Character guide
Mrs. Lovett
from Sweeney Todd
Mrs. Lovett is the sharp-tongued pie shop owner and co-conspirator in Sweeney Todd, Stephen Sondheim's dark 1979 musical thriller.
- Show
- Sweeney Todd
- Broadway premiere
- 1979
- Role
- Lead
- Music by
- Stephen Sondheim
Mrs. Lovett on stage vs screen
Broadway compared with Tim Burton's 2007 film
Angela Lansbury originated Mrs. Lovett on Broadway in 1979 and played her again in the 1982 television broadcast of the touring production. Helena Bonham Carter took the role, credited as Nellie Lovett, in Tim Burton's 2007 film and earned a Golden Globe nomination. In London, Sheila Hancock created the part in 1980, and Imelda Staunton won an Olivier for the 2012 revival.
The film trims the score, cutting The Ballad of Sweeney Todd and shortening other songs. It ends with Todd waltzing with her before throwing her into the oven, after she admits she lied about his wife Lucy's death. On stage her numbers include The Worst Pies in London, A Little Priest, and By the Sea.
Who is Mrs. Lovett?
Mrs. Lovett runs a struggling meat pie shop below Sweeney Todd's barber parlor, and once she learns what Sweeney is doing to his customers, she becomes his willing accomplice, finding a grim practical use for the bodies. She is by turns comic, calculating, and unexpectedly tender, particularly in her affection for Sweeney and her care for the orphan boy Toby.
Her blend of dark humor and genuine longing for a normal life with Sweeney makes her one of musical theatre's most fascinating antiheroines.
Playing Mrs. Lovett on stage
Mrs. Lovett is a lead role that demands exceptional comic timing, rapid-fire patter delivery, and the vocal stamina to handle Sondheim's intricate, wordy score. The part also requires an actor capable of turning on a dime between farce and real menace, since the character's humor never fully erases the horror of what she is doing.
Performers are drawn to Mrs. Lovett because she is rare among musical theatre roles: unapologetically macabre, very funny, and deeply human all at once.
Mrs. Lovett: frequently asked questions
What show is Mrs. Lovett from?
Mrs. Lovett is a lead role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which premiered in 1979.
Is Mrs. Lovett a lead or supporting role?
Mrs. Lovett is a lead role and one of the two central characters alongside Sweeney Todd.
Who wrote the music for Sweeney Todd?
Stephen Sondheim composed the music and lyrics for Sweeney Todd.
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