Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd," begins the opening number of the landmark 1979 Sondheim musical. And now couch potatoes can do just that -- though without the songs. A nonmusical version of Sweeney Todd is scheduled to receive its first television airing April 19 on the Showtime premium channel.
Academy Award-winning film and stage star Ben Kingsley plays the demonic barber who murders his tony customers, and Joanna Lumley (TV's Absolutely Fabulous) plays his mistress, Mrs. Lovett, who turns the cadavers into meat pies. In addition, Campbell Scott is featured as Ben Carlyle, the insurance investigator who cracks the murder case.
-- By Rebecca Paller