Stephen Sondheim's 'Sweeney Todd' sets up shop at Bedell Performance Hall

There is the legend of Sweeney Todd. There is also the Tim Burton-directed film with Johnny Depp in the title role, and then there is the Stephen Sondheim stage musical, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," which will be performed at the Bedell Performance Hall at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus.

The Sweeney Todd character first appeared in "The String of Pearls," which hit the stage in London in 1846. Todd is a barber who murders his wealthy customers while they sit in his barber chair. What these poor souls don't realize is that the chair is rigged so that when Todd pulls a lever, they are sent directly to the basement, landing on their backs and breaking their necks. If one of them survives, he goes downstairs and slits their throat with a razor.

His partner in this madness, Mrs. Lovett (sometimes a friend, sometimes a lover, depending on the version), helps dispose of the bodies by baking the victim's flesh into meat pies that she sells out of her bakery. It's not exactly family entertainment and should be left to adult audiences.

Most scholars strongly disagree that such a person ever truly existed. However, author Peter Haining claimed Todd was a historical figure who committed violent crimes around the turn of the 19th century. While similar crimes with barber chairs and straight razors might have occurred, no historical person by the name of Sweeney Todd was ever linked to them.

By 1979, Todd was reinvented as more of a tragic character who isn't motivated by greed but, rather, revenge. In Sondheim's version — the one you'll see at the River Campus — the main character is known, at first, as Benjamin Barker. Barker is married to Lucy. The villainous Judge Turpin wants Lucy to himself. Judge Turpin wrongly convicts Barker, and he is exiled to Australia. Many years later, he returns from exile as Sweeney Todd, with revenge against the judge on his mind.

David Alan Marshall, who is playing Judge Turpin, describe his character as "an evil, evil man."

"I normally play the bad guy," he said. "I don't know what that says about me because I'm a nice guy."

Perhaps it is Marshall's 6-foot-6-inch frame and strong voice that land him the antagonist role. For Marshall, being a trumpet player in college has come in handy for this production because there is no orchestra; all the music is played by the cast members themselves.

He commented on his favorite scene in the play.

"There is one scene near the end of act one where the Judge goes to Todd's barbershop for a haircut, shave, what have you," he said. "And it's the moment that Sweeney's been waiting for because this is his chance to take his revenge. Here they are, these two mortal enemies and before anything goes down between them, they launch into a song called 'Pretty Women.'"

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" will be performed at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bedell.

Tickets are available at the River Campus box office, by calling 651-2265, at all MetroTix outlets, metrotix.com, or by calling 800-293-5949.