Tobias Question (Priest!)

Posted: 1/12/05 at 9:57pm

I was watching the Sweeney Todd DVD with George Hearn the other night. The final sequence, with Mrs. Lovett taking Tobias to the bakehouse (where he sees the slaughtered Judge Turpin, I think, sorry I can't remember). Then Sweeney goes to the bakehouse where he meets his end, etc. I thought that from Tobias discovering Todd and Lovett's secret to when Tobias comes back to deal with Todd takes place in a day, or a few hours. If this is true, then why does Toby's appearance change drastically? Is it from the shock of seeing the dead that he goes insane (he obviously goes insane)? I didn't think one could develop a full head of white hair in such a short time, but this is theater. Am I just being too detail oriented, or does the finale take place over an extended period of time? (I thought this highly unlikely!) Sorry for the slightly long and maybe confusing post, but this has been a hot topic of discussion believe it or not. (I love Sweeney Todd by the way, the treasure of Broadway.) Updated On: 1/14/05 at 09:57 PM

[pab]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 10:25pm

"Tobias arrives, his hair completely white from the shock. He sees the Beggar Woman and picks up the razor near the body. He slashes Sweeney's throat who falls dead over Lucy's body. Johanna, Anthony and the police arrive to find Tobias turning the handle of the meat grinder."


Link

[Jon]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:38pm

I think it was a convention of old time melodrama (where the story originates)thatmadness can turn your hair white more or less instantly.


Hey, remembver in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS when Charleton Heston saw the Burning Bush, and his hair and beard suddenly were streaked with grey? Or was that ashes???

[magruder]

Posted: 1/12/05 at 11:45pm

I did once come in contact with a working script of Sweeney Todd, which was not the finished version. Originally, Tobias' hair was going to go white right on stage, when he witnessed the body of the Beadle coming out of the chute. Don't know if they ever tried it, or if it was just abandoned as being to hokey or melodramatic, but I would have liked to have seen it!

[wildcat]

Posted: 1/13/05 at 8:42am

It's not only a melodramatic convention but a truism that shock or grief can turn a person's hair white overnight.
Isn't their a wonderful line in "The Importance of Being Ernest" where Lady Bracknell bitchily remarks on the appearance of a recent widow, saying her hair had "turned quite gold with grief"?

Posted: 1/13/05 at 8:55pm

Thank you! You are all so very helpful.