Mrs. Lovett

Mrs. Lovett is a fictional character appearing in many adaptations of the story Sweeney Todd. She is most commonly referred to as Nellie, although Margery, Maggie, Sarah, Shirley, Wilhemina and Claudetta are other names she has been given. First appearing in the penny dreadful serial The String of Pearls, it is debated if she was based on an actual person or not.^[1] The character also appears in modern media related to Sweeney Todd including the Stephen Sondheim musical and its 2007 film adaptation.

Character overview

In every version of the story in which she appears, Mrs. Lovett is the business partner and accomplice of barber/serial killer Sweeney Todd; in some versions, she is also his lover. She makes and sells meat pies made from Todd's victims.

Usually, Mrs. Lovett is depicted as a childless widow, although in some depictions (but very rarely) Mr. Albert Lovett is shown. Before she goes into business with Todd, she is on the verge of poverty, with her premises being filthy and infested with vermin. In the musical she has resorted to using a rather revolting substitute for meat, and laments her pies are the worst ones in London. She also appears to have a rivalry (or at least in her mind) with Mrs. Mooney, an opponent pie seller, who uses cats for her pies.

Various interpretations

Although Mrs. Lovett's character and role in the story are similar in each version, certain details vary according to the story's interpretation. In some versions, for example, Mrs. Lovett commits suicide when their crimes are discovered, while in others, Todd kills her himself. Her physical appearance varies from a slim and alluring beauty, to a plump, homely lunatic. Her age is also differing in many adaptaions; though it is never specifically stated in any versions, there are some (most noticeably in Sondheim's musical) where she is older than Todd, often by a difference of over fifteen years and others where she is around his age. Whether their relationship is platonic or romantic also varies according to interpretation.^[2][3]

Role in the musical

In Stephen Sondheim's 1979 stage musical Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Tim Burton's 2007 film adaptation, Todd pays a visit to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop below his old home after 15 years in exile, seeking information about his lost family. Mrs. Lovett recognizes him as her former tenant, Benjamin Barker , with whom she was (and is) secretly in love. She informs him that his wife, Lucy, was raped by Judge Turpin — who exiled Todd on a false charge — and informs Todd that Lucy was so distraught that she poisoned herself with arsenic. Seeking vengeance, Todd reopens his shaving parlour above the shop, and slits the throats of his customers. Mrs. Lovett initiates a plan for Todd to send the corpses of his victims down a chute that leads to her bakehouse. She then uses the flesh to bake meat pies, which makes her business very successful.

She and Todd take in an orphan, Tobias Ragg, to whom she becomes like a mother. She also dreams of marrying Todd, who is completely uninterested in her (and somewhat oblivious to her true feelings for him).

In the story's climactic "Final Sequence", Todd murders Turpin and a beggar woman, and discovers that the latter is actually Lucy. Todd confronts Mrs. Lovett, who confesses that Lucy survived drinking the poison but was driven insane, reduced to begging. Mrs. Lovett then confesses her love to Todd, and promises she would be a better wife than Lucy ever was. Todd pretends to forgive her, gathering her in his arms — only to throw her into the pie oven, where she burns to death. Soon after, Tobias emerges from hiding and slits Todd's throat.

Portrayals

In film and stage adaptations of the Sweeney Todd story, Lovett is considered the female lead. To date, all actresses who have been eligible have earned Tony Award nominations.

• Stella Rho portrayed her in the 1936 film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

• Angela Lansbury won a Tony Award for her performance in originating the role of Mrs. Lovett on Broadway in 1979.

• Dorothy Loudon replaced Lansbury in the original Broadway production.

• Sheila Hancock played Mrs. Lovett in the 1980 London production.

• Christine Baranski received positive reviews opposite Brian Stokes Mitchell in the Kennedy Center's 2002 production.

• Helena Bonham Carter portrayed the character in Tim Burton's movie version of the musical: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. She received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance. Bonham Carter's interpretation was moderately different from the original stage version.

• Beth Fowler earned a Drama Desk and Tony Award-nomination for her performance in the first revival of the musical.

• Julia McKenzie played the role in the National Theatre revival of the musical Sweeney Todd in 1994.

• Patti LuPone has played the role on two occasions: in concert (2000 and 2001) and on Broadway (2005). Her interpretation of the character differed in both performances. In the concert version, LuPone played the role in the way that Lansbury or Hancock would have originally played it, as a "homely lunatic". However in 2005, to suit the fresh, dark and sparse approach to the show, LuPone had to "throw all that out" and create a new look for the character: her interpretation became more lustful and sex-starved, with a dry wit throughout. She received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the 2005 Broadway production.

• Judy Kaye filled in for LuPone for a week (while LuPone was on vacation) in the 2005 Broadway revival, before it ended production in early 2006. She went on star in the national tour version of the John Doyle revival for which she received acclaim and had to learn to play the tuba.

• Joanna Lumley portrayed her in the 1998 Showtime television movie The Tale of Sweeney Todd starring Ben Kingsley. Her character is in love with Sweeney Todd and has a romantic/physical relationship with him as opposed to an unrequited attraction. She is additionally—and with the implied consent of Todd—sexually involved with a local judge, to whom she provides sadomasochistic release. She is imprisoned for her crimes in the end, and does not die in this version.

• Essie Davis played the role of Mrs. Lovett in the BBC version.

• Carrie Cimma portrays Mrs. Lovett in the 2009 National Tour.

• Imelda Staunton played Mrs. Lovett in the 2011 production of Sweeney Todd at Chichester Festival Theatre.

Songs

In the musical Mrs. Lovett sings many numbers by herself and with other characters. The tracks were all composed by Stephen Sondheim. These include:

• "The Worst Pies in London"
• "Poor Thing"
• "My Friends" (with Todd)
• "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir" (with Tobias and Todd)"*
• "Wait" (with Todd)
• "A Little Priest" (with Todd)*
• "God, That's Good" (with Tobias)*
• "By the Sea" (with Todd)*
• "Not While I'm Around" (with Tobias)*
• "Parlour Songs (Sweet Polly Plunkett)" (with Beadle)**
• "Parlour Songs Part 2" (The Tower of Bray)" (with Beadle and Tobias)**
• "Searching" (with Todd, Johanna, Anthony, and Beggar Woman)*
• "Final Sequence" (with Todd and Tobias)
• "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Epilogue)" (with Company)**

(* Edited for 2007 film)
(** Cut from 2007 film)

References