or work – eg "I’ve polished off the chocolate cake".
polish someone off – phrasal verb, informal – kill someone

Back to Peter Stattersfield, composer of musicals – exercise 1

Peter Stattersfield, composer of musicals – exercise 2