Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd is widely regarded as the finest musical of the second half of the 20th Century. The infamously shadowy, bitter and blackly humorous work has long been admired by director Tim Burton, who trimmed the famed score and cast a superb Johnny Depp in the title role. Sondheim's dark, circling music has been brightened up for cinema, but is still the most daringly creative work to ever fuel a Hollywood blockbuster. Depp, who channels Bowie, is a standout in an amazing cast that includes Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter.