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Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls: An Audio Melodrama in Three Despicable Acts Audiobook
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(3.06) - 78 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The insidious Fleet Street barber slit his first throat in an 1846 "penny dreadful," one of those gaudy serialized novels that gleefully offered thrills and gore to sensation-hungry Victorians. TitledThe String of Pearls, it told of Sweeney Todd, whose shop stood next to St. Dunstan's Church, just a few blocks from the Royal Courts of Justice. On this site, he robbed and murdered hundreds of customers. To dispose of their remains, he carried them to an underground bakery of one Mrs. Lovett, whose pie shop was a few blocks away. She ground the cadavers into stuffing for her meat pies, the favorite midday repast of the lawyers who worked nearby and who got their shaves from Sweeney Todd. The man you lunched with yesterday couldbeyour lunch today!
Before the serial's final chapters even hit the stands, the first stage version, pirated from the already published installments, was packing them in at a London theater. Since then there have been numerous stage, literary, and screen versions of the story, most notably the hit Sondheim musical. Blackstone Audio has commissioned this, the first audio version of the tale, from the Audie® award-winning Hollywood Theater of the Ear (The Sherlock Holmes Theatre,The Oresteia). With tongue in cheek, writer/producer/director Yuri Rasovsky has gone all the way back to the original penny dreadful to imbue an old string of pearls with new luster—and fresh blood.
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"Listening to this in the car. It is excellent!! The actors are great and really make the book come alive. I would be able to listen to a lot more books if they were narrated like this one. Recommended to everyone."
— Jennifer (4 out of 5 stars)
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“The gruesome plot is played tongue in cheek and laced with comic and satiric elements. Performances are strong throughout. W. Morgan Sheppard is especially delectable as Todd…Robertson Dean does a fine turn with a seldom-attempted rural accent. Sound effects and music are used frequently and well, and the drama is punctuated with amusing and well-done songs, mostly traditional. This is a spirited and entertaining production.”
— AudioFile -
“Fond as I am of all things Stephen Sondheim, I just couldn’t bring myself to see the Johnny Depp film version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. All that spurting blood! A better, lighter and more comic version (if subject matter involving a throat-slitting barber and an accomplice who bakes his victims into pies can be considered comic) is Yuri Rasovsky’s Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls: An Audio Melodrama in Three Despicable Acts. This 2 1/2-hour audiobook won three 2008 Audie Awards from the Audio Publishers Association, for best original work, audio drama, and achievement in production, and it truly is fantastic…This melodrama is told with a full cast, nicely narrated by Martin Jarvis. W. Morgan Sheppard’s Todd has a delightfully creepy snorting laugh and an ominous way of suggesting to his clients that he’ll be ready to ‘polish them off.’ Rosalind Ayres provides excellent voices for both Mrs. Lovett and Johanna. Musical enhancement between chapters comes from Tony Barrand and John Roberts. Every aspect of ‘An Audio Melodrama in Three Despicable Acts’ is top drawer, with each character definitively voiced. It’s great fun to hear, with terrific sound effects (the trapdoor into the underground chamber makes a hideous clang, and the chamber below echoes with groans of those awaiting their ultimate fate).”
— Herald Tribune (Sarasota, Florida)
Awards
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Audie Award Winner in Three Categories
Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls Listener Reviews
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" Loved this Hollywood audio presentation. It was a wonderful account of cannibalism at its finest! "
— Lara, 12/9/2013 -
" I listened to this one and found it entertaining, but it was predictable and ended a little too perfectly. Though, what do you expect from a penny dreadful after all? "
— Adonna, 5/11/2013 -
" I listened to this and it was a good production. "
— Pam, 2/22/2013 -
" This was a fun short story. It has a full cast in the audio version which was entertaining to say the least. What a disturbing but delightfully absurd story. I have to admit that the movie did a better job on character development though. "
— Kristin, 8/23/2012 -
" The cannibalism got a bit too much for me, and the ending was fairly obvious. Kudos for having a heroine with some spunk and sass. "
— kvon, 3/30/2012 -
" I recommend listening to this audio book. The actors really are great. It is clear to 'see' what is going on through the voice acting and sound effects. "
— Kathryn, 7/25/2011 -
" I first heard of Sweeney Todd when I was 12 and watched Jersey Girl with my sis for the first time. I should have known how simple the plot is by the interest taken in it by little Trudy. Is that her name? I don't know. "
— Alex, 6/30/2011 -
" I recommend listening to this audio book. The actors really are great. It is clear to 'see' what is going on through the voice acting and sound effects.<br/><br/> "
— Kathryn, 3/4/2011 -
" Loved this Hollywood audio presentation. It was a wonderful account of cannibalism at its finest! "
— Lara, 10/19/2010 -
" I listened to this one and found it entertaining, but it was predictable and ended a little too perfectly. Though, what do you expect from a penny dreadful after all? "
— Adonna, 10/10/2010 -
" The cannibalism got a bit too much for me, and the ending was fairly obvious. Kudos for having a heroine with some spunk and sass. "
— kvon, 8/3/2009
About Yuri Rasovsky
Yuri Rasovsky (1944–2012) won wide critical acclaim during his forty-year career as an audio dramatist, writer, producer, and director. His numerous honors included two Peabody Awards, nine Audie Awards, and a Grammy. In 2011, his production for Blackstone, The Mark of Zorro, was nominated for a Grammy. His final production for Blackstone was Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You! He has left behind an incredible legacy.